Right now, I’m reading not one, not two, but five books. That sounds like the beginning of a how-to-read-200-books-a-year article, but I’m here to tell you the opposite — sort of.
Forgive me for quoting myself, but, three years ago, I wrote:
Being book-smart just for the sake of being book-smart is a vanity metric for your ego. Don’t learn solely for the sake of learning. Be a practitioner. Use the information you consume. Ironically, learning things right when you need them will also help you remember them better.
I still find this to be true. When I’m about to go on a date, I might read a chapter on small talk and first impressions. Then, I try to use some of the questions and tips and later reflect on what I’ve learned. Connecting the information from the book to a real-world experience creates a much stronger, long-lasting memory than simply repeating a list of tips to myself, hoping they sink in.
In his tutorial for reading 200 books a year, Charles Chu shared some uncomfortable truths:
Here’s the simple truth behind reading a lot of books: It’s not that hard. We have all the time we need. The scary part — the part we all ignore — is that we are too addicted, too weak, and too distracted to do what we all know is important.
Chu is right when he says we could easily find the 417 hours we need to read that many books if we gave up some of the 3400 hours we spend on social media and TV. Where he and I disagree is that I don’t think reading 200 books a year is important. I think what’s important is that you live a healthy, happy, and meaningful life.
Of course, books can be a great aide on this quest. But — and I think this truth is equally uncomfortable — no one needs the advice from 200 books a year to live a balanced life. If you want to read 200 novels and passively soak up whatever feels relevant at the time, be my guest. But don’t kid yourself: You don’t have time to implement 60,000 pages of advice.
The solution to whatever you’re struggling with right now likely fits on one — and that’s enough to chew on for the time being.
Read It When You Need It
Instead of adding another big list to your life you’ll only feel bad about not finishing, I suggest you read non-fiction books in parallel — but only when you need them. Start as many books as you like, and don’t feel bad about putting them down for months at a time. You’ll know when it’s time to return.
Extract what you need at any given time, implement it, and then wait for the next challenge that warrants expert advice to arrive. Again, reading for fun on top of all this is fine, just be clear about why you read each time you pick up a book. You’ll feel better and remember more.
To show you what this might look like in practice, here are the five books I’m reading right now:
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams
I started this book last year. I breezed through the first 100 pages of Adams fascinating personal story, then, as the advice piled up, I slowed down.
I thought a lot about goals vs. systems. I shared the idea with friends hitting the workforce. I still remember the advice Adams got from a CEO he sat next to on a plane once:
“Your job is not your job. Your job is to find a better job.”
I processed many of Scott’s tips by writing about them in October, December, and again just recently. I last read in the book yesterday. I’m 2/3 through it, and I might not finish for a few months — because it’s a dense, good book.
Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder
In November, I started working on a piece about values. The back story was rich so, to get it right, I started leafing through this screenwriting book — and stopped dead on the fifth page. Snyder’s advice on creating a compelling logline was so good, so foreign to me, that I had to try it before moving on.
Snyder suggests capturing the irony and mental picture of your story in a single line, along with a good title and an idea of who it’s for. Here’s the line I came up with: ‘In order to keep it alive, a new generation of traditionalists must tear down and re-erect Japan’s most sacred shrine every 20 years.’
The irony here is that something has to be rebuilt to stay the way it is, and a different group of people must do it each time. Similarly, the only way to uphold a set of lasting values is to be flexible in how you live them.
I finished the article in December, and when I have another one with a big back story, I’ll turn the next page in Snyder’s book.
Paris in the Twentieth Century by Jules Verne
Technically, this is a novel, but it’s so infused with scientific research of its time that it’s mostly an exercise in future-oriented thinking. In 1863, Verne imagined what Paris would look like in 1963. He based his predictions on recent inventions and research papers — and he completely nailed it.
His vision includes a modern, circular metro system with trains running on compressed air and magnets (MagLev or Hyperloop, anyone?), mass college education focused on tech and business over arts and languages, automatic, electric street lanterns, gas-powered cars, elevators, even computers, skyscrapers, fax machines, and an early internet. It’s a lot to take in — and that’s why I’m only halfway through the book two years after getting it.
Whenever I need a jolt of inspiration or a reminder of how powerful our imagination can be, I read a chapter in this book.
Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking
Hawking’s writing is clear, witty, and easy to understand for someone with only a rudimentary understanding of physics. But just because the answers are brief, doesn’t mean the questions aren’t big.
Hawking discusses topics like, “Is there a god?” and “How did it all begin?” In answering the second one, he explained that, basically, there was no flow of time before the Big Bang. I’m still trying to wrap my head around that one.
I’ll try to digest more of his answers after reading 3 out of 10 chapters last year, but, so far, each question has kept my mind busy for at least a month — and that’s why I think it’s fine to take it real slow with a book like this one.
Eat, Pray, Love by Liz Gilbert
A girl I was talking to in early 2019 recommended this book. We connected a lot over Italian food and imaginary trips to the country, so it was nice to read about Liz Gilbert’s real one in an attempt to mend her broken heart.
I learned a lot, even wrote about the necessity of boundaries and the word of your life, but after Liz arrived in India, my interested waned. I wasn’t looking for a spiritual trip and, so far, I’m still not. Once I am, I’ll dive into the next leg of Liz’s journey. Until then, it’s fine for this one to rest on the shelf.
Be the Happiest Person in the Room
Reading each week to cram your brain with facts you won’t use is like going to school for a career you don’t want to have: pointless.
Beyond her basic education across a broad range of subjects, a dancer doesn’t need math, history, or biology. A dancer needs to dance, rest, and then dance some more. She might read books to experiment with different styles, try new techniques, and decide what to keep and what to discard, but she won’t learn to recite all songs from Evolution of Dance unless she has a good reason to.
Reading non-fiction books isn’t an end. It’s a means. One of many you can use to live the life you want. Don’t let it become something that subtracts from that life instead of adding to it.
Every book is a key that unlocks a certain door at a certain time in your life. Sometimes, it takes a while to find the right key, but once that door is open, go through it. Don’t stand there, fiddling with more keys.
Make your learning meaningful. Choose your books wisely. Allow each one to live on its own timeline. Take what you need when you need it. No more, no less.
You might not become the smartest person in the room, but if you’re the happiest, who cares?