How to Read More Books Over the Holidays
The holidays can be pretty busy, but that doesn't mean your reading has to fall to the wayside. [Ed. from the Archive.]
Here are five easy ways to read more books over the next few weeks, regardless of where you are and what you’re doing.
1. Make your reading experiences more social.
I get it. People tend to think that reading is a primarily solo endeavor. And for the most part, it is. But the holidays are meant to be social and should include quality time spent with others. So why not ensure that quality time includes books and more reading?
If you want to keep reading over the holidays, get others to join you, or at least support you and your reading habit by sharing what you’re reading (or want to read) on social media.
You can join online groups like the Bookstagram community on Instagram, where you will find a lot of people from all over the world who want to talk about books and swap book recommendations. Doing this will help you stay connected to others as you read, especially if you don’t come from a family of readers.
You could also gather a small group of friends together to read a book or two over the next week, even if you only share notes on what you’re reading remotely in a chat thread.
Or you could read a book aloud with your family as a family while you’re gathered around the tree, table, or fireplace. Books were traditionally read aloud in groups as entertainment anyway, long before television was invented, so make reading together a new tradition that doesn’t involve zoning out in front of a screen.
* For more social reading inspiration, learn more about Jolabokaflod, an Icelandic holiday tradition where people exchange books as gifts and read them together in front of a fire while they drink hot chocolate or beer. *
2. Listen to more audiobooks.
Listen to audiobooks while you’re commuting, cooking in the kitchen, wrapping gifts, etc.
Listening to audiobooks is the best way to ensure you’re reading more books while you’re busy doing things that don’t require you to think that much, or when you don’t really have your hands free over the next few weeks.
Audiobooks are also easy to access and download immediately, especially if your library card is connected to an app like the Libby App. And if you have earbuds, you can listen to them anywhere, anytime.
You could also get a group of family members or friends to listen to audiobooks with you. If people don’t want to read books aloud around the fireplace, consider listening to audiobooks together instead of watching television. You’d be surprised how many conversations this might kickstart, as it will allow everyone to stay connected during more peaceful moments.
3. Download an e-reading app on your phone.
If you have a smartphone, accessing ebooks is easy and allows you to read anywhere, anytime.
Even if you have an e-reading device like a Kindle, I still recommend downloading the Kindle App (or a similar app) on your phone too, because there might be a situation where your Kindle won’t be nearby, but your smartphone will.
For better or worse, we are much more likely to have our smartphones on us than any other device, so make sure you have ebooks available on it so that you can keep reading wherever you are.
This way, if there’s downtime at a holiday event or family gathering, you can get your phone out and read a chapter or two. Or if you find yourself waiting in line somewhere or waiting for others to get ready or arrive somewhere, you can easily access your ebook.
Again, I would recommend getting an app like the Libby App on your phone because it’s connected to your local library, which means all the books you’ll be accessing will also be free.
4. Read whatever you want.
To keep reading over the next few weeks, don’t force yourself to read things you don’t want to read or aren’t in the mood to read.
A lot of people are starting to post their ‘Best Books of 2025’ lists, lists of 2025 book award winners, or lists of holiday books that include ‘must reads’, and the year isn’t even technically over yet. Don’t let those lists pressure you into thinking you need to read things that you don’t want to read right now.
If you’re already thinking about the new year ahead, it’s okay to set aside the holiday books. You don’t have to keep reading them, or read any of them at all.
If you feel like reading a summer romance, go ahead and read it now. If you want to read a classic novel from over one hundred years ago, read it now. Who cares?
You should read whatever interests you and engages you enough to keep reading. If you want to keep reading into the new year, stick to reading things you’re actually in the mood to read right now.
5. Read instead of binge-watching shows or movies.
When you haven’t had a break in a long time and finally get one around the holidays, it’s easy to want to sit in front of the TV and binge-watch shows or movies for days. Before you get sucked into binge-watching anything, remember how good reading makes you feel and how much you enjoy it, especially when you’re reading what you want to read for free via your library apps.
Also, remember how crummy and low on energy you feel after binge-watching pretty much anything for hours (or days) on end?
Listen, I’m not saying you shouldn’t catch up on your favorite shows or enjoy a couple movies when you get some extra downtime. What I’m saying is that you might want to consider spreading out your TV watching time and refrain from binge-watching anything instead of reading anything.
You could always watch an episode of something then read 20 to 50 pages of a book before watching the next episode, for example.
What would you add to this list? And what do you plan on reading over the next few weeks? Leave a comment to join this dialogue, then be sure to share this post with others so they can join this dialogue too.
If you liked this post, you might also want to read: Five Easy Ways to Keep Writing During the Holidays and Start your daily writing habit today.
