I’ve been using and loving Zequenz A5 blank notebooks for my morning pages. The paper is so smooth, and InkJoy Gel .07mm pens glide across it like butter.
My reading goal this year was 5 books a month. I’m not sure why I chose 5. Probably because I knew I could do it but I’d have to stretch myself.
Reading 5 books a month wasn’t exactly easy, but it wasn’t the blood, sweat, and tears I thought it’d be. I only read what interested me. And I made a few tweaks to my routine so I could spend more time reading, but not feel like I was reading all the time.
Here are some things that helped me hit my goal:
1. Having reasons for reading. My reasons were my biggest ally in keeping me going.
2. Reading 2-3 books at a time. I realized that just because I wasn’t in the mood to read a book, didn’t mean I wasn’t in the mood to read any book.
3. Getting up an hour early to read.
4. Quitting books that weren’t holding my interest. (If I sensed my disinterest was because I wasn’t in the right headspace, I’d come back to it a few weeks or months later.)
5. Reading for 30 minutes to an hour before bed.
6. Varying the book length. If I was reading 2 or 3 longer books one month, I’d squeeze 2 or 3 shorter ones in the peripherals.
7. Consistently growing my personal library. As soon as I finished one book, I’d start another the same day.
I’ve found that I get the most out of reading when I go back through a book and take notes. It’s a simple process: after I read a book, I set it aside for a few weeks. Then, I’ll come back to it, read through the parts I underlined or highlighted, and if there is something that I still think, after a few weeks, is especially interesting, I’ll copy the quote/passage/idea/anecdote/insight onto a notecard.
These notecards are the building blocks of these emails. More importantly, they’re the building blocks of my understanding of the world. So even if I didn’t write, I would still go back through each book and take notes. Why? Because I can’t and wouldn’t want to remember everything I read. But if I can grab a few nuggets of wisdom from each book, if I can write down the insights, if I can keep them close to me and use them to grow as a person…well, other than hanging out with family, I can’t think of a better use of my time.
Anyway, I made a list of my favorite books I read this year. I feel like it’s cliche to say that it was tough to narrow down the list, but it’s true, so I’ll say it: it was tough to narrow down the list.
If I had to pick 9* books (I couldn’t whittle it down further than 9) that I got the most out of, it would be these:
I didn’t realize how much I got from this book until—no surprise—I went back through it to take notes. Murakami lays out his writing career: how and why he got started, what’s worth caring about, how he gets ideas for his novels, how he writes his novels, and how he balances life and writing. I took so many notes and lessons. If you’re a writer, read this book.
A 365, one-page-a-day guide to take you from step one of your project to, and through, the finish line. (I read it straight through though—no way was I waiting a year to get to the end.) It’s a distillation of the best advice from Pressfield’s books, podcasts, newsletters, blogs, workshops, interviews, stories, and emails. There’s new writing as well for context and clarity. I just love Steven Pressfield. His writing is straightforward, self-deprecating, kind, and encouraging. At the same time, his message is DEEP and spiritual. If you do any kind of creative work, you’ll want to read this and the rest of his books.
I was hesitant to read this because I wasn’t sure how transparent it would be. But then I saw that Isaacson referred to Musk as a man-child, and I dove right in. Wow…this is one of the best books I’ve read this year. It made me see Musk in a new light. It’s a long book but with the pictures at the beginning of each short chapter, you’ll fly through it. Add the personal and international drama, plots, subplots, lessons, and an inside look at Elon Musk and what drives him, and you get an incredibly difficult book to put down.
I chanced upon this book in a used bookstore and wow. I’m not sure how I hadn’t heard of this book before. A gem of writing advice from the master himself.
I had a revelation of sorts while reading this. Specifically, the part on Transcendentalism. Matousek describes Transcendentalism as a spiritual rebellion against religious establishments with hierarchical, sexist natures. Its aim is a more direct relationship with God. It “teaches that spiritual intermediaries are unnecessary for maintaining a close connection with God.” Wow. I finally have a name for something I’ve long felt but could not put into words. I’m eager to learn more about Transcendentalism and very grateful to have found this book.
This was the first Michael Lewis book I’ve read, and I’ve since bought a few more. This dude is hilarious. In Going Infinite, he tells the story of the aloof, bankrupt FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. Lewis’s descriptions of Sam are gold. For instance, when Sam was placed on house arrest, his parents bought a guard dog from Germany that could kill on command. The only people who knew the command were his parents. Sam didn’t care to know the command because he didn’t care to know much of anything outside of his businesses. That he lived in his own world would be an understatement. As Lewis writes, “It would be very Sam Bankman-Fried-like to be killed by his own guard dog.” This book made me laugh and was a pleasure to read.
It’s incredible how calm, with literal bombs dropping all around them, these people were. Their calm inspired my own; while in the thralls of this book, I distinctly remember a noticeable absence in place of the tension I normally felt in my chest at the sight of an “urgent” email. The best thing that I got from this book though was in the Sources and Acknowledgments section at the end. Larson tells us why he decided to add another book about Winston Churchill to the public collection, what he was curious about himself, and how he made this Churchill book different from all the rest.
Here are some others that I read for the first time that I especially loved:
*Note: the 9 best books list doesn’t include 3 of my favorite books that I reread this year: Ego is the Enemy & The Obstacle is The Way by Ryan Holiday and Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
