Why read 50 books a year? Why not 200?
Seriously. Why 50 books a year and why not 200? This number could always go north bound but what’s the point of reading anything if you can’t recall anything you just read?
I would like to share an anecdote first.
I enjoy flying because flying offers me an uninterrupted reading time. No pesky telemarketer calls, no temptations to check what everyone in the world is up to and no guilt for stealing some ‘me’ time away from work to get into my world of books.
Recently I was on a two hour flight. As soon as everyone buckled their seat belts, I opened the kindle app on my iPad and started ‘leafing’ through all the gems James Clear had to give away in Atomic Habits. I soon realised that my fellow passenger had a book in his hand.
The curiosity in me kicked in. I peered over to check the book he had in his hands. So much for being distraction free while flying!
It was a book about the sub-conscious mind. Incidentally, this is on my reading wish list too. I got excited. A part of me wanted to nudge him by saying something like, “This is on my wish list too. How are you finding it so far?” Thankfully, I had the good sense not to disturb a fellow reader.
As time went by, I began noticing his manner of reading. He was turning pages as if this book were a James Hadley Chase thriller! Where was the highlighting? The notetaking? Surely this book would throw bits of information, research and opinions? Where would you note them down my flying friend?
This experience made me ask some questions about non-fiction reading.
Why does anyone read anything in the first place? Is it out of boredom? Do they want to join a reader’s club? Or boast to the world about how many books they have read in the year?
If it’s for reasons mentioned above, turning pages is probably the way to go. We read a book and move on to the next. It would be a miracle if someone remembers even five takeaways from a book that they have read in the near past. I used to be this person too once upon a time until I understood the futility of reading without a system in place.
Read to what end? What’s the point of reading if there is nothing being done to understand, record, retrieve, practice and update what we read and understood from a book?
I look back and ask myself, ‘What do I have to show for, for all that I have read and experienced?’ Until I developed an active reading system for myself.
There are readers who romanticize reading, like me.
They are curious. They want to know about the world they live in. They who want to find out about things like why are things the way they are? Or how can someone improve? Or pursuing interests that resonate with them? Those who like the smell of coffee and would gladly hide themselves in a library for hours together.
Reading without an effective system to record and retrieve is a waste of time and effort in my opinion. Yes, reading is good and always recommended. But, we need to have a system to retain and retrieve too.
In a non-fiction book, you are presented with an idea backed by arguments, anecdotes, research and studies, trivia, writers and books, quotes, history etc. As a reader, you follow the writer’s trail of thoughts. You ask yourself whether you choose to believe something that’s proposed or not? Whether you need to research the topic further or whether you are simply blown away with information which turns out to be a revelation of sorts to you.
You come across words used in the book which beg you to refer a dictionary (a physical book or otherwise) to understand its meaning. You build your vocabulary which is such a wonderful thing rather than scrolling Instagram pages mindlessly all day! I mean there is a place for brevity as well as being wordy.
You read, review and reflect. You pause to think. You ask yourself, how could you possibly use this information that you have encountered in your life?
I recently read Tiago Forte’s ‘Building a Second Brain’ and learned the importance of having a note taking system for effective reading — be it a book or an online article.
A simple start is by highlighting passages that one finds interesting. You would read quite a few things but you would distill and understand things your way. What you understand is what you need to note. That’s the thing that makes you want to try and use it in your own life or make you ask questions and investigate something further. You would come back to it having figured out whether something works for you or not. That’s the learning that you were probably aiming for if you picked up a book in the very first place.
Importantly, when the time comes you need to have a storage and retrieval system for all those notes you just made.
I wouldn’t stress enough about the importance of note taking. Be it old school handwritten ones in a book or a digital notebook like Evernote, Notion, Obsidian etc.
I highly recommend an active reading system.
Active Reading System
Reading purposefully in a setting that allows you to have a ‘conversation with the writer’ an expression that I borrow from Ryan Holiday who is known for his books on stoicism.
A notebook or an iPad or a laptop to capture thoughts as you read.
A highlighter if its a physical book.
A marking system to categorise — concepts, quotes, ideas, anecdotes, history, book mentions etc.
Yes the process is slow and painstaking. Agreed, that one cannot have the perfect setting for having a tete a tete with the writer everytime anywhere. But ask yourself this, Why read at all?
It all makes sense if you can imbibe something of value when you read a book. Its that learning that you are after. Its not just going to come by so easily. There has to be some effort that you put in to enjoy the journey, to explore the path taken by the author, to applaud the brilliant many people who lived and live amongst us.
Active reading is reading, highlighting, taking notes and writing down summaries of how we understand all the information that has fallen our way.
My active reading system
Ebooks
I use the kindle ereader when I am reading a book which is largely information oriented as well as autobiographies. I am happy to use the highlighting feature and an occasional note (which is highly painful on the kindle device). I then transfer all my highlights to Readwise and then tag my highlights. These would finally move to my Second Brain (Tiago Forte’s methodology) for a progressive summary.
Kindle app on Ipad
I prefer the kindle app on my iPad when I am reading something where I need to cross refer topics or search writers or add books to my wish list, when I am reading a book. I don’t consider this distracting because I am researching purposefully and still control the whole process of reading and researching without stepping out on to social media.
Colored highlights allow me to visually categorize passages — quotes, book mentions, Terms and explanations, history, anecdotes etc.
Then comes the process of digitizing — Readwise for tagging and Notion for Summaries.
Physical books
I generally prefer physical books on philosophy or books with deep concepts that require concentration and understanding. I have a small notebook and a highlighter alongside the book that I am reading. I would read a chapter, highlight passages that I find interesting and note my thoughts about the things that I read. The purist in me enjoys this process more than the ebook reading method. However, one has to consider having a digital recording and retrieval system in this day and age. I capture photos on readies, tag the passages and finally move everything to Notion.
I have only started this system recently and I can share a few experiences right away -
- I seem to recall information better. If I am unable to do so, I have Notion to go to or Readwise since I have tagged the passages that resonated with me.
- All this effort increases my engagement with the information. As I have slowed down my reading, I feel I understand things better.
- I now engage in reflection which is a conversation one has with oneself. Its amazing to notice all the things that pop up. its experiential and no matter what I say, you need to try it for yourself. We all do reflect at some point but doing it purposefully is another experience.
I have a habit of reading multiple books at any given time. Depending on my mental faculties, my mood, the hour of the day and most importantly the availability of my setting, I decide what to read. If you think this whole process is cumbersome, I don’t spend more than an hour a day reading. But I read everyday. Not because social media influencers tell me to read 100 books a year, but because I am curious and in search of meaning. Because, books only give and take nothing away from me. They don’t judge me, they only inform and teach me. They are my best friends that I can have with me any time and any where.
Read a few books but read them well and have an effective note taking system in place.
Quoting Greg Mckeown, writer of Essentialism — Less but better.
Happy Reading!
