askchapo

i'm kind of the same as you. i never read anything voluntarily until after i graduated college and started doing reading groups on lemmygrad dot ml. i don't know your major so this might not apply, but for me there were a lot of professors who would assign readings and then the lectures would cover all the important material anyway. there were a lot of textbooks i never even opened. thank god for anna's archive.

obviously you'll have readings you can't skip. besides skimming, which people have already mentioned, i liked to go to a different place to do readings and homework. it helped me focus when i was able to go to a specific place to lock in. i tried to leave my phone in my bag or out of reach, so i wouldn't be able to get it without moving. it sounds stupid but if it takes even a tiny bit of effort to go on my phone i do it a lot less.

as for your peers, i would imagine how many books you've read isn't the most important thing. unless you're joining a classic literature club, there's far more important stuff. obviously i don't know your school or your situation but i would imagine people have other interests besides books. shared interests are far more important for bonding with your peers than the academic stuff. universities tend to be large enough that everyone will fit in somewhere, but no one will fit in everywhere.