One problem I have, which I am sure is common amongst most avid readers, is reading a book with difficult vocabulary. 

By difficult, I mean words which I may not have come across before, and of which I have no inclination of what they mean, that seem to be integral to the sentence if I am to understand it.

This isn't fun as it makes reading the book an arduous task and takes away from the joy of following the story and being able to keep up and comprehend what is going on. 

There have been many times (most recently reading Ian McEwan's The Children Act - review coming soon) where I am having to look up the definition of words, scribble them down on the page and then rereading the whole thing again. This is most inconvenient when on the tube where I read most days, and have no internet access. 

There are a few short term hacks to get around this, however ultimately if you are dedicated to the book and to building your vocabulary looking up the words is not only necessary but beneficial. 

If like me, you are in a situation where there is no heavy dictionary to hand or not so heavy iPhone to search with, reading the passage around it and deciphering the context may help. Sometimes I can guess words meanings based on this an/or the prefix of the word.

It can be easy to give up when reading a book that requires a lot of effort, and put you off it. However, remember this is just one of the many ways in which books open people up to things they have never experienced before. Over time, reading things that are difficult have enabled me to express myself in a much broader way, allowing me to use various words and phrases I wouldn't have come across otherwise. 

Yes, it is true - life experience and meeting new people open you up to these things too, but there is a great joy in sitting in bed with a book, pencil and glass of wine and reading, looking up, scribbling and rereading. 

The hardest part is remembering these words! After I have finished a book, I try to go over the scribbles and write them out somewhere to try and commit them to memory. This can become a good Sunday morning or evening ritual to help relax or focus the mind.

 Gx