Want to read more books next year? Here are a few hacks from the top 1% of readers

It's nearly the end of 2025 and I, like so many others, am looking at my Goodreads app disappointed that I won't meet my annual reading goals – again.

I don't get it. On top of a lifelong love for reading, I know that study after study shows reading books could help me live longer, make me smarter, reduce stress, and help me sleep better. 

But like most Americans, I struggle to keep up with the habit. 

About 82% of U.S. adults reported reading fewer than 10 books in 2023, according to data analytics firm YouGov. An elite 1% reported reading 50 or more books annually.

So how do they do it?

The Enquirer interviewed three people in Northern Kentucky who reported regularly reading more than 50 books per year. Here are some of their hacks.

Trey Grayson, former Kentucky Secretary of State, said creating goals within goals – like reading the biography of every U.S. president or tackling every Stephen King book – helps him read more than 50 books annually.

Create goals within goals, take suggestions - and audiobooks count

"That was really hard," the 53-year-old Boone County resident said. "I mean, I read great books that year, but in some respects, it was more of a chore."

His typical average is around 50-60 books – about half nonfiction, half fiction.  The key to hitting his annual goals, he said, is creating goals within goals. 

This year, for instance, he'll complete his longstanding goal to read a biography of every U.S. president – he only has former presidents Jimmy Carter and Woodrow Wilson left. (There's not a good, recent biography of Joe Biden yet, so he doesn't count that). 

"If you set a goal, like, 'I'm going to do four or five books of a certain type,' you kind of work your way through it," he said. "That keeps me from getting bored."

Grayson also takes suggestions from friends, writes the name of the book down, and makes it a point to actually read it. 

And lastly, he includes audiobooks in his final count, often jumping back and forth between reading and listening to a book. He also uses it to help set a rhythm when he's reading a particularly difficult dialect or style of writing. 

"An audiobook is a book," he said, adding that he prefers to listen to books while driving.

• Favorite books (so far) in 2025: "The Stand" by Stephen King (fiction) and "Engines of Change: A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars" by Paul Ingrassia (nonfiction)
• Favorite books of all time: "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (fiction) and "What It Takes: The Way to the White House" by Richard Ben Cramer (nonfiction).
• Medium: Physical, digital and audiobooks

Jason Ellis, of Burlington, said he manages to read more than 50 books a year by focusing on issues that interest him, creating a syllabus and remnding himself there's no "gold star" for reading books he doesn't connect with.

Follow the curiosity, quit if you need to, and be kind

Jason Ellis' strategy for reading more than 50 books a year is wildly different from Grayson's and it's changed over the years. 

He starts by choosing a topic that piques his interest, like how to use the programming language Python. Then he asks ChatGPT to create a syllabus for him based on what he wants to learn and know more about. 

"It's pretty neat because it'll scaffold it, it'll make a little curriculum, and then you just follow through," Ellis, 47, said. 

Ellis, who lives on a farm in Burlington with his wife and three children, said he makes it a point to not watch much television. A typical evening for him at home involves feeding their horses and reading for about 90 minutes to two hours. 

And he won't waste time on a book he doesn't click with – he'll stop reading it. 

"There's no virtue in reading the book; you don't get a gold star," he said. "People just have to be easier on themselves."

• Favorite books (so far) in 2025: "I Cheerfully Refuse" by Leif Enger
• Favorite book of all time: "Ulysses" by James Joyce
• Medium: Physical

Abby Vogel is a 17-year-old senior at the Ignite Institute who avoids social media by reading via the Kindle app on her phone.

Use the Kindle app to help stop scrolling 

Seventeen-year-old Abby Vogel is a senior at the Ignite Institute in Boone County. She's busy with applying for college, has an internship every weekday afternoon, and works part-time. 

But she still manages to read often via her Kindle app, which clocked her year-to-date total at 53 this November. Her total is likely more. (The app can be finicky about what it considers a completed book and she doesn't keep a running list. )

"I have the Kindle app on my phone, which I feel like it's the easiest for me because my phone's always with me," she said.

Vogel just hops on the Kindle app instead of scrolling social media. 

"I loved reading before social media," she said. "Sometimes the social media scrolling – I'll just get so bored and done with it."

She said it also helps that she prioritizes "comfort reads" she enjoys instead of forcing herself to read something heavier. 

"I also use it to help relax when I'm feeling overwhelmed," she said. 

• Favorite books (so far) in 2025: "Variation" by Rebecca Yarros or anything by author Penny Reid
• Favorite book of all time: "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
• Medium: Digital