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Author Gretchen Rubin made the resolution to read more in her bestselling book The Happiness Project. On her web site by the same name, she offers Twelve Tips to Read More. Here are a few of Rubin's excellent and practical "strategies for getting more good reading done."

1. Quit reading. I used to pride myself on finishing every book I started. No more. Life is short. There are too many wonderful books to read.
2. Read books you enjoy. When I'm reading a book I love—for example, I'm now reading A. S. Byatt's The Children's Book—I'm astonished by how much time I find to read during my day. Which is another reason to stop reading a book I don't enjoy.
3. Use TiVO. It's much more efficient to watch shows on TiVO, because you skip the commercials and control when you watch. Then you have more time to read.
4. Skim. Especially when reading newspapers and magazines, often I get as much from skimming as I do by a leisurely reading. I have to remind myself to skim, but when I do, I get through material much faster.
5. Get calm. I have a sticky note posted in our bedroom that says, "Quiet mind." It's sometimes hard for me to settle down with a book; I keep wanting to jump up and take care of some nagging task. But that's no way to read. Incidentally, one of the main reasons I exercise is to help me sit still for reading and writing – if I don't exercise, I'm too jumpy.

For more excellent tips from Rubin – and a few guidelines from other writers – visit Twelve Tips to Read More.
And if you're looking for great reads on a wide variety of topics, check out these free selections in Questia's Reading Room.

"Read, read, read," said author William Faulkner, adding, "Read everything – trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write."

Evan Maloney agrees.  In his guardian.co.uk article The best advice for writers? Read., he notes, "Reading is essential for writers – it instructs, inspires and offers a blissful escape from the blank page."

Here are a few of Maloney's insights:

Most obviously, reading improves a writer's active vocabulary. A good novel is like a dictionary and a thesaurus, cleverly adapted to be compelling as well as instructive. You can read the dictionary and write down all the words you like (I did once), but it isn't the most riveting book.

As well as a large vocabulary, novels give writers a sense of how it is done. They offer templates that can be borrowed and adapted; they teach a writer how to create narrative structures and characters, how to develop tension, write dialogue, and maintain a consistent tone and pitch...

Even without personal experience as a guide, a great novel can offer writers inspiration...

Finally, whenever writing gets too painful, when each word and idea seems to be dragged from the mind like the limb of an aborted camel, reading offers a writer a lovely escape into a fantasy world where stories are revealed with simple ease and order on the page. Writing is often hell, but reading is almost always a pleasure if you are discerning.

These online resources can help you satisfy your need to read!

Three of the most celebrated sites offering comprehensive booklists and reviews are The New York Times,  Publisher's Weekly and The Washington Post.

Best outdoor literature, 50 best multicultural books, and 50 best film adaptations are just a few of the lists featured at BookSpot.  Literati offers author biographies and contact information, book summaries, reviews, and sample chapters.

Also offering reading recommendations are BookPage, Salon, and January Magazine. Many sites – including American Bookseller's Association's Bookweb – list books which have earned various literary awards. And most offer resources for discussion groups, information on authors, literary criticism, a links to other good reader resources.

Finally, The Book Report Network connects readers with books and authors through eight websites targeting a range of genres through bookreporter.com, teenreads.com, kidsreads.com, and graphicnovelreporter.com, among others.