For 2025 I’m starting a book club and we’re starting with Right Thing Right Now by Ryan Holiday. If you want to get the weekly insights sign up as they’re only coming via email. Members will get some extras like PDF/ePub copies of the book insights and if there is enough interest a group call about the book.
Last week I wrote about reading books for 2025 but focused mostly on the numbers game of reading books and that’s where many people focus, on the numbers in some performative reading game they play to show what an amazing reader they are.
Today’s question is: What does it mean to read will instead of reading for numbers?
I’d rather see people read a few good books well so that their life is impacted or they’re transported by a fantasy world than see everyone read a book a week without spending time with the content rushing past their eyes.
What is Reading Well
The first step in reading well is to find a place where you can exist with your chosen book without distractions. That means working to get the right lighting and maybe even building that cozy reading nook you’ve always wanted. I’ve spent the last few years trying to find the right reading chair. Yes my 20-year-old IKEA Poang chair works, but I want something that feels more cozy and could even be napped in.
I know many of the things I’ve cited above assume that you have the space to dedicate to reading and the funds to perform renovations. For you maybe it’s a single chair in the corner, or if your house is too wild, the local library1 with a good set of headphones in the winter or a nice park bench in nicer weather.
After you’ve found a space that works the next step is to be purposeful with your time to read. The amount of time you are able to dedicate to reading will change with your life circumstances. When I had 3 children under 8 there was never time at home to read. If you’re working multiple jobs to make ends meet, you’re going to have less time compared to someone that has one decently paid job and older children that don’t need constant intervention.
No matter how much or how little time you have though, be specific with your time to read and stick to the plan.
Past the Reading
From here I’ll be speaking specifically about reading non-fiction and how to process it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t value fiction reading. 50% of my reading most years is fiction, from fantasy to sci-fi to adult fiction to YA novels I love stories and reading for pure pleasure is a worthy use of your time so don’t look to those that read lots of non-fiction and think that they have some idea you need to work towards. Reading fiction helps you build empathy in a world where empathy is in short supply, reading about people with circumstances other than what you’ve experienced is invaluable.
For those reading non-fiction, if the book is good then doing nothing with the information gathered after you read means you’re getting much less value from your reading practice compared to being intentional with your reading. It’s easy to fall into mere-exposure effect, thinking you understand something simple because you read about it. This is even stronger when looking things up online as merely searching for a topic and reading headlines makes us think we understand a subject2.
The same idea applies to tools like Readwise, simply highlighting sentences in the book you read and then seeing them echoed in your note tool of choice makes you believe you extracted value out of your reading. The truth is you highlighted some stuff and then walked away without wrestling with the ideas.
After reading I always intend3 to spend an hour working with the ideas and seeing how they connect to other things I’ve read. I’m not sure even that work is enough to maximize the value from your reading.
After working your notes, how are you going to show that work to others? Will you write about it? Will you create a video about it? Will you give a presentation at work about a new idea that may help the business and your coworkers?
Teaching the ideas you think you have a firm grasp on shows the holes in your knowledge and often requires more research, unless you happen to be a subject matter expert which is unlikely in all but one or two areas for each person.
As I read this month’s book, Right Thing Right Now I’ve got some stick notes on my screen to remind me that it matters if you do the right thing, especially when no one can check up on your actions to make sure that you’re acting the right way. I work at home in the basement and am the only technical person at work. That means there is no real way for my boss to check on my work. Will it really take as long as I say? Am I surfing YouTube videos all day?
My integrity speaks loudly when no one is watching, what is it saying?
Reading Well doesn’t mean finishing everything
While I finish almost every book I start, reading well doesn’t mean that you must finish everything you pick up. It doesn’t mean that every book you start gets a deep read. While I enjoyed How to do Nothing by Jenny Odell, I found Saving Time to be a philosophical dive into time but there was little practical for me to dig into. I used as many speed reading techniques to get through Saving Time and if needed I slowed down in some small sections to extract maximum value from the book.
I don’t feel bad about skipping lots of the the content without thinking deeply about it. I’m not looking for a book on the philosophy of time, I’m looking for concrete ideas I could try out in my day to help me make better use of my time, from work to leisure, so that I can feel like the day was spent well.
Join me
This didn’t start out intending to invite you to join me reading 12 books in 2025 but that’s where it feels ended. In 2025 I’m inviting you to read 12 books with me and read them well. Take notes on them, and think about them. If you send me your writing on the book at the end of the month I’ll link to all the content generated, whether you like the book or not.
Click the link above to join the email list to get started reading well in 2025. Jump in for one book you read, or join for all of them. I plan to announce books with enough time for you to have 2 months to read them if you’re only able to pick a few. The first two books of 2025 are already picked.
- This is one big reason I was so put off by the stories in Against Creativity of libraries needing to be “creative” as budgets were cut and eliminating all free public space to sit and read replacing them with desks you had to pay for. ↩︎
- The Death of Expertise Pg 106 ↩︎
- My intentions don’t always match my actions unfortunately. ↩︎