This Week’s BIG Idea
On any given day, I read multiple books at once. Although this seems overwhelming and impossible, each of those books has a different purpose. I tend to read one nonfiction book to summarize, one book for pleasure, and at the moment, I’m reading two “journal” books. These are books that you can read one passage at a time over the course of 366 days.
When you break it down into parts, what I’m reading isn’t that overwhelming because I read in small chunks. The most “taxing” read of the day takes place as soon as possible and I might read for a few minutes up to an hour. Then I read the passages from the journal books whenever I have some free time. Finally, I read a few pages of a fiction book in bed.
As an example, these are the books I’m reading now and what I’m reading them for:
- The World Atlas of Coffee by James Hoffmann: Since I read to learn, I like to have access to at least one non-fiction book at all times. I have a wishlist on Amazon and whenever a Kindle book I want goes on sale, I buy it immediately. By doing so, I always have something to read when I’m looking for a new book. Usually, I like reading books I can summarize, but some books lend themselves to summaries better than others. The World Atlas of Coffee, for example, I’m reading for sheer pleasure. I’ve been meaning to learn about coffee for some time but I didn’t know how. Then I discovered Hoffmann’s YouTube channel and I found out he’d written not one but two books about coffee. Good stuff.
- The Stand by Stephen King: I also like to read at least one fiction book every once in a while. I’ve always been a fan of Stephen King but I haven’t read many of his books. The Stand is considered one of his best books and I’m enjoying it a lot so far. This book is a beast since it’s well over a thousand pages. I’m reading a few pages before falling asleep, so it’ll probably take me months to finish it.
- The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman: I read this book last year, but I did it in one go. For those unfamiliar. The Daily Stoic features one Stoic passage for every day of the year, as well as an interpretation of said passage that’s more appropriate for modern times. Reading the book in one go is overwhelming which is why I decided to come back to it and read it the way it’s meant to be read. You can check out my summary of the book here.
- The Daily Laws by Robert Greene: in this book, Robert Greene follows the same structure as The Daily Stoic. He compiled the laws of some of his most important books and turned them into daily laws. While the laws are amazing, I don’t have context for them because I haven’t read any of Greene’s previous books. I’ll change that soon though, since I just got a digital copy of Mastery.
What I’m Working on
For the past few days I’ve been updating some articles so that they are easier to read. The article I edited the most so far is probably my summary of Ikigai. I really enjoyed my time with the book and I’m sure I’ll reread it again at some point.
What I’m Listening to
After hearing about this podcast for some time, I finally decided to give it a chance. I literally just listened to the teaser, so I barely know what it’s about. Over the next couple of days though, I intend to listen to a few episodes. I haven’t listened to a “journalistic” podcast since Serial, but I’m excited to listen to something different and The Witch Trials of J. K. Rowling offers exactly what I was looking for.
What I’m Reading
As I mentioned in the introduction, I just bought a copy of The World Atlas of Coffee. At first, I thought I wasn’t going to like the book because the first part focuses on the origin of coffee which isn’t meaningful to me. What I wanted to know the most was what’s the best way to experience coffee at home. Whenever I do research about coffee, the amount of information (and contradictory information in some cases) is insane. On top of that, a lot of people who are really into coffee recommend really expensive equipment. But I just started reading the second part of the book and it’s giving me exactly what I wanted. Although I don’t see myself summarizing this book, I do see myself coming back to it often to find specific information.
What I’m Watching
Since I just reread Essentialism for a summary, I ended up watching this short interview with McKeown. In the video, the author discusses the principles of the book. If you know nothing about the book, you should check out this short video before buying it.
This Week’s Quote
“Remember that if you don’t prioritize your life someone else will.”
Greg Mckeown
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