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Christi Gerstle over at Novel Conclusions had a great post about what we can do to encourage reluctant readers.

I didn’t know that only 25% of adults go a whole year and never read a book.

As Writers, I think it is in our best interests if we remember that and try some of her techniques to try to turn that dismal statistic around.

She asks if you have any ideas you can add to her list of her five ideas.

How have you been successful in encouraging friends to read?  What could we add to this list?

Let’s put on our thinking caps and try to grow her list.

http://novelconclusions.com/2013/08/25/getting-reluctant-readers-reading-grown-up-edition/

• Do not (publicly) judge what others are reading; it doesn’t pay to be discouraging.  It might horrify me a bit that my teenage cousin is reading some disgusting political propaganda book, but at least she’s reading something.  I’m sure there are some five dollar words in there somewhere to build her vocabulary.  It might be disconcerting to sit next to someone on the subway reading 50 Shades of Gray, but at least they’re getting back into the habit of reading books.
• Ask about books that they have read.  If you can get someone talking about a book they read that they loved, it might remind them how much they miss reading.
• Recommend easy “transition” books (e.g. transitioning from not reading).  The book that finally got my man back into reading was Hunger Games (he picked up my copy, of course, after seeing me wrapped up in it a few years ago).  He spent a number of years after undergrad just reading accounting textbooks and movie scripts (he’s an accountant who used to work in the film industry), and he says that Hunger Games was just like a movie script.  It hooked him, and he stayed up until 2am one night finishing it.
• Talk about books you love.  Enthusiasm is infectious.  My mom, my dad, my boyfriend, my best friend, my friend’s mom, and a coworker –among others – have all been talked into picking up The New Geography of Jobs after my enthusiastic description of the book’s awesomeness and its applicability to everyday life.  When I first read Hunger Games, I was similarly excited – though I still haven’t talked my mom into it.  She’s afraid it’s too violent (and she’s into Game of Thrones!  Talk about violence!).
• Recognize people for reading.  This may sound silly, but people need to be validated.  A simple “That’s awesome you make time to read!” goes a long way.

Thanks Christi for bringing up the subject.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy