During my second year, I flunked class and the penalty was to repeat the whole semester. I was mentally prepared for it but to my surprise, I was somehow pardoned and assigned to spend the summer in the library instead, assisting and arranging books. I believe this was my foray into reading because that was the only thing I could do all day. One of the big advantages of being young and stupid was that nobody told you what to read and how to read. Or even if they did, don’t think I was paying any attention. At the time, I didn’t know that people had this notion of slogging through books as if it were some form of accomplishment. Me? I read widely. I read weird stuff. I’ve dropped more books than I finished. 

We all intuitively know that reading is good for us. It’s of course hubris to ignore all the wisdom of the people that came before us. But today, it often seems like we speak about reading to look smart. Do we read to become smart? I’ve wondered. But what I’ve learnt over the years is that, no – that is not the point of reading. Quite simply, it is to improve our lives. 

This quote is the simplest reason as to why one must read a lot. If you don’t read, you’re functionally illiterate. Filmmaker Mysskin says the exact same thing here. I love it when people from diverse backgrounds share the same opinion. 

I have a confession to make. In my opinion, I am underread- like extremely underread. I initially didn’t want to write about reading because inadvertently people are going to assume I am extremely well read. In fact, I didn’t want to write featured articles of any sort because I am still figuring out what this blog is. I only find meaning by doing. At best, I see this as a sandbox of my curiosities. 

So why write about it now? After I wrote about going for walks, something interesting happened. I am fairly regular with the walks but after putting it out, I hardly ever missed walks. I realised I am writing for my own sake not in an arbitrary sense but in a real practical sense. So I figured if I needed to read more, why not write something about it?

The other day, I was reading while having lunch. Someone I know looked at the book full of food and coffee stains and berated me for keeping a book like this. I am sorry but books are not supposed to be kept in pristine condition. Anybody who says otherwise is reading because they think it is some sort of a sacred activity. I like annotating and writing my thoughts on the margins in real time. I am sure you are aware of the old tradition of Marginalia. 

Check out Oliver Sack’s notes on his books. 

While reading may often seem like a passive activity, I think it’s quite the opposite. You get to interact, argue and wrestle with the author. That’s when you’re doing deep learning. The only regret I have of my early reading habit is that I hardly took notes. 

I also used to read a lot of fiction but lately, I’ve picked up a lot of non-fiction. I am currently reading David Epstein’s Range and I highly highly recommend it. It sort of validates people who explore all the half-interests in pursuit of self knowledge to discover what suits our personality. Read it’s bio here.  

So now, let me leave with a couple of things that have helped me in the past with reading more- things I picked up from other readers. 

• Read during lunch breaks. Decorate the pages with coffee and food stains. 

• Read all the time. Even five minutes here and there add up. So carry a book wherever you go. Go to concerts with a book. I am kidding (Am I though?).

• I am agnostic about medium but obviously, paperbacks are better because you get to highlight, annotate and dirty it up nicely. Essentially, whatever helps you to read more is your ally. 

• Collect quotes, write them down on index cards and build a commonplace book. Most of the quotes I share are scans of my handwritten index cards from my own commonplace book. 

• If the book is not working around the sixty page mark, you can drop it. You will end up reading more books that way.

• Read old books. Somehow, they are almost always better! They are classics for a reason.

• And finally, read before bedtime. This is the best wind down technique to get an improved quality of sleep and the best way to chase that elusive calm before crashing. Obviously, phones are the enemy. Silence it before reading (or always!)

Full disclosure: Everything listed above is advice to self. Let me know what helps you read better! 

Peace and grace,
Nikhil.