An engineer at Google wrote a wonderful Twitter thread a little while ago on becoming a better reader.
Someone had already summoned the ever-useful Threader app to stitch the thread into a single page, which I sent to Instapaper to read leisurely. I’m quoting some tweets here:
Read Non-fiction for mental models & perspectives on how the world has worked, currently works, and how you can create new works within it.
Read Fiction for emotional models on how to feel deeper within yourself and in relation to others.
Lindy Effect is a theory that longer a non-perishable thing has been in existence, the more likely it is to be in existence.
Old Ideas & Books that are still relevant today, have a lower chance of becoming expired knowledge and are therefore more valuable in the present
5-star reviews can be gamed & don’t tell you why you shouldn’t read the book. Read passionate, constructive, and specific 3 & 4-star reviews to find out what the book lacks to see if what remains is worthwhile.
Cultivate a Triathlon Reading Pace
Learning to see:
– Flat planes of a book to speed up,
– Wet hills to climb up slowly with care, as to not fall back to re-reading,
– Rocky patches with varying shapes for a hop and skip & more dynamic reading speed for the changing terrain.
Some books are meant to be sat and soaked in. Immerse yourself over, many days, weeks, months.
I identify with that last tweet. Once a year I’ll go through the ritual of reading my well worn copy of David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. It’s a river that takes several weeks to ford, during which time I’ll read a few other books in parallel. During those weeks my mind floats in DFW’s alternate universe even as it carries on its business in the real one. As with many great books, each experience is different, each experience uncovers something new, each experience is a different me.