While most people know that they need to be reading a lot more books than they are right now, a lot of times they're find they are unable to do so , because of all the bad habits which they have acquired in school and college. Many of them have become allergic to books, because they still associate them with the painful reading assignments they were forced to complete by their teachers. They were forced to read the book from cover to cover, and then answer all kinds of pointless questions, based on some unimportant paragraph hidden away somewhere in the text. This made reading a painful exercise for them , and they still hate the idea of having to open a book.

They find reading an onerous task, simply because they haven't mastered the skills of being able to absorb the information which a book contains. This is because they think of a book as similar to eating a meal in their grandmother's house, where they were forced to eat whatever was put on their plate, and didn't have any choice in the matter.

The menu was decided by grand mom, who knew what was good for you, and you didn't have any say at all . You were forced to gobble whatever was put in front of you, no matter how much you hated brinjal and broccoli. You were a passive eater, and often got so stuffed on the tasteless main course , that you never managed to reach the dessert - the only part of the meal that you were really looking forward to ! 

You should jettison your old style of thinking, and start thinking of books as being a buffet . You are in control , because there is a wide choice of dishes in front of you, and you can sample them as you please, at your own pace. Not only can you pick and choose which books to read, you can also select which chapters you find interesting, and read these selectively. 

Just like there's no rule which says you need to start from soup and then plod your way to dessert, you can always decide to read the conclusion first, and then decide if you want to read the rest of the book. 

Equally important , you're the one who needs to put in effort to fill your stomach. You need to walk from counter to counter to see what's on display, and it's up to you to taste and eat whatever appeals to you . 

When you eat in a buffet, you can adapt your eating style, depending upon your preference. You can choose what to eat; in what order to eat it ; how much to eat of each dish ; how fast to eat; and can decide if you want to go back for seconds. And if you gorge on unhealthy stuff, then you only have yourself to blame if you feel sick the next day !

You need to use exactly the same proactive approach when reading a book ! Just like food can be very nourishing, so can a book, but how you extract that nourishment depends on the way you look at reading. Treat it as a buffet , where you're in charge !

Remember Bacon's famous words: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."