How I read books
I liked reading about how Wes Kao reads books, so I figured I'd share my own process:
Finish every book. In defiance of popular wisdom, I make a point of finishing every book I start—no matter how awful. I have learned much about good writing from reading bad writing, and I often find useful information squirreled away in the dark corners of otherwise unremarkable books. It has the added benefit of making me think a little harder about every book I pick up.
Take detailed notes. I remember very little from the first hundred books I read. That seemed a shame, so I started talking detailed notes. I read physical books and take digital notes in Obsidian on my phone. The process (particularly for great non-fiction books) is incredibly interruptive, but that's by design: I read actively, questioning ideas and making connections to other ideas. My goal isn't to finish books, but to learn (and retain) useful ideas from them.
Read weird, esoteric books. I like this quote from Arthur Koestler in The Act of Creation: "All decisive events in the history of scientific thought can be described in terms of mental cross-fertilisation between different disciplines." I think the same applies to creativity generally: new ideas in one domain often result from old ideas in others. I read widely on any topic that seems interesting and try to leave the marketing echo chamber as often as possible.
Own your books. I buy and read only physical books. I aspire to build a library of ideas for my friends and family to access, and I'm wary of the fact that services like Kindle effectively limit you to renting your books, and not truly owning. More on this idea: Buy books liberally.
Reread exceptional books. Great books are few and far between, and it makes sense to revisit those that have the biggest impact on your worldview. My most re-read book is The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
And I'll finish by quoting Wes directly:
“More books isn’t the goal. Books are a means to an end. The end is to become a wiser person, to spark your own imagination, to get a deeper understanding of a topic. They’re not the goal itself so I’m not impressed if you’ve read 52 books in a year. I’m more impressed if you read one book and let it deeply change you.”
Related reading:
