On Reading
This week I’ve been checking out Ryan Holiday’s posts and videos on how to read more, taking notes while reading and his writing process. I’ve shared some of Holiday’s videos in my newsletter. His work ethic and enthusiasm for reading and writing is inspiring. I signed up for Holiday’s recommended reading newsletter (one of several newsletters he offers) and have been going through his old blog posts on his favorite books, his reading practice, and his notecard system (aka a commonplace book). Holiday’s stuff always leaves me wanting to dive into some giant book, mark it up with tons of notes and write about it. An important thing to keep in mind is that Holiday says he usually reads with a goal in mind - each book he chooses to read, he does so with the intention of including the information either in one of his books, blog posts, or daily newsletters. I’ve been thinking a lot about this idea of ‘reading with intent’ this week.
Last week, I jumped into a book my dad gave me - Brian Kilmeade’s The President and the Freedom Fighter. Dad loved the book and said I would enjoy it. Within a few pages, I realized I didn’t really want to read this book - the writing isn’t strong and the subject matter isn’t engaging. Also, Kilmeade works for Fox News and I wondered how this might color his writing. I could have taken Holiday’s advice to not finish bad books but I kept reading and started marking up some notecards. The book’s objective is to describe how Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass strongly disagreed with one another about how to solve the problem of slavery but over time became friends. I realized the book is just a cursory look at Lincoln, Douglass, and the Civil War but that I can use this book as a jumping off point, to ignite my interest in this period of history. If nothing else, it’s given me a list of people, events, battles, documents and other books to look into. I want to learn more about this historical period. I want to watch Ken Burns’s Civil War series. I want to read books on Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. I want to read Douglass’s books and Lincoln’s speeches. This book has been an easy route towards propelling my interest in these topics.
