Building Reading Stamina

The one-year anniversary of antiparent.com is coming up on August 11th! I'm working on something exciting for the occasion: a repository of book notes and discussion guides for the books that I cite frequently in my essays. (Telling people who ask me questions "read this 300-page book and get back to me" is only going so far.) Many of the books I discuss are also dense historical or theoretical works. I want to do my part to make them more accessible to a general audience, especially kids and teens who are looking to learn more about youth liberation.

That said, even with supplemental guides, reading entire books can be hard for some people. Even more so when the books in question are challenging and jargon-y, as many of the books highlighted on this site are. So in addition to the notes and discussion questions, I'm planning to include critical reading guides: one for general use and one for each individual book I cover. I wrote the following article for the general guide, so that people who want to get back into reading whole books have some support in doing so.

If reading whole books is hard for you, you're very much not alone! While I used to read a lot as a kid, I had about a ten-year period where I could barely get through one or two books per year. It took a lot of work to overcome it, but I found it to be well worth the effort. So, before we start with any particular book, I wanted to include some tips here for how to overcome this initial barrier.

These suggestions are largely based on my own experience. Take what works for you and leave the rest.

If you're struggling with reading, why do you think that is?

For me, it was a combination of being busy with work, dealing with uncontrolled chronic illness, and being completely addicted to short-form social media content. I would be exhausted beyond belief, and then I would go on social media to "cool down."

It took me a long time to realize that being on Twitter or Instagram wasn't actually serving me well as a recreational activity - that I would end up even more exhausted and strung-out than when I started. And it took me even longer to realize that I couldn't handle a "balanced" approach on my own: I had to take big steps like deleting the apps off my phone and/or deleting my accounts entirely.
(I don't mean for this entire article to be an anti-social-media screed, I swear. But I am a little resentful of how much of my one wild and precious life I've wasted on mindless scrolling!)

I also noticed that once I finally found a medication that helped make my disability a little more bearable, I suddenly had a lot more energy and attention to spare. And eventually, after a lot of effort, I got to the point where my brain could handle a bit of boredom again. That was when I was able to reintroduce reading as a recreational activity - using my little bits of free time to read instead of going online.

Your experience might be different. Maybe you've always struggled with reading because you weren't taught well - unfortunately, that's a really common experience too. Maybe you have a hard time understanding a specific type of jargon in these books because you're not used to it. Whatever your struggle is, make a note of it, and try to approach the issue with compassion for yourself instead of shame.

We're in this for the long haul. Instead of starting with a New Year's Resolution to read 2 hours a day, start as small as you can. Commit to reading 1 page a day, or 5 minutes a day, or whatever your preferred atomic increment is. If you manage to read more than that in a particular day, great! If not, no big deal.

If theory or history seems too dense or overwhelming to read (as it did for me, for many, many years), try to find more accessibly written books and articles on the subject and read those first. Once you build a basic level of familiarity with the concepts, the more complex ideas and vocabulary tend to feel more approachable.

I used to be a book purist when I was younger. I was convinced that only physical books really "counted" as reading, that having a real book in your hand was the more effective, more aesthetically pleasing, all-around superior way to read.
And then, for a long time, I basically stopped reading at all.

It turns out that reading physical books can also be fussy and inconvenient. Especially when you have a couple of kids who love asking for snacks every 10 minutes and also love pulling bookmarks out when you go to make them.
It took some trial and error. I got plenty of migraines from trying to squint at PDFs on my laptop screen. But I finally figured out that reading ebooks on a backlit e-ink device - with buttons!! - was what worked best for me. I was able to stay engaged for longer, and even after inevitable interruptions, I found it much easier to pick up where I left off.

(My wife, on the other hand, prefers audiobooks.)

If you struggle with reading physical books and have the resources to try out a couple different formats, I encourage you to do so! It made a world of difference for me.

I used to be viscerally uncomfortable with writing on books, due to the aforementioned book-purist tendencies. They were sacred objects to me, to be treated with the utmost respect and care.

No longer! Now I put those babies through the wringer. I highlight with abandon, make lots of notes in the margins, and write out a full summary at the end of each chapter. And as a result, I can stay engaged for longer while I'm reading, and I can remember so much more of what I read!

Even if I can't read at all for the rest of the day, I can reliably get a couple pages in during bedtime as I'm waiting for the kids to fall asleep. But I use that time for recreational reading; I know that at the very end of the day, I can't focus enough on dense nonfiction books or retain the things I learn. (Though keeping up the habit of recreational reading still helps my educational reading as well!)

Instead, when I have some history or theory to read, I try to sit down with it first thing in the morning, with a hot cup of tea or coffee. I have an easier time comprehending and retaining the material when my brain is fresh.

Maybe it's the opposite for you! Maybe you can read better in the middle of the night than in the morning. Try experimenting with a few times throughout the day - sticking to it for a week or two to give yourself the chance to acclimate - and find the time of day that works best for you. Also consider trying different spaces to read: maybe you can read better at the park or the library than you can at home.

Then block your reading time off on your schedule - the best that you can, anyway. Or take the opposite approach, and just have your book with you whenever possible, so any bit of downtime can become surprise reading time.

Reading got really fun for me when I started recording my progress. It turned into a bit of a game. I keep track of the books I'm reading in my planner, but I also really love using Storygraph. Not an ad - I just really enjoy it! I love seeing the graphs of how much I've read throughout the year, and in what genres, etc.
I didn't start using the goal tracking pages until I'd built up a decent habit of reading regularly. I didn't want it to turn into a self-shaming ritual around failing to meet the goals I'd set for myself. But once I got into the rhythm of it, I did enter my reading goal, and I've enjoyed seeing my progress towards it throughout the year.

Struggling to read isn't a moral failure. It's a very common experience that happens for a variety of reasons. Instead of approaching the problem with shame around not already doing more, take the time to celebrate the decision to work on it, and acknowledge your effort and your progress as you go!

Trying to build the habit of reading is very much like a workout for your brain. Be gentle with yourself as you go through this process, and use all the tools you have at your disposal to help yourself along. Good luck! I'm rooting for you!