How to Become a Better Reader in 9 Steps九步讀書，收效更佳

格蕾琴·魯賓

Reading is an essential part of my work， it’s an important aspect of my social life， and most importantly， it’s my favorite thing to do. I’m not a well-rounded person.

But reading takes time， and most days， I can’t read as much as I’d like. As I was writing Better Than Before， my book about habit change， I adopted many new habits to help me get more good reading done. Consider whether these habits might work for you：

1. Quit reading. I identify as a reader， and as part of that identity， I’d developed the habit of finishing every book I read， because a “real” reader finishes books. I know I wasn’t alone. According to Goodreads， 38 percent of readers always finish a book. I’ve now adopted the habit of putting down a book as soon as I lose interest. What a relief. When I let myself abandon a boring book， I have more time to read what I love. As Thoreau observed， “Read the best books first， or you may not have a chance to read them at all.”

2. Skim. Especially when reading newspapers， magazines， and the internet. Certain kinds of materials don’t need to be read carefully. Also， even if you spend many hours a day reading， you may feel as though you don’t have any time to read. The habit of skimming ensures that low-value reading doesn’t crowd out high-value reading.

3. Set aside time to read demanding books. It’s satisfying to stretch. Try setting aside some time each week to read books that are a bit challenging—a dense biography， a religious work written hundreds of years ago， a scientific book with a lot of unfamiliar terminology. I used the habit-formation Strategy of Scheduling to form the habit of doing “Study Reading” each weekend， to ensure that I make time read books that I may not exactly feel like picking up， but that I’m very glad I read.

4. Always have plenty of reading material on hand. Never go anywhere empty-handed—digital devices are a big help in this respect. Nothing is more terrifying to me than the prospect of finding myself on an airplane， with many hours to read and a book that I don’t like. So much great reading time—wasted！ I always have several options， each time I board a plane.

5. Keep a reading list， and keep it handy. For years， I kept my library list on a little pad at my desk， but I’ve switched the list to my phone. A handwritten list can be left behind， but a cell-phone list is always available. Whenever I hear about a book I want to read， I add it my library list. It currently contains the names of 194 books， and one day， I plan to read them all.

6. Try audio-books. Listening to a book can be a way to experience it in a terrific new way， and makes books available in situations where it’s impossible to read—say， when driving. Also， if you’re trying to form a habit， it’s also a great way to use the Strategy of Pairing. If you don’t particularly enjoy going for a daily walk， but want to get that exercise， try pairing your walk with an engaging audio-book. The time will fly.

7. Don’t fight reading inclinations. Sometimes I feel like I should be reading one book when I actually feel like reading something entirely different. Now I let myself read what I want， because that way I read so much more. Also， I love to re-read. I used to think that I “should” spend all my time reading books that I’ve never read before， but now I realize that there’s a special pleasure in re-reading.

8. Read Slightly Foxed. I’m a huge fan of this British quarterly magazine. Book coverage is almost exclusively focused on the books being published now—but what about the excellent books that were published decades ago？ Slightly Foxed is a mix of short essays about people’s favorite books from the past. （If you don’t know your book-collecting terminology， “slightly foxed” is a term used to describe books that are showing their age.）

9. Start or join a book group. Many people struggle to find time to read， even though they love it. Use the Strategy of Accountability to hold yourself accountable for reading： being part of a book group will help you make time to read. And while most book groups read fiction， you can have a book group organized around any kind of book you love. I’m in three—yes， three—book groups where we read children’s literature and young-adult literature. I’ve always been a huge fan of kidlit， and I love talking about these books with like-minded people. You could have a biography book club， a foreign-policy book club， a romance book club… I heard about a book club where they read classic New Yorker profiles.

讀書是我工作的主要內(nèi)容，也是我生活的重要組成部分，最重要的，它還是我喜歡做的事。我并不是一個(gè)興趣廣泛的人。

但是讀書需要時(shí)間，大多數(shù)日子里，我的閱讀量都無法讓自己滿意。在寫關(guān)于改變習(xí)慣的書《比過去更好》時(shí)，我養(yǎng)成了很多新習(xí)慣來完成更多高質(zhì)量閱讀。來看看這些習(xí)慣是否適合你：

1. 放棄性閱讀。我是一個(gè)書蟲，作為一個(gè)讀書的人，我曾經(jīng)習(xí)慣讀完每一本已經(jīng)捧起的書，因?yàn)椤罢嬲摹弊x書人總是有始有終。我知道并非只有我一人如此，根據(jù)好讀網(wǎng)的調(diào)查，38%的讀者總是會(huì)讀完已經(jīng)開始閱讀的書。然而我現(xiàn)在的習(xí)慣是一旦失去了對一本書的興趣就立馬放棄，這可真是一大解脫。允許自己放棄一本無聊的書意味著我有更多時(shí)間讀我真正喜歡的。正如梭羅所說：“先讀最好的書，否則你可能根本沒有機(jī)會(huì)讀了。”

