Hi! I hope ksophiett doesn't mind me answering on this thread. If you do, just say so and I'll keep quiet from now on, haha
Reading is definitely important! However, you don't need to mention a lot of books in your personal statement (you probably shouldn't), as it's better to mention around three of them and talk about them in more detail. You only have 4000 characters after all!
I'd personally try to look for some kind of (voluntary) work experience. Look at museums, historic buildings/sites, everything you could connect to history in a way. I don't think it would disadvantage you if you don't have any relevant work experience, but my interviewers definitely seemed interested in mine. So if you can't find anything, it's no big deal, but if you can, I'd definitely take the opportunity.
For the structure of the personal statement, I personally started with an anecdote, then talked about some of my favorite historical periods and connected those to the books I read. I ended with a brief mention of an extracurricular activity and what I've learned from that, as well as my (vague) career plans. I originally wrote a hispol PS though, so it also featured some political topics, and its structure might be slightly different from a history PS. I'd definitely try to make your personal statement as personal (lol) as possible, so don't talk about the content of a book; talk about what you've learned from it or what you think about it.
Hope this helps! Although I'm sure the creator of this thread has some great suggestions as well
