How to get (back) into reading and spike reading interest in your kids

Image source- Beerbiceps

The reading habit in people is slowly going away. They miss out on so much. Either they were into reading and stopped due to some reason, or never into it. 1-1½-year-old babies nowadays have their hands on smartphones and games first rather than books. 

Either you want to start reading or resume your reading habit, and maybe you have a kid and make them read as well, here are some suggestions.

Many people rather would plunk into a sofa, binge watch movies/series all day (no judgements) and say they don't have time to read. 

Unasked pro tip (if you don't wanna get a look of disgust, annoyance and judgement)- Never ever say that book's movie adaptation is better than the book in front of a book lover. Just never. Period.

Image source- thebookoholics

For yourself:-

1. Start small- Start slowly. Maybe just read a chapter a day (if it is not too long). Maybe start with around 15-20 pages a day. Or set aside 20mins for reading daily. Initially, maybe choose books that are thin and not too bulky. Most of us used to avoid reading big fat syllabus books in our academic life, so who are we even kidding?
2. Read the synopsis and digital sample of a book before purchasing it- You don't wanna spend your hard-earned money or meagre pocket money on a book that you may not end up liking later or mid-way. So go through the synopsis/blurb of the book on its back cover or description of the book on the e-commerce site you are seeing it on. Amazon does offer a digital sample (starting 1-3 chapters of a book). So you can read it on your Kindle app/device before purchasing it. Though this doesn't guarantee that book will turn out well, but you will get an idea that you may like it or not. Please do not read a book for free from any PDF or free book application, it demotivates the author and devalues their work. If you can't buy a book due to financial issues, ask a friend or borrow it from a library.
3. Keep that phone aside- Phone does take a lot of our times. So keep that phone aside on silent (if you want a dictionary, download Offline English dictionary so you don't keep getting distracted). If you are reading from mobile on Kindle app or so, avoid going to other application unless its urgent (no, stalking your crush's profile or instantly replying to their message IS not urgent).
4. Start with your favourite genre- Be it non-fiction or fiction. And in fiction- motivational, romance, comedy, fantasy, mythology, sci-fi, horror, action, suspense, thriller or whatever, start with genre you like. So you will stick to it and complete reading it. And as you go along, then maybe try other genres as well. You can search the names of books or authors on Google for a specific genre.
5. Set your 'me time' no matter what- Be it your studies, work, crush/partner, friends, household responsibilities or kids, keep an hour aside for you and only you. Let them know to not disturb you at that fixed time. If reading finds a place in your me-time, don't ditch it and be committed to reading and finishing that book (unless you find it really boring and just cannot get through).
6. Form/join a community of book lovers- Join a book club. If it doesn't exist, can form one. Share recommendations, reviews etc. It will help you connect with like-minded people, make friends, and give you amazing book recommendations and may keep you away from not-so-good books.

Maybe for your kids (if you have kids):- 

1. Start from their young age- Rather than giving them the phone to play with or watch videos on while you feed them, tell them stories. Read it from a book or recite your own stories. And at night, read them stories from children's book. Once they are old enough to read, encourage them to read it themselves while you are around them. This will give them a good start to reading.
2. Read books yourself- Kids learn by looking at their parents and not just what you tell them. If you are busy on your phone and ask them to read books, they wouldn't. If possible, have same time in the day to read books. Or if the same time is not possible, read it while they are around you, so they look at you reading and lookup to you as an example. If both the parents do it, it would be even more beneficial. This can be put into action at any age, especially before they are a teenager. 
3. Start with comic books or children's book- Once they start reading, maybe can give them comics or books with illustrations which will attract them. And then many authors write children's book (may or may not have illustrations)- Ruskin Bond, Sudha Murthy, and Ruskin Bond are some of the legends in this genre. 
4. Know their fav genres and introduce those genres of the book - Know what genre they like. Comedy, action, science or something else. Introduce books of that genre. If you wouldn't want to read the book of genre which doesn't interest you, it wouldn't interest them either to read books of the genre they don't like. Though you can ask them to try different genres but do not force it on them.
5. Genres without gender bias- Do not differentiate in genres due to their gender. You can introduce fairytale stories to your boy while action to your girl if that's what they like. Experiment first and see where their interests lies.
6. Discuss books with your kids- Discuss what they liked about the book and what they didn't. What their favourite genre is/are. Listen and talk. 

Though you would want to raise a reader child, do not force it on them if they don't wanna read.

Happy reading!