Weird title, huh? ‘Cause I know how to read.
But how specifically do you read books you love?
I go to some people’s houses and I see lots of interesting books on bookshelves. And I think, “What a cool, well-read person this girl or guy is.”
I have a bookshelf with some books on it. I’d love for people to think I’m a cool, well-read person. But I also don’t often re-read books. When I finished “Lean In,” I gave my copy to a friend. When I finished Tina Fey’s book, I took it to a re-sale place. I like to pass my books on so other people can read them.
But then every once in a while, I sort of regret doing that… For instance, I was listening to a podcast while I was packing for my New York trip. And this guy was talking about Sheryl Sandberg and what she said in her book.
I was suspicious that he was maybe taking her words out of context a bit (based on what I remembered from the book). But I couldn’t run over to my shelf and check since I gave the book to someone else.
Sometimes I wonder why I even read at all. I enjoy books while I’m reading. And there are some things that stick with me. (e.g. from “Outliers,” the 10,000 hour rule and the fact that in Canadian hockey, statistically the month you’re born in will have an effect on how good you become, because it affects how early you get to start playing based on youth leagues cut offs).
But there are also all kinds of things that don’t stick with me. And then I’ll wonder, “Why did I even read a certain book?” So, recently I’ve been highlighting and marking things even in books that I wouldn’t necessarily consider books I want to study. But I do it anyway to try to retain more (and so I can easily get important points if I look back in it months or years later).
Of course then I can’t give them to people or easily re-sell them… But then they become more personal like my special books… And I have more books on the bookshelf so that I’m the cool person.
But I dunno. And that’s why I ask – how to do you read? I don’t have a system down.