| I upped my amount of reading taking the opposite approach to the author: buying more books that I don't read. The mechanics work something like this: - its easier to read a book you're motivated to read - you're not sure what you will be motivated to read until after you've finished your current book(s) - so, buy books you might be interested in advance, they'll be there and ready when the motivation hits I buy books in theme areas: pragmatism, biographies of creative people, mythology, etc. That makes a smooth transition from one book to the next easy. You tend to read your current book with an eye to what's coming up on your shelf this way. Also consider that you don't always want to read dense books. So having more books on hand helps you regain motivation in the down times by having easier stuff on hand. Jonathan franzen had a really nice essay on this about how pulp mystery novels kept him sane. It helps that I have a used bookstore nearby where I can buy books for a dollar or so. But, anyway, there's so much cheap stuff on amazon that anyone can apply this approach without breaking the bank. Hope this helps other folks read more. Reading has helped my coding and business more than any other habit. |