Meditations on Reading

I have a love / hate relationship with reading.

I love learning about topics I’m interested in, and reading non-fiction provides a great foundation.

But reading books can also be a pain in the a--.

In this issue, I’m going to cover:

• Why reading can be a waste of time… but I haven’t given up on books.

• My new mindset and approach to reading books.

• A few things I’m experimenting with to quickly grasp the key concepts of various books.

Let’s dive in.

The Perils of Reading Books

At its best, reading is time consuming. My eyes are often bigger than my stomach, and books are no exception. My reading list currently has 250+ books on it, which I estimate is more than I’ll have time to read in my entire life. But that’s mostly a prioritization problem… the right book, for the right person, at the right time can still have a tremendous impact.

At its worst, reading is a distraction. When I read a book that exposes me to new ideas or tactics, my brain gets a hit of dopamine, and I feel productive and energized. But how much of that information do I actually comprehend? What did I really learn? I’ve found that just reading (and not implementing the ideas) can give me a false sense of confidence that I’m learning something new… as well as lead to wasted time.

The reality is that ‘reading’ is only one piece of the puzzle when learning something new.

The Learning Pyramid developed in the 1950’s estimated that people only remember 10% of what they read, compared to 90% retention when they teach someone else or use it immediately.

I’m no exception. To truly comprehend and benefit from a new understanding, I have to get out of my head and act… to steelman the arguments… to debate and pressure test the ideas with others… to experiment with which advice works best for me and how to modify it for my current situation. I learn best by doing and teaching (which is a big reason I’m writing this newsletter).

The Power of Books

Despite the rise of digital media and changing consumption habits — not to mention the poor economic incentives for authors — the book industry has remained relevant and hasn’t yet been disrupted.

With so much content available online, some would even make the case that books are more relevant today since they provide deep knowledge and are a source of more reliable information that has stood the test of time.

Chris Dixon, a VC that leads a16z crypto, talked about the power of books in a recent podcast where he was asked why he wrote his new book Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet.

Chris made the case that books have the ability to cross over into a different kind of realm. Books are more than just words on a page — the book becomes a container for a meme, and the ideas can spread really far. Books are a powerful way to introduce ideas to the broader world… in a way that is harder for blog posts and podcasts because there is so much noise in those arenas.

This is the case despite many books not getting as much distribution as some websites. I haven’t fact checked this, but Chris believed the best-selling non-fiction book last year sold ~400,000 copies, compared to some hobbyist websites that can get a million views.

Regardless of the actual number, the reality is that the ideas in books spread to significantly more people than the number of copies sold… and the books stay relevant for longer than other channels like social media (where the algorithms currently have a strong recency bias).

My New Perspective on Books

After some reflection, I’m trying to shift my perception of books and how I use them to expand my knowledge and learn more. Here are my working principles:

1. It’s OK to Quit Reading a Book. After reading a chapter or two, I should want to keep reading. If it feels like a chore, or if I’m not immersed in the content, I need to put the book down. If it’s not a F- yes, its an F- no.

2. It’s OK to be a Slow Reader. I often pause to reflect on different sentences and paragraphs in a book to pressure test the ideas in my head and take notes. Rather than speed-read a plethora of books, I’d rather deeply understand a few books that have relevant ideas I can put into action.

3. It’s OK to Re-Read Books. New and more isn’t always better. Sometimes we benefit more from re-reading a book that had a big impact on us. Every time I read re-read or re-watch a piece of content, I come away with new insights and a deeper understanding of the concepts.

4. It’s OK to Take Shortcuts. The outcome (comprehending and implementing the ideas) is more important than the process (reading the book). Book summaries and podcasts are great ways to understand the concepts at a high level before making the time commitment to read the full book. While the book will undoubtedly have more depth and include stories that make the concepts more memorable, it’s also perfectly acceptable to take one idea and jump straight to experimenting with it. Your time is valuable… invest it wisely. When in doubt, take the shortest route to comprehension… then act. If it doesn’t work out, you can always go back to the book for more context.

5. It’s OK to Selectively Read Chapters. A book doesn’t have to be read from beginning to end. Start with the table of contents and pick the topics that are most interesting. You don’t have to read all chapters — focus on the ones that are most relevant to you.

6. It’s OK to Skim a Book. Sometimes it is worthwhile to take your time, reflect, and take notes while you’re reading a book. Other times, it makes more sense to skim it — especially if the topic doesn’t seem as relevant or if you’re trying to decide if it’s worth going deeper. Trust your instincts.

In conclusion, I’m going to try to trust my instincts more when it comes to reading books. I’m hoping this reframe will not only be more efficient and impactful, but also make reading more enjoyable.

What’s Next

In the coming weeks, I’m planning to experiment with different ways to quickly grasp the key concepts of various books.

The goal is to provide a foundational knowledge on key topics, and help me decide which books are worth further exploring.

Here are the tools I plan to test:

• Headway. A simple and affordable book summary app. I purchased a lifetime subscription for $59 here.

• Blinkist. A more established book summary website and app. On Black Friday, I bought a subscription for 75% off the annual rate of $99.99. Today I see it offered for 50% off here.

• Shortform. From looking at reviews, this seems to be the most comprehensive book summary website and app. It’s more expensive at $24/mo or ~$200/yr, but they offer a 5-day free trial.

• ChatGPT 3.5. Free version of OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot.

• ChatGPT 4. The latest version of OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot which costs $20/mo.

• Bard. Google’s generative AI chatbot which is free to use.

Quick Ask: Are there any other tools you’ve tried that work well? Or others on your radar that you haven’t had time to try?

Let me know! I’ll try it out, then add it to my list.

Thanks for reading!

Until next week, keep growing »

Scott​

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