3 ms·

First off, counting books you’ve read is a bit like counting lines of code. Sure it measure output in some fashion, but is a pretty fallible proxy for the real

First off, counting books you’ve read is a bit like counting lines of code. Sure it measure output in some fashion, but is a pretty fallible proxy for the real thing we’re after: knowledge. But the question remains. There’s so many books and only so much time. For myself after years of taking a haphazard approach (bill gates list, stuff recommended on blogs, economist books/arts,etc) I’ve been working on a new strategy for the past few years and it feels like it’s working out well. There is a 10-year reading plan for the “Great Books of the Western World. Within each year the books progress chronologically, and each year supposedly gets a bit more difficult. Using that as a baseline does a few useful things for me. - I never need to figure out what book is next. - I can be reasonably confident that reading the books won’t be a waste; even if I don’t dig a particular book it provides context since, it being an important book, it likely influenced others. - related to the above, I feel like reading the classic books gives me a better understanding new books; either because of a direct reference by the author or because the author is trying to dress up a not-so-original idea. Of course the Great Books are not the be-all and end-all of human knowledge, so I make space for modern books, eastern books, etc. for that it’s as haphazard as before, the only difference is I’m more comfortable about skimming a book in(preface, conclusion, index, ToC, random chapter) and tossing it away if it doesn’t jump out at me. I’ve actively worked on getting better at this. Excited to see other comments in this thread. Also I recommend underlining and making notes in a book. This way when you go back to it you can engage with the ideas more efficiently. EDIT: I also want to plug “how to read a book” which I feel like I do a lot on here. Really really good

redelbee 6y ago
I agree about counting and knowledge, which was part of the reason I wanted to see how other people think about it. I’ve always read a lot and probably always will, so now it’s all about optimizing what I read. I hadn’t heard of Great Books of the Western World before but I’ll definitely check it out! I do something similar with movies and “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die” which is also a great resource. I still can’t bring myself to write in books for some reason, but I did take notes on all the non-fiction books I read last year. I haven’t kept up with that because it didn’t seem to help me with processing, remembering, or using the book much beyond being able to find references more easily. It was useful to find the references more quickly but didn’t seem worth the time invested in note taking. I’ll check out “How to Read a Book” to see if I can get better there.
- loughnane 6y ago
  >I still can’t bring myself to write in books for some reason A lot of us have been taught that it's defacing (which it is if it's a library book or a friends' book), but really it's an act of love. There's no surer sign that someone has spent a lot of time with a book than to see it well worn and marked up. I used to take notes before marking it books. I still do a bit, but the proble is that the notes are lifted out of the context of the book. Not so if you write in it :)

redelbee 6y ago

I agree about counting and knowledge, which was part of the reason I wanted to see how other people think about it. I’ve always read a lot and probably always will, so now it’s all about optimizing what I read. I hadn’t heard of Great Books of the Western World before but I’ll definitely check it out! I do something similar with movies and “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die” which is also a great resource. I still can’t bring myself to write in books for some reason, but I did take notes on all the non-fiction books I read last year. I haven’t kept up with that because it didn’t seem to help me with processing, remembering, or using the book much beyond being able to find references more easily. It was useful to find the references more quickly but didn’t seem worth the time invested in note taking. I’ll check out “How to Read a Book” to see if I can get better there.

loughnane 6y ago
>I still can’t bring myself to write in books for some reason A lot of us have been taught that it's defacing (which it is if it's a library book or a friends' book), but really it's an act of love. There's no surer sign that someone has spent a lot of time with a book than to see it well worn and marked up. I used to take notes before marking it books. I still do a bit, but the proble is that the notes are lifted out of the context of the book. Not so if you write in it :)