Statistically, the questions I hear most often are: “Oh my god, are you unwell?” when I haven’t applied any make-up and “How do you manage to read so much?” when I’ve finished another book and feel the whole world should know. The latter question is often asked with a hint of ‘well isn’t it nice you have all that free time on your hands for reading while some people are busy with serious stuff’. But sometimes the interest is sincere and I will approach the question in this spirit.

First of all, it needs to be said that I don’t read THAT much. I read less than 100 books a year (update: well, I read 112 books in 2016, but the point remains) and it never feels sufficient. Then again, while there are people who read much more and better – I often read trash – than I do, it’s still true that I’m one of the most prolific readers among the people I regularly interact with. And it’s with this very relative expertise in mind that I’m sharing my experiences. Obviously, people have different things holding them back, so my tips aren’t universal, but here we go:

1. Get a Kindle. This is my absolute top tip. Nothing, nothing facilitates reading like an e-reader, with the possible exception of being a teenager with a broken leg, but this isn’t an option for most of us (also, probably doesn’t work quite as well in the Internet age as it used to when I was 13). I have written about my attitude towards digi-reading before and I stand by it. A Kindle will allow you to read when and what you want, addressing two crucial barriers to reading: 1) not having the book with you and 2) not having the right book with you. For people who are able to concentrate in different surroundings, an e-reader will significantly increase potential reading time. Crucially, it will allow you also to buy (or sometimes to get through other means) exactly the book you want and receive it in seconds, about which more under the next point.

2. Read what you want. Seriously, if you feel that you cannot get into the reading groove, forget about reading things that you think you SHOULD read and only read things that get you genuinely excited. This is good life advice in general, I find – less ‘should’, more ‘want’. I completely understand the fear that one would end up reading only cheesy romances or thrillers, but let’s address that once we get some reading done, OK? Let’s not kill the tender growth of reading with tackling only the deep and the worthy. The other thing is that if you are a very mood-based reader like me, you’ll also find that while you may want to read the book in general, you may be positively repulsed by it at a particular moment and absolutely dying to read something else. To what I say: get a Kindle.

3. Read short books. You may have seen my promise to read longer, in-depth books and that remains my goal. But if you struggle to get much reading done and especially if there are genuine time constraints, just forget about it. There are many excellent short books around that will immeasurably enrich your life. I have written about some options here and here, plus there’s always poetry. Especially if you haven’t been reading a while, finishing a book – no matter how slim – will fill you with the warm glow of satisfaction and spur you on to further triumphs. Possibly even to longer books.

4. Feel free to abandon books. When I was a fierce young reader, I thought people who don’t finish books belong to the 9th circle of Hell with Brutus and Cassius. This says more about the mindset of teenagers (and about the veneration of books among Estonians of certain generations) than it says about reading. If you are genuinely not enjoying a book, just drop it and don’t feel too bad. Don’t start worrying until you have done it something like 10 times in a row. These days, I even abandon books I really like, as I have so many on the go and I am fickle. Especially in the case of non-fiction, moving on is not a huge tragedy. Having read one third of The Capital in the Twenty-First Century is much, much better than not having read any of it.

5. Read more books. The main thing with reading more books is, like with every other thing, that you must genuinely want it. There are lots of things we want in an abstract way: I’d like to speak Arabic, be able to fence, master the cat-eye liner and go to bed early. None of these things are likely to come true, as there are other things I want more – like reading, for example. There are probably very few people who say they’d like to read less, but if reading is something you only feel justified doing after you’ve cleaned the house, taken a walk, done the shopping, built a castle for the kids, called all your friends and relatives and gotten 8 hours sleep, you will unfortunately not be able to read much. As a result, you’ll be a much nicer human being than me, but I’ll win on Goodreads.

PS Me and my familiy are well, thank you for your concern.