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- 039 📚 | What I learned about reading after 24 books in 12 months
039 📚 | What I learned about reading after 24 books in 12 months
Hi,
Happy New Year!
I read a lot in 2022 (a book every 2 weeks on average) - here’s some thoughts on how it went, and what I learned from it.
Reading targets - the good, the bad, and the ugly
Audiobooks - fiction vs non-fiction
Why reading on a Kindle is great
Where do paperbacks fit in?
At the start of 2021, I set out to read 24 books by the end of the year. I managed it, finishing The Anthropocene Reviewed on the 31st December.
Clearly, setting a reading target worked well - but there’s definitely pros and cons when it comes to setting a certain number for the year.
Also, just to add - I often try to read a non-fiction and a fiction (fiction usually before bed) simultaneously. It’s a good way to ensure you’re moving onto new books and finding the ones you want to read.
Reading targets: the Good
A target is a great way to encourage consistent reading - which I genuinely think can be life changing (in the best way possible).
It helps keep you accountable - the key to any good habit - and let’s you know how far along you are with your goal.
And it can be flexible - I didn’t actually read a book every 2 weeks. I read more when I could, and less when I couldn’t, ensuring I never feel too far behind in terms of books read so far.
Also - you can change your target! There’s no secret police checking up if you’ve stuck to your original target. If it seems like a stretch, go for something more reasonable.
Reading targets: the Bad and the Ugly
They encourage quantity over quality - reading for the sake of adding another book to a collection is a quick way to eventually hate reading.
A reading target also encourages shorter books over longer ones - again, not really focusing on the quality side of things.
And finally, a reading target can encourage you to finish a book that you aren’t enjoying, just to tick it off - a sort of sunken cost fallacy.
Overall, I think a reading target is a good thing. But the important thing to remember is that it’s a means to an end to encourage more reading.
The reading itself (quality) is more important than the number of books (quantity).
Audiobooks
Audiobooks are a great way to consume more books. I wouldn’t have stuck to a book every 2 weeks had I have not had a few audiobooks on the go.
But, there’s definitely a time and a place for them.
Fiction vs non-fiction
I listened to the audiobook versions of American Dirt and Project Hail Mary, and both were brilliant.
The overall audio production added a lot more than text on a page could have.
American Dirt benefitted from a great range of voices (by the same narrator), which really gave a feel for Mexico and created an immersive and enjoyable experience.
Project Hail Mary massively benefitted from audio throughout too - but it would spoil a key plot point if I told you why, so you’ll have to just take my word for it!
In my opinion, some non-fiction can struggle, however.
Guns, Germs and Steel has a 4.02 rating on Goodreads with over 350,000 reviews - all in all, it’s a well reviewed book.
I gave it 3 stars. Why?
I listened to the audiobook - and it was incredibly boring. It went on and on, and it was impossible to concentrate fully on it.
Here’s my review at the time:
This was an incredibly long slog. I listened to it on audible and it took me forever, and I didn’t pay enough attention to a good part of it. Some parts were interesting but to be honest I’m glad to be moving on - long non fiction books aren’t great for audio!
Had I have read the book instead, I think it would’ve been much easier to concentrate and follow more easily.
So - audiobooks are great for novels, and personality led writers such as John Green and bill Bryson, not so much for long non-fiction. The likes of Life 3.0 and Guns, Germs and Steel.
Learning
Similarly, I listened to the audiobook version of Jimmy Carr’s amazing self-help book Before and Laughter.
I gave it 5 stars, but I can’t really say that I remember much of it.
Unless you are actively writing things down, it’s hard to remember certain points vs reading them, as you can’t highlight certain passages of text.
So - audiobooks are not so great for learning (or at least remembering a lot of key points).
Kindle
I love my Kindle - it goes everywhere with me.
It’s more portable than most books - not only because you can fit a Kindle in a bag more easily than a book, but also because a Kindle can hold as many books as you need without taking up more space.
Reading in bed is much easier - you can hold a Kindle one handed and there’s no need for a light.
Kindle books are cheaper than paperbacks, and are usually released sooner, and are also delivered instantaneously.
And a Kindle integrates well with Goodreads - which I’m a big user of. This means it’s easy to resurface quotes and highlights from previous books, which can help when trying to learn or remember certain parts.
So all in all, reading on a Kindle is great.
Paperbacks
I read a few paperbacks (Educated, Anything You Want) this year but stuck mainly to my Kindle for convenience.
Paperbacks are the best way to learn - you an highlight, write notes, and easily switch from one part to another.
Also, for books with pages you want to keep switching back to such as the maps at the start of each chapter in The Power of Geography, a paperback is obviously a much better fit.
The thing is, I do a lot of reading in bed, and a Kindle is so much better for that specific use case.
So, to summarise:
Reading targets work well, but only if they are used for accountability and to encourage proper reading
Novels work great as audiobooks
If you want to learn from a book, highlighting and making notes in the paperback version works best
Second to this is highlighting in a Kindle and coming back to them
Some books need to be read as paperbacks due to including maps, reference pages etc
Nobody reads hardcovers
Reading on a Kindle is usually more convenient and works out cheaper (in the end) than reading paperbacks
Happy reading!
Thanks! 😎
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Photo of the Week 📸
This Week’s Recommendation 🔝
Goal setting 🎯 - Here’s a great thread on how to set and achieve goals for 2022. Some take a dim view to goal setting at the start of a New Year, but as Mark Mason writes:
Unlike most personal growth rituals, I’ve always refrained from shitting on New Year’s resolutions because I do believe there is something psychologically significant about year changes. We divide our lives into years, conceptualize our identities in years, so it makes sense that the turning of a year will coincide with some introspection and realignment of one’s values.
This Week I’m: ⬇️
Reading 📚 - The Power of Geography - Tim Marshall (amazing)
Listening to 🎧 - I’ve had my eye on The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck for a while, so I’ll be tuning into Mark Manson’s visit on the - yes, you guessed it - Diary of a CEO podcast (Ep111)
Visiting ⛷ - Mayrhofen in 5 weeks
Working on 🎯 - Goals for 2022. I’ve never properly set out what I want to achieve and a means of getting there, so I think will be a good exercise.
This Week’s Quote 💬
To whom are we drawn – the person who lets us know how fascinating he is, or the person who lets us know how fascinating we are? — Derren Brown
There we have it!
Looking forward to catching up next week.