Making reading your real hobby

Have you ever faced difficulty when somebody asks you what your hobbies are? Have you ever ended up answering to your hobbies saying it is listening to music, watching Netflix, etc. and been in a spot when someone countered saying these are not hobbies. Or have you ever answered saying reading as your hobby (just to do away with the question) but you probably don't even recollect when had you read your last book. Does it sound made up to just lay context of a blog? I don't really think so. Because these are the things that even I have exactly encountered a major part of my life so far.

So have you ever thought of having a real hobby? Like something you can call a hobby. Say reading - have you thought of making reading as your real hobby (Please note the discussion is not with the purpose of undermining any other hobbies). So how can you really develop reading as your hobby? There may be a number of tips - some which may work for most of us, some which may not work for a lot of us. I am highlighting a few of them which have worked for me or think can work for a lot of us.

But if you have to add anything, I would really love to hear you out. Please feel free to write in the comments section below.

1. Never read a book? A total beginner? Start with what you love or what interests you. It may be fiction for some - biographies for some - self-help for some - history / science or whatever else you may like. But don't start your first book with the objective to learn a lot. Start with the objective of getting a nag of it.

2. Start with an easy-to-read book and something that is reasonably sized. Heard of books like Sapiens, India after Gandhi, Mein Kampf, the list is really long - of voluminous and too heavy books. But for starters - always start with a book which is easy/medium to grasp (I personally started with fiction - because they are a bit easier). Also, don't start with a book having 300 - 350 + pages. Prefer starting with smaller ones. Say something with 100 - 200 pages. Like they say, "Well begun is half done". So focus on getting it started rather than getting a perfect start - because there is never a perfect one.

3. Gradually move to variety of books with different topics you love / you can learn/like to learn.

4. You can check the ratings of books to gauge if the book seems to be good enough. Good-reads rating is to books like Imdb is to movies.

5. Try and improve your reading speed. A couple of things you can consider for improving your reading speed include - read at a time when you are fresh, read in an environment where you can focus, use something to focus on the line/para which you are reading: say a pencil / your finger/anything - so that you don't lose the track of it again and again and move back and forth. One of the reasons why it is important to improve your reading speed is the more you read - it motivates you to read more.

6. Don't try to read every book like a textbook. Why do I say this? You would feel you want to learn everything you are reading - else what's the use of reading. I would slightly disagree or probably totally disagree. I am not saying it isn't important to learn what you are reading - but don't focus on that - else it will sound to you like work rather than a hobby. Rather keep reading and if you feel you really want to learn - maybe highlight a few extracts - revisit them - journal them - write a book review or do whatever suits your style. But its ok if you don't understand a few things you read - its not to be tested.

Hope you find the above tips helpful. Its time to end the blog - else if you are not a person used to reading - maybe you may leave even this one half way (just on a lighter note). Like I wrote above, these are only few of the things - I would love to hear from all of you what has worked for you or what do you think can work for everyone or if you have any queries. Be it reading - or be it other meaningful hobbies in general.

So now I am signing off!!! Good bye until next time and Happy reading!!!