9 Simple Strategies to Read More Books: How I Read 150+ Books a Year

I have a mini-confession for you: I love bookstores.
Actually, that is not entirely true. I am crazy for bookstores.

They exert a gravitational pull on me like a black hole pulls in a photon and obliterates all signs of its existence, putting a stop to time. I see all the shiny new books and browse all the little treasures as my brain goes ooooh preciooous. I vanish into a sea of stimulus, novelty, and discovery.

But with the ecstasy there also came the agony of not being able to read all of these insanely cool books. When would I find out about Operation Mincemeat, the successful British disinformation campaign against the Nazis? Or master the physics of cooking? Or delve into the 900-page lives of John Rockefeller and Alexander Hamilton (thanks a lot, Ron Chernow)? I would add them to my Amazon “Interesting books” list, which someday my future self would no doubt tackle all 640 titles thereof.

And then, there were the 100+ unread books in my own library. They occupied three shelves in my bedroom, covered by a towel so I would feel less guilt when I passed by them (true!). Visitors assumed that it must be something shameful I was concealing. They weren’t wrong. My name is Ali, and I am a unread-book hoarder. Heck, there’s even a Japanese word for this…