How to Read More Christian Books

How many books will you read in your lifetime? 

On average people in the UK read 4 books a year. Times that by the average UK lifespan of 82.9 years, you get 331.6 books. 

But Christians also spend time each day reading the Bible. On average, Christians spend two-thirds of their reading time in the Bible. That means we can cut two-thirds out of how many books you'll read.

That leaves only 110.5 books in total. 

So, whenever someone says to me I should read more, my first thought is “great, but how?”. 

We all know life is busy. You might have your life planned down to the minute like a Bake Off Showstopper Challenge. Or you might just go with the flow. I am not going to tell you how to reorganise your whole life to squeeze in as many books as possible.

Instead, here are some handy little ways you can read more Christians books.

1. Choose wisely, and failing that choose quickly

I love book shopping but left to my own devices I could easily spend more time buying books than actually reading them. A few ways you can cut down the time spent choosing a book can include:

• Choosing books by what your favourite author recommends is a great way to discover something you may not have otherwise seen. Look for their name on covers, forewords and endorsements.

• A good number of Christian books will have bibliographies in the back. Perfect for choosing books on a given theme.

• Shopping by the publisher is a quick way to discover books you can immediately trust. In the UK, publishers like SPCK have a long history of trustworthy Christian resources.

• Phone us up - we have some brilliant bookworms on our Customer Services Team who would love to recommend a book or two (or three). Our number is always at the top of the page. 

• Ask a Pastor. Church leaders by their nature read a lot of books. It helps them prepare for their sermons amongst many other things. So, naturally, they will know which books are best for you.

• Take a chance on a sale book. As you only have a finite number of books you can read, a good risk minimiser when choosing is to buy one on a really good offer. Even if you didn’t like it, you still got it for a really good price. 

2. Read just a little

Not every book has to be read cover-to-cover. 

The completionist in me did not want to write that, but it's true. 

For some books, you might only need to read a few chapters, and slogging through the rest just so you can say you read it may end up being counterproductive. Reading more books should be enjoyable, and not a means to bragging rights. 

Don’t be afraid to give up a book partway through, or only read the chapters that interest you. 

3. Short and Sweet

A cheeky way to bump up that number of books you’ll read is to keep them short. For fiction fans, novellas are a great way. Some other great short reads include:

• Lent devotionals usually clock in at 100-150 pages, broken into about forty manageable and reflective readings. A great way to dip into deeper reading. 

• The ‘A Very Brief History’ series of books offer condensed information in an accessible way. Current books in the series include Julian of Norwich, St Paul, Bach, Thomas Aquinas, and Jesus

• Richard Rohr’s ‘What Do We Do With The Bible?’ comes in at a tidy 73 pages, but each one is packed with startling and thought-provoking ideas

• The ‘More>’ series of books. Written for a Millennial audience, these books offer punchy lessons in living an authentic life and faith 

• Made to read slowly, poetry books also offer a wide range of experiences small enough to fit in your pocket. 

4. Page Against the Machine 

For me, the biggest enemy of reading books is my phone. Every minute I know there is an urgent news story to digest, an article I simply have to read, a Tweet to like, YouTube video to watch, a message to reply to, an online quiz to take, a post to update, an invite to accept, a notification to respond to.

Like an exam room clock, a mobile phone can be a ticking distraction machine that eats up focus and time. Here are a few ways that you can limit how much your phone interferes with the time you’d rather spend reading. 

• Put it in another room. It’s quite incredible how true the phrase ‘out of sight, out of mind’ really is. If you just leave your phone in another room for a short while (but with the volume on), you’ll find it much easier to focus on the book in your hands.

• Limiting apps are a great way to restrict how much time you spend on your phone. They can be tailored to differed apps on your phone. For example, you can restrict just Facebook if you know that is what takes up most of your time.

  

• Before every click, ask yourself ‘Do I really want to read or see that?’. It’s amazing how much internet traffic comes from ambling thoughtlessly from one page to another. More often than you think, the answer will be ‘probably not’. 
  

As a bonus book suggestion, Tony Reinke's 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You is an insightful and useful book for being aware of the ways technology affects you and your faith. 

5. Growing interest

There is a brilliant poem from Rainer Maria Rilke that offers the perfect mantra for reading: go to the limit of your longing.

Instead of following prescriptive reading lists, follow your own interests passionately and relentlessly. Dig deep. Every book offers new ways of voicing that interest.

The single best way to read more is to be interested in more. 

It soon becomes self-generating as one book will lead to another book which leads to another book and so on.

If you follow your curiosity, concerns about reading more will soon dissipate. You won’t worry about the books you haven’t read. Instead, you’ll find a hunger for the books you can read. Pretty soon the decisions about what to read will become second nature. 

6. Have a plan

Always know what your next book is going to be. You don’t have to stick with that decision, but at least you know where to go next. Otherwise, you may not know where to go when you finish a book and break the habit of reading more.

And it is a habit. 

The habit of a lifetime, hopefully.

Bonus Suggestions: Christian Books about Books

Lit! by Tony Reinke:  "Learn how to read, what to read, when to read, and why you should read with this helpful guide from accomplished reader Tony Reinke. Offered here is a theology for reading and practical suggestions for reading widely, reading well, and for making it all worthwhile."

On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior: "Acclaimed author Karen Swallow Prior takes readers on a guided tour through works of great literature both ancient and modern, exploring twelve virtues that philosophers and theologians throughout history have identified as most essential for good character and the good life. In reintroducing ancient virtues that are as relevant and essential today as ever, Prior draws on the best classical and Christian thinkers, including Aristotle, Aquinas, and Augustine."

The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay: A novel full of books (some hidden, some not so much), The Printed Letter Bookshop is a story for anyone who lingers in the isles of bookstores. "Amid literature and lattes, three women come together and find that sharing one's journey with best friends makes life richer. The Printed Letter Bookshop is the story of friends who find each other—and themselves—in a place none of them ever expected."

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