By Rachel Donohue, highschoogle blogger. 

Are you scrambling to get through your summer reading assignments before school begins and suffering, like me?  Or maybe you haven’t even cracked a book open yet, like me a few days ago.  Here some tips I found online and from friends. Good luck to us all.

Tips:

• Pick the shortest book with the largest font, because let’s be real, it’s all about being able to finish them at this point.
• Read the most boring one last.
• Try reading the part of day you are least tired.
• Read and reward yourself. .  Read a chapter, eat a snack.  Finish a book, buy yourself a present or better yet, bribe your parents (who are most likely very anxious for you to get the reading done) to fund the present.   Treat yourself to rewards that work for you.
• Read with a friend. You can do this for real, virtually or a combination of both.  Find a friend reading the same book, read together, set goals together, monitor each other’s  progress, talk about the book every few chapters, set up a competition, and certainly celebrate reaching your goals together.
• Multi-task:  Read and sunbathe.
• Read a summary on Spark Notes or Shmoop.com or watch the movie if there is one. Sometimes knowing the basic plot and characters in a tough read can make it more understandable.
• We saved the best for last.  Check out Aherk – a self-blackmailing service. You tell them what you want to achieve and set a deadline. Then you upload a compromising photo of yourself that will be posted to Facebook of you don’t meet the deadline. That should get you reading!