
I had the delivery of most of the books I have bought for myself to read next year, at the end of this week. I’ve got another couple to come – to add to what I’ve got to read above. I’m looking forward to deciding which books to read when (something to do next week).
I found a successful way to manage which books I want to read a couple of years ago. All too often I would read about a book that I was fascinated by (and there are so many) and buy it immediately. The problem that I found with this was that I ended up with far more books to read than I could manage, alongside which the books I read, I read too quickly undermining reading them at all. I really do need 2 goes at a book to absorb what is in it and find I get so much more out of the book on the second reading.
To help manage my reading preferences I decided that every time I came across a book that piqued my curiosity, I would add to a shopping list on Amazon. At the end of the year I would order the books in preference of which ones I wanted to read when. I then limit myself to 15 books to buy and read. Alongside which I’ll then go back through books I’ve read once and want to re-read and create a list of when to read the books. I was surprised at how effective giving myself a boundaried timeframe to read has been. It almost relieves tension on the thought of not reading a book – knowing that I have made the time to read it in the future. Either way it has worked well for me over the last year and I’m hoping will continue to work well for me this year.
I’ve just finished rereading Range by David Epstein (an excellent read) and You are the Placebo by Joe Dispenza. I think that I’ll start with Altered Traits in the coming year.