I read a lot more thanks to my Kindle, and I’m not alone

I’ve been reading excessively since the days of library points and pizza parties, but over the years, the habit has gotten much harder to fit in. Like most adults, my free time is considerably less, and my smartphone creeps in to occupy my spare moments. Not to be deterred, I decided to set an aggressive book goal this year, and thanks to my Kindle, reading has slipped back into my routine with surprising ease. According to Reddit, I’m not the only one.

I’m not blaming anyone for my limited book consumption, but if I were going to blame someone, it would absolutely be my smartphone. Over the last few years, my phone has quietly become my default entertainment. When I’m not distracted by group texts and notifications, I waste time on everything from reviewing photos to compulsively checking the weather app. At night, I’m pulled into algorithm-driven scrolling, depressing news feeds, or mindless TikTok, not to mention Netflix. None of these choices feels intentional or even particularly excessive, but together they’ve slowly pushed books out of my daily routine.

A hugely active thread on Reddit’s r/Kindle asks, “How do you guys read so much?” angling at users already in the double digits for books this year. Most of the answers point to the same conclusion I’ve landed on myself: e-readers don’t just make reading more convenient, they make it the default. Many of us read more as soon as we stop using our phones as our primary downtime device, especially at the end of the day. Thumbing through books isn’t a pipe dream. As one user commented, “Honestly, I think if you look at people’s average screen time and replace it with reading, you’d see it’s possible.”

As of January 1, I bring my Kindle to bed now instead of my phone, and have even installed a bed for my favorite Kindle (aka a shelf) to make the change as seamless as possible. I’ve also moved my phone’s overnight charging station out of my bedroom. When something is pressing, like watching 11 videos about Harry Styles ticket prices, I do it standing in the light of the refrigerator like any civilized person, then plug my phone in and head to bed. The single habit shift has completely overhauled my evenings from drawn-out, often depressing time wasting, to simply getting back to the book I’m already in the middle of.

What I appreciate most about the Reddit conversation is that it isn’t framed around speed or optimization. People aren’t solely chasing books-per-year goals (okay, I am, but only as accountability); most users are just reading more because they’re choosing books over other digital noise. One user even quipped, “Life is a whole lot more fun when you just read when you can/want to and stop paying attention to the numbers.”

A lot of commenters openly say they replaced time spent on social media, streaming, or casual browsing with reading because the Kindle made it easier to choose a book over the alternative. In that vein, my Kindle’s usefulness doesn’t end at my bedside; it’s also slim enough to slip into my bag and unobtrusive enough to leave out on a coffee table without feeling like clutter. Thanks to e-ink’s glare-free readability, it’s wildly convenient at the beach as well.

Having a book within arm’s reach turns all of life’s in-between moments into low-effort reading opportunities. And when my Kindle isn’t nearby, the Kindle app fills the gap by giving me a place to pick up right where I left off. An unexpectedly long grocery line can turn into a chance to finish a chapter, even when I didn’t think to pack my Kindle. Throw in that I can automatically sync between Audible books and Kindle ones, and suddenly, even more commute is productive. Most importantly, my nightly reading habit means I’m constantly in the middle of a book and eager to get back to it, even in bits and pieces.

To be clear, I still love physical books. My Kindle will never eclipse the comfort of a well-worn paperback or my inexplicable affection for a dusty bookshelf (despite a very real dust allergy). But in the hectic circus of day-to-day life, e-readers are undeniably convenient. Kindles are lightweight and portable, and I can load an entire library into something that weighs less than my child’s Pete the Cat book set. Adjustable fonts, margins, brightness, and warm lighting make reading comfortable for long stretches and eliminate the need for a nerdy book light (of which I own many). Add in automatic bookmarks and syncing, and I can seamlessly move between devices without hunting down my place.

Perhaps more importantly, getting a new book takes almost no effort. I don’t have to browse a store, place an order, or wait days for something to arrive. If I finish a book at 11 p.m. and feel like starting another, I can download one in seconds and keep going. Thanks to Libby, I still have access to my local library, only now it lives in my pocket.

I don’t know how long this reading streak will last. The Olympics are starting, and I’m already feeling the pull. But it’s comforting to realize that getting through more books isn’t necessarily about finding more time. I don’t have to give up sleep or ignore my child to finally finish Wuthering Heights. (Why did I even start it? I don’t know.) I just have to be more selective about how I spend the time I already have, and my Kindle makes choosing books an easier, more attractive option.