I started adding all the books I wanted to read, and they were around 500 books.
What I realized, is that if I kept reading 5/10 books a year, it would have taken me 100 years to get to all my list – time I did not have. A few tricks to read a lot more books every year.
0 Start with a classic with less than 100 pages
If you haven’t read in a while, pick a classic, 50 to 100 pages. These are easy books, pleasant, everybody loves them, it will warm you up for the rest of the books you want to read.
- The Last Question – Isaac Asimov (9 pages)
- Novecento – Alessandro Baricco (62 pages)
- The Old Man and The Sea – Ernest Hemingway (96)
- The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupeery (96)
- Breakfast at Tiffany – Truman Capote (108)
1 Already have the next book ready
When I start a book, I always know the next book I will start once I am done.
This way I don’t stop the momentum if I found a good rhythm with reading, and I can get unstuck fast if the book I am reading is not good enough
2 Audiobook
I listen to a lot of books. I used to listen to music a lot more, but now I listen to Books/Podcasts when I drive, at the gym, when I was dishes….I can find almost 1-2 hours every day. It’s basically an entire book every week.
3 Multiple Books
I read several books at the same time. I know, this might not work for a lot of people, but it works for me. I have one audiobook on Audible (fiction, a nice story, something I don’t have to taka notes), one on Kindle, and one paper book on my desk.
4 Commit – Make a list at the beginning of the year
I commit to 50 books I will absolute read in the next 365 days.
As a rule, I am not allowed to start any other book outside of this list.
For example, it’s October 2023, I have read all the books I committed for 2023 and I am now reading other books (from 2024, but also from random recommendations I received)
5 RE-Read the same books
I made a list of books which I really loved, and every year 10% of the books I read are books I have already read, and I that I want to go a little bit deeper. If I listen to them, I might buy the paper version, or if read them on Kindle, I might pick the audio version.
This is my list of books to re-read
6 Use GoodReads.com
Goodreads.com is an amazon owned website and it’s a great platform to track which books you are reading, which ones you want to read, and to learn what your friends and the community things about a specific book
How to pick a great book – the 3.7 star rule
My rules to pick a great book
Classics: you can’t be wrong with the classic. A book with over 1M comments and a rating above 4/5 is simply a great book.
Topics I love: I pick books about topics I am highly interested (nutrition, AI, specific location, psychology…)
Authors I love: I try to read every book an author I like has published.
Short is good I am less picky with short books (under 100 pages). Normally you can finish these in a few hours.
Rating: I read anything which lots of comments and 4.5/5 stars. These tend to be great books
Controversial: If a book has 3.7, I check the comment. I pick it only if
- the book as a lot of 5 stars and a lot of 1stars = book is controversial, not for everybody
- if I mostly agree with the 5 star comments and I disagree with the 1 start
Leave a Reply