So Many Great Books, So Little Time by Marc LeVine

There are millions of professional development books and articles vying for our attention. We cannot read them all, but we should make time to read the important ones. It is to benefit our growth.

You will know them when you see them. Highly recommended books are brilliantly organized, efficient and practical. Those to avoid are anecdotal, theoretical, and verbose. Pay attention to expert and reader reviews to find those books most worth reading.

There is no rule that demands we read every book from cover to cover. In most cases, our goal should be to learn and understand the author's big picture. If we can just come away with a clear understanding of a subject matter expert author's thought leadership, we can begin to establish a mental framework to benefit ourselves with and continue to build on.

Once you have a book in hand, it is always good practice to start by?"inspecting" the table of contents; asking yourself?"what do I need from this list?"?Inspectional reading?helps readers avoid the most tedious and superficial details, in favor of zeroing in on the "meat" of the book.?Inspecting?a book should answer some important questions, before you commit to reading it.?What is the book about? What are its parts? What problems will it teach me to solve??By following the inspection method, you can accomplish a great deal of targeted reading in under an hour.

In addition, once we know the contents of each book we have "inspected," we can?rely on our basic knowledge of all the?books on our shelves to decide which book to pick up and search within to find answers to our most pressing questions. What a terrific way to build a powerful reference library and we reward ourselves with a gift that keeps giving.

Not every book is meant to be "inspected" or skimmed through. Some books DO deserve to be carefully read and more deeply analyzed. Francis Bacon?once said,?“Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.”?We ask ourselves the following questions of the books we are intent in analyzing:?What is the book about as a whole? What is being said in detail, and how? Is the book true, in whole or part?

A final recommendation to consider is to annotate while reading. Highlight key points and make notes inside your books to remind yourself of the knowledge and tips which left the greatest impressions on you. Which highlighted points may be worth revisiting when it is time for research in search of answers? Annotating helps in our active learning process and aids us in committing to memory those concepts and advice we can put to effective use when new and challenging situations present themselves.

Listen to Marc's latest interview on The AutomationBlog Podcast with Shawn Tierney.

Marc LeVine is a graduate of Syracuse (NY) University with a degree in Industrial Psychology, Marc is currently Talent Acquisitions and Learning and Development Lead at Thermo Systems. He is the recipient of the Excellence in Talent Acquisitions Award from HR Awards in 2021. His prior employment includes senior Human Resources and staffing industry management roles with Edgewood Properties in Piscataway, Brickforce Staffing in Edison, InfoPro Inc. in Woodbridge and Plainsboro and Harvard Industries in Farmingdale, NJ, a former Fortune 500 company. He also served as Director of Human Resources for New Jersey Press, the parent company of the Asbury Park Press, Home News and Tribune and WKXW-NJ101.5. Earlier in his career, Marc served as Director of Career Services and Placement at Union Technical Institute in Eatontown and Neptune, NJ. In addition, Marc owned and operated Integrity Consulting Associates, a Human Resources consulting firm in Freehold for 11 years.