How do you read?

There's so much written about how to write a book and I've added my fair share of content around how to write a business book over the years.

But it occurred to me as I walked around Centennial Park here in Sydney this week (yes it's in my 5km lockdown zone, thankfully) that there's not enough discussion about how to read. By this I don't mean how to learn to read, it's more about how to tackle a book, and some books definitely need tackling.

I've been reading books for all my live, as long as I can remember...books were part of my life from the get-go because my parents put them in my life...my room was always and still is full of books. I've graduated from Winnie the Pooh, Snoopy to non fiction, business history, Persian and Middle Eastern history via politics, biographies of leaders, dictators, autocrats and more, Kevin Kelly, Sinan Arai, Christopher Hitchens, Umberto Eco and, of course, all The Book Adviser authors.

But how do you read a book?

Is there a right way/wrong way to do this?

I've always had a way of reading books: from beginning to end, no skipping (book hearsay). Imagine my horror when one of my COVID-formed book club members said she'd 'read a few and skipped a few'. How could someone do this? Why would you do this? These and other questions got me thinking about how do we read.

Given that I research and write books all the time and guide/advise other business owners, entrepreneurs and consultants on how to write, publish and market their books, it seemed that it was perhaps way past time that I addressed the issue of how people 'read' books.

There's two parts to this article. How I read books and how others 'can' read books.

Why I read like I do

I am a historian/researcher at heart. My Masters degree is in political science and I specialised in Russian history with a 'minor' in Hitler's Germany. I wrote my masters thesis in longhand and paid someone to type it up. I have three bound copies of my thesis in my bookshelf, the leather bound edition I made for my parents (now back with me as they are no longer with us) and the two hand-bound, rather ordinary looking version.

How I researched, drafted and compiled my thesis has stayed with me in terms of how I read. And this goes for books I read for the business histories I research and write as well as non fiction books I read for pleasure and fiction books I occasionally read (more now because of my book club).

How I read

I love reading the entitreity of a book for a good reason.

I've spent years researching business histories. This has involved starting with no knowledge about the company I've been commissioned to write the history of and 'finding out' what their history is and writing it into a coherent and accurate narrative. When I start a new project I am, effectively, an information vacuum cleaner. I search, read, explore, interview, ask questions, back-track, discuss, view, listen, ask more questions, research secondary sources, reach out to my business network.

So, when I read a book I bring this process to reading. To be clear, I don't actively 'do' all these things when I pick up a book but this informs HOW I approach any book. This is my seven-step approach.

1. The introduction

I always read the introduction to a book. It gives me some insight into why the person wrote the book, their backstory, their passion/obsession and who helped them and

2. The Foreword, if there is one

I love forewords... they give a different perspective on what you're about to read and, usually, the relationship between the author and the person who has written it. They can be a bit like a fan post, but a good foreword sets the scene for what you're about to read.

3. The Bibliography, if there is one

A bit like my love of Excel spreadsheets, I've never come across a bibliography I didn't like. They guide me to the next set of books I simply have to buy. Some of my favourite books I've discovered through scanning the bibliography. Here's just one example.

4. The Acknowledgements

Who an author acknowledges in their book is a great insight into who they are as a person. Of course, there's the usual thanks to editors, publishers, friends and family. Others recognise and thank the myriad of professional librarians, archivists, translators, people they've interviewed, people who have helped along the way. A bit of humility goes a long way in my book/s.

4. From beginning to end

I am definitely someone who reads from beginning to end. No read-a-few, skip-a-few. I occasionally read chapters out of order but only after I've scanned the whole book. Why do I do this? I think it's because as a researcher I've learnt that you have to explore without knowing quite what it is you are looking for . . . I can recount numerous examples when I've 'discovered' interesting, amazing, controversial information simply by taking the time to patiently and quietly 'read'. For me reading is like breathing in. I get to 'breathe out' when I write.

And, I don't know what I don't know, so I read to explore.

5. Back to the Bibliography

After I've read a book I revisit the bibliography. After all, there may have been a book I missed that I 'just have to have'.

6. Re-read, summarise and put post-it tags

I re-read most books twice if not several times. The first read-through is to get the whole picture. The second read is to hone in on the specific parts that are of real interest, exploration or reassessment. I do this with non-fiction and fiction. It's at this point that I post-it note what's of interest to me. This helps me revisit a book quickly and it's amazing how often I refer to a whole range of books I've read across the wide range of business people I work with.

I am fortunate that I have a memory like a steel trap, that I have researched, written and publishing hundreds of business books, and am endlessly curious. And, I think it's my curiosity that underpins my reading.

There's not enough time over several lifetimes to learn enough, learn from others, gain insights and see the world from different perspectives. But, I'm going to give it a really good shot because its through knowledge transfer across generations that we can create a better future.

Part II: How others read books

This part is short.

We're in 2021. Some people don't read. They listen, scan, view, flip . .

Kevin Kelly in his book The Inevitable (the same one I shared earlier with all the post-it notes) talks about 'flowing', screening, accessing and more.

I'm a printed book tragic...but Kevin's book enlightened me to the future possibility of knowledge flowing, and resulted in me buying several more printed books

I am grateful to have The Book Adviser authors around me as we're exploring how we read books through the quick quiz at the end of The Book Adviser Author Interview Series. Their reading habits might surprise you...or not.

How do you read?

So, how do you read?

Do you read or listen?

Who do you trust to recommend books to you?

Reading is breathing in

Writing is breathing out.

I am looking forward to your responses via Comments. And if you want to have a conversation email me.