2. 略讀。尤其適用于報(bào)紙、雜志和網(wǎng)站。有些資料不需要看得太認(rèn)真。而且，即使每天花很多小時(shí)去看，你可能還是覺得好像沒有任何時(shí)間去閱讀。略讀的習(xí)慣可以保證低價(jià)值的讀物不會(huì)擠占高品質(zhì)閱讀的時(shí)間。

3. 留出時(shí)間讀一些感到吃力的書。全力以赴會(huì)給人以滿足感。嘗試每周留出一定時(shí)間來讀一些有挑戰(zhàn)性的書——內(nèi)容深刻的人物傳記、幾世紀(jì)前的宗教著作、包含大量專業(yè)術(shù)語的科學(xué)文獻(xiàn)等。我通過“制定時(shí)間表策略”養(yǎng)成習(xí)慣，固定在每周末做“學(xué)習(xí)性閱讀”，以確保有時(shí)間讀一些可能原本未必想讀，但很高興自己讀了的書。

4. 隨身攜帶大量讀物。不要空著手去任何地方——在這點(diǎn)上數(shù)碼產(chǎn)品是個(gè)好幫手。對我來說沒有什么比坐在飛機(jī)上，有幾個(gè)小時(shí)的閑暇時(shí)間，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)手上只有一本自己不喜歡的書更恐怖的事了。多么完美的閱讀時(shí)間啊——浪費(fèi)了！我每次坐飛機(jī)都會(huì)選幾本可讀的書。

5. 列一份書單，并放在手邊。多年來我一直將藏書清單記在書桌上的便簽簿中，但現(xiàn)已將其導(dǎo)入到了手機(jī)里。手寫的書單不再必要了，但手機(jī)里一定要有一份。每當(dāng)我聽說一本想讀的書，就會(huì)把它加到藏書清單里。目前這份單子已包括194本書了，總有一天我會(huì)遍讀它們。

6. 嘗試聽書。聽書為讀書帶來一種絕佳的新體驗(yàn)，并且讓你在那些無法閱讀的場合——比如開車的時(shí)候——也可以有書為伴。另外，如果你正試圖養(yǎng)成一個(gè)新習(xí)慣，采取“配對策略”也是一個(gè)上佳之選。比如你并不是特別喜歡每天出門散步，可是又想運(yùn)動(dòng)，試一下邊走邊聽一本引人入勝的書。時(shí)間會(huì)過得飛快。

7. 不要克制閱讀意愿。有時(shí)我覺得自己應(yīng)該去讀某本書，但其實(shí)真正想讀的是完全不同的另外一本?，F(xiàn)在我想讀什么就讀什么，因?yàn)檫@樣我可以讀得更多。同時(shí)，我還喜歡重讀。以前我認(rèn)為“應(yīng)該”把所有時(shí)間用在尚未讀過的書上，但現(xiàn)在我領(lǐng)略到了重讀的獨(dú)特魅力。

8. 閱讀《微舊》雜志。我是這本英國季刊的死忠粉。一般的書目推薦基本上毫無例外地著眼于新近面世的圖書——那幾十年前出版的杰出讀物怎么辦呢？《微舊》里面收錄了各類小短文，介紹過去人們喜愛的圖書。（如果你不了解藏書用語，slightly foxed就是用來形容那些有年頭的書的。）

9. 發(fā)起或參加讀書會(huì)。很多人苦于擠不出時(shí)間讀書，即使他們熱愛閱讀。利用“責(zé)任策略”來讓讀書成為你的一項(xiàng)責(zé)任：成為讀書會(huì)的一員會(huì)幫助你擠出時(shí)間讀書。盡管大多數(shù)讀書會(huì)讀小說，你也可以參加任何一個(gè)讀你喜歡書類的讀書會(huì)。我參加了三個(gè)——沒錯(cuò)，三個(gè)——閱讀兒童文學(xué)和青少年文學(xué)的讀書會(huì)。我一直都是兒童文學(xué)的忠實(shí)擁躉，而且熱愛與志趣相投的人討論相關(guān)書籍。你可以參加傳記文學(xué)俱樂部、外交政策書籍俱樂部、言情小說俱樂部……我知道一個(gè)讀書俱樂部專門研讀《紐約客》經(jīng)典“人物”欄目專集。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)選手）