A reading of the day, a daily reading time, whatever you want to call it – in my opinion – should be done in a nonstrict way.

See, this passage on reading reminded me of the advice Anne Lamott gave on writing.

Quite simply, there is no need to make huge jumps at a furious pace.

You write, Bird By Bird, simply one step at a time.

So stop and take a deep breath.

Reading is not a race or a contest. It is a process.

And if you are going to make the process of reading into a reading life, you are going to have to relax about the whole thing.

In the same way that systems are better than goals, we almost need to have a reading rhythm rather than a goal.

It’s not: “Read one book per week.”

It’s: “Set aside one hour per day of leisure time to read.” – Because it is what you wish to do.

For reading should probably be more like a private happiness than a military discipline.

And heavens yes – read anything you wish.

The person just beginning to bring some discipline to his or her life as a reader need not be ashamed at reading non-masterpieces, or at only being able to focus on reading a few pages at a time. Let that person, then, begin with short stories or essays and work toward longer works that demand extensive attention. Indeed, it’s vital as a reader to move forward in an orderly way (ordinate procedere debet): “the man who moves along step by step is the man who moves along best, not like some who fall head over heels when they wish to make a great leap ahead.”

-Alan Jacobs, The Pleasures Of Reading In An Age Of Distraction