How to Return to Reading
7 steps to gently guide you back into being a reader
A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition.
— Henry Miller
There are two types of people I hear from all the time, both online and in my own personal life, who want to get back into reading.
The first are readers whose lives get busy, the habit fades and suddenly it’s been weeks or months since they finished a book. It could even have been a difficult/intense/uninspiring read that meant you just stopped wanting to pick up up a book. The good news is that reading is a habit and habits can be rebuilt. It just takes a different approach than when you were reading regularly.
Type 2 are those who were perhaps avid readers in their childhood or teen years, saying they just don’t know where or how to start agin. They tell me they don’t have time or they’re on their phone too much or they simply can’t stay focused long enough to finish a book.
If either of these sound familiar, you’re not alone.
The longer the break, the harder it can feel to return. You begin to wonder if maybe you’re just not a reader anymore. You are. The habit has just gone dormant and, as I said before, habits can be rebuilt.
So, whether you’ve been in a month long slump or haven’t picked up a book since you were a teenager, this guide will walk you through how to return to reading without pressure or guilt.
Step 1: Let go of guilt
There can be a surprising amount of shame wrapped up in not reading. We tell ourselves we should be getting through more books or that we used to read more and that everyone else seems to manage it.
But reading is not a moral obligation, and falling out of the habit is not a personal failing. When we turn it into a measure of discipline or intelligence, picking up a novel starts to feel like homework rather than pleasure.
It helps to reframe a reading lull as neutral, just a season that shifted your attention elsewhere. Life changes, energy dips, priorities move. None of that cancels out your identity as a reader.
Letting go of guilt makes space for curiosity again, and curiosity is a far better invitation back to books than self-reproach.
