Reading

Growing up, I used to devour books. The local library contained a treasure trove of entire universes to lose yourself in, and my mom made sure that we paid a visit every week. I remember when I held my first library card in my hands – it meant that I could check out books myself.

Near the start of high school I discovered the wonders of the Internet and I stopped reading as much.

From there, it only went downhill. Assigned readings in school never ceased to impress me with their dullness, it was as if teachers wanted students to lose the little interest they had in reading. “Wow, I can’t remember the last book I read” was common, even among my peers at Stuyvesant High School.

Recently, however, I’ve rekindled my passion for reading.

Want to learn something new? You can read significantly faster than you can understand a podcast or a TED Talk, and you can probably read much faster than you think (check out this site to see).

Books written by industry leaders can distill years of research and experience into a few hundred pages. Sure, reading involves putting time aside, but consider it an investment for your future self. Would you decline having lunch with Peter Thiel or Michelle Obama?

The question is laughably ridiculous – who would say no? Then why not set aside some time to read what they believe is so important that this knowledge had to be shared with everyone? Despite this, we still find it difficult to pick up a book, and even more difficult to reach the last sentence.

I’ve found success by setting aside a small part of my day to dedicate to reading. Reading during a 30-minute commute twice a day results in 5 hours of reading, and that’s just during the work week.

I also use a Kindle to read, which has many benefits: easy highlighting of pages, not having to carry around heavy books, being able to preview and buy books quickly, and having my collection live on the cloud.

Reaching out to friends and asking for recommendations can be a great resource as well. I was surprised to learn that nearly everyone I know has a favorite book, and by simply asking I found a curated list of books to start with.

I keep my reading list updated here, and I’m always open to any recommendations.