Yes, You Have Time to Read

Even you! Yes, you!

Author’s Note: If you really really think you don’t have time to read, I permit you to scroll to the summary at the bottom.

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“I just have to finish my book this weekend,” I kept saying. Our book club, Literary Snobs, was meeting on Monday, and I’d had over 200 pages left in Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. It was my own fault for having started it only a few days prior, but I’m typically a fast reader and knew I’d have time. On Friday, I figured I’d read in the evening since our reservation at Tokyo Record Bar wasn’t until 10:30 PM, but I ended up writing about things I love (which was therapeutic and well worth it) and found myself not wanting to read while I made our pre-dinner lychee martinis. It was Valentine’s Day, and I was too excited to have gotten the last of the canned lychees from Wegmans. The book would have to wait.

On Saturday, we headed upstate for the day, so it was never a question whether I’d be reading that day—I wouldn’t be—but I figured I’d read when I got home since we’d probably stay in for the night. In Beacon, we looked at minimalistic art and ate maple-glazed doughnuts and stumbled into an adorable bookstore where I purchased Yet Another Book. On our drive back home to the city that evening, with disco and electronic coming out of the car speakers, I expressed that I was in the mood to dance (it was so ambitious to think I’d be staying in). Suddenly, I received a very important text from a trusted friend saying that Black Flamingo, an old favorite club in Williamsburg, was closing soon and we all had to go. It wasn’t a question. Black Flamingo is where my friends and I spent so many of our best nights in the summers of 2022 and 2023, sweating on the dance floor to punchy techno and staying out until sunrise. Two of my friends started dating after a Black Flamingo night. I got into a fight with a Brooklyn Witch and had my favorite coat stolen there. One time, we even started the limbo in the back of the dance space. (I digress...) So on the drive home from Beacon, it was decided we would be going out as soon as we got home. No time to read. There was always Sunday.

On Sunday, I slept until 11 AM, which was Breaking News. I usually don’t sleep past 7 AM, so when something like this happens, it’s a canon event. (Overheard from one of my friends to another friend later that day: “Did you hear Angelina slept until 11 this morning?”) All I had to do on Sunday was bake brownies for my dinner party that night. And read my book. Easy.

To begin my day, I did what my mother would describe as “dilly-dallying.” I read everything but my book, including Danya’s last post in which I literally laughed out loud reading: “I’m reading Martyr! right now (do you guys think I can read the next 300 pages by my book club tomorrow night?)” — so everyone in our book club was on the same page, huh? Pun intended.

After reading Everything But My Book, I took about 40 minutes to finish my breakfast, like a toddler. (Mind you, this breakfast was happening at approximately 1:00 PM.) I then went through all of my saved recipes in the NYT Cooking App and pondered what to cook in the coming weeks. Next, I pulled Claire Saffitz’s Dessert Person cookbook down from my cookbook shelf and thought, What better time than the present to organize my cookbooks! Eventually, I made the brownies and cleaned my kitchen and before I knew it, it was 5:00. My friends were coming over for dinner in 2 hours and I still had to set the table and buy more alcohol and tidy the apartment and chill the martini glasses and take a shower and prepare for my guests and needless to say, I did not read my book on Sunday.

Monday morning. T-9 hours until book club. 200 pages to read.

First and foremost, I had to go to the gym to do push-ups and listen to the Cocteau Twins. I brought my book with me and tried reading on the treadmill for the first time since college. Despite having to adjust to the words bouncing in front of my face with each stride, I eventually got the hang of it and managed to read about 60 pages while walking uphill at 3.2 mph. I was committed now.

After the gym, I returned home to shower and read about 20 pages more, before I headed to the W 4th Street stop to meet my boyfriend for lunch in Carroll Gardens. My app said the trains were running on a modified schedule due to Presidents’ Day, so I played it safe and left earlier than necessary. On the subway, I read about 30 more pages, and then had time to kill before our lunch reservation at Frankies Spuntino, so I sat in a coffee shop nearby and got through 20 more pages.

T-4 hours until book club. 70 pages to read.

While all of this was happening, I had been texting Emily and Valerie, who were also trying to finish the book. Collectively, it seemed like all the Lit Snobs decided to start this book too late, but now it had become a funny bit, and we were all taking finishing this book as seriously as studying for the AP English Language exam. (How did everyone do on that btw?)

I beat my boyfriend to the restaurant, and while he was parking (yeah, he has a car), I did not pull out my phone and open Twitter like I normally would.

I read my book.

T-3.875 hours until book club. 60 pages to read.

I will not bore you with the remaining details, but all you need to know is that I finished Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar in a Blank Street Coffee with evil energy while sitting next to a couple on a first date as I drowned out the first-date conversation with my noise-canceling headphones. And I still had a full 1.5 hours until book club.

The point is: I finished my book. I read 200 pages in a day and found time to read in several situations where I’d normally be mindlessly scrolling on my phone.

I do read often, and thus, I am a fast reader. Practice makes perfect—and I often hear people say they want to read more but have no time to read. Let me make this clear. You have time to read.

I’m aware that if you’re reading this essay right now, maybe you don’t have the “I don’t have time to read” problem. Or you’ve skipped to the bottom where the paragraphs are smaller and have found yourself here. Totally fine.

Here’s the summary:

Everyone has time to read. Before cell phones, many people carried a book with them to pass idle minutes spent waiting. Many people still do this! I’m one of them.

I found myself in a rushed situation that turned into a fun challenge last weekend and finished 200 pages of a book I really enjoyed in under 8 hours. I didn’t sit down and read it for more than an hour at a time, but rather, I found myself squeezing in pages every chance I could get. On the treadmill. Waiting for the subway. On the subway. At a coffee shop. At a restaurant while waiting for someone. So often I hear people say they have no time to read, but if you have time to scroll on Instagram or shop online or read Tweets or go into a rabbit hole on Reddit, you have time to read a book. (Only if you want to! Do what makes you happy!)

Remember that book I said I bought in Beacon 6 days ago that I didn’t need? I’m almost finished with it.

BY THE WAY — I highly recommend Martyr!