Why I read
In defense of taking regular time out to immerse oneself in a given topic or narrative.
TL;DR¹
In short, I read books because I find that absorbing myself in one topic or narrative for a prolonged chunk of time helps me become a better thinker, writer, designer, and — maybe, just maybe — a better human being. Also because reading brings me joy. 😃
Many of us live incredibly busy lives. When we’re not working we often have family commitments, social engagements, DIY projects, exercise regimes, household chores, pets to look after, etc., etc. And when we’re not doing any of those things we have more TV channels and social media feeds than we can keep up with, and our phones ping, flash, or vibrate with new notifications at an alarming rate.
So, in the modern world, when so much is communicated via headlines, soundbites, and tweets, is there still a place for reading books?
I think so. In fact, I suspect it might be more important than ever.
Why I read books²
On a typical day, most of us will read all sorts of content: from WhatsApp messages to street billboards and from work emails to online articles. Each piece of content serves its own purpose and there is certainly much to be said for communicating succinctly. Often the headlines are all we need to know. But while there are obvious advantages to getting a quick summary, if all we ever read is the headlines and the quick summaries, I think we miss out.
It’s a bit like grabbing an apple or a biscuit when it’s lunchtime but you haven’t got time to make or eat anything more substantial. The apple or biscuit serves a purpose: they tide you over. But it’s nothing like eating homemade lasagne, for example, slow cooked and accompanied with warm garlic bread, fresh salad and a good glass of red wine. We naturally take our time over such meals, enjoying the heady mix of aromas, colors, textures, and tastes. Whereas the apple or biscuit provides temporary fuel for our bodies, such meals offer a much richer and deeper experience.
In the same way, I enjoy the luxury of stopping, switching off from the busyness and noise, and immersing myself in a given topic or narrative for an extended period of time. In a busy world, where I’m multi-tasking so much of the time, I enjoy the opportunity to pick up a good book, slow down, and focus on one train of thought for a while.
And when I refer to an extended period of time, I don’t simply mean the time I’m literally sat reading the book. I typically find that the contents of the book I’m reading gently bubble away at the back of my mind for days if not weeks afterwards, coming back to me at odd moments, causing me to think and re-think about what I’ve read.
There are several other reasons why I read books:
To sharpen my mind. More than just learning information (which can be cool in itself), reading broadly challenges my thinking and helps me see things from new perspectives.
To better understand myself and others. Reading about the motivations, hopes, fears, and reactions of different people (real or fictitious) has given me greater insight into myself and others. After all, what is there to know about the human condition that can’t be found in, say, Romeo and Juliet or East of Eden or Anna Karenina?
To learn more about different places and different times in history. As George R. R. Martin once pointed out: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies… The man who never reads lives only one.”
To benefit from the wisdom of others. The world has many talented, passionate individuals who devote their lives to exploring their particular field of study. The wisdom and insight that might have taken someone years to develop can be mine for the small investment of a few hours of reading.
To develop my own writing. Reading great writers inspires me as a writer and develops my vocabulary, command of English, and storytelling skills. As Stephen King puts it: “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
Because it brings me joy. Although I’ve listed this last, this is vital. If a book doesn’t help you in some way or bring you joy, stop reading it and throw it away. Then go find one that does.
Reading as a habit
Over the years I’ve often had people ask me how I manage to read so much. After all, I work full time, have a wife and two young children, have a house and garden to maintain, plus have lots of other responsibilities and interests.
I can point to some things that probably help, such as the fact that I don’t have much interest in TV and that I often don’t sleep too well, so find that reading at the end of the day (or in the middle of the night) to be helpful. But it’s also more than this. I think that much like flossing or exercising or playing a musical instrument, reading is most daunting when you seldom do it and easiest when it becomes habitual.
So for me, however busy life gets (and it’s often very busy) I still read every day — even if it’s just for 20 minutes when I collapse into bed each night. And I think it’s this more than anything else that has led to me consistently reading, on average, a couple of books per month for many years now.³
Interestingly, like any well established habit, I find a certain circular pattern of reinforcement has emerged: because I read a lot, people often give me interesting books, and because I have lots of interesting looking books lying around, I tend to, well, read a lot.
What I read
As this article is about reading, it would seem remiss of me not to mention a few of the great books I’ve enjoyed over the last few years.
Now, I could happily witter on for ages about all the books that I love, but to keep this article from becoming too lengthy or indulgent, I’ve limited myself to just 20 titles — half fiction, half non-fiction⁴ — and have only allowed myself a one sentence comment about each one.
So, if you’re looking for some book recommendations, here are some works that I’ve enjoyed reading in recent years (listed in no particular order):
a) Non-fiction:
- Content Design by Sarah Richards. I work as a Content Designer, so it’s perhaps no surprise that I’m a big fan of this little book.
- The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People by Stephen R. Covey. If you’ve never read this seminal book, do yourself a huge favor and go beg, borrow, or steal a copy today.
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries. I read this earlier this year and it has definitely had a huge impact on how I now approach any new venture.
- Leadership and the New Science by Margaret Wheatley. A book that challenges commonly-held perspectives on leadership, management, and how organizations actually best flourish.
- Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together by William Isaacs. A fascinating study into how people can learn to better collaborate together.
- Quiet by Susan Cain. A fresh and intelligent look at the introvert/extrovert aspect of our personalities and the power of being, well, quiet.
- Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute. I’m fascinated by the extent to which we tend to deceive ourselves, so was naturally drawn to this intriguing volume.
- The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. A very readable exploration into how some seemingly small things can lead to major change.
- The Phoenix Project⁵ by G. Kim, K. Behr, and G. Spafford. A good portrayal of life inside a siloed IT department and what DevOps really has to offer.
- The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman. This book was way ahead of its time when it was published in 1988 and is still worth a read today.
b) Fiction:
I’ve selected 5 “classics” and 5 novels by contemporary writers. I’ve also attempted to offer a range of styles.
- Howards End by E. M. Forster. A brilliant novel exploring our desire to know and be known — or as the epitaph puts it, to “Only connect”.
- Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Many people know Fitzgerald’s most famous work, The Great Gatsby, but Tender is, I think, perhaps an even greater achievement.
- Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. This novel has it all: youth, love, loss, faith, family, and a teddy bear named Aloysius.
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Worth reading for the dazzling brilliance of the writing; one of the worlds greatest stylist at the height of his powers.
- The Code of the Woosters by P. G. Wodehouse. This is perhaps a peculiarly British form of comedy, but I could happily read a Jeeves and Wooster novel any day of the year.
- Atonement by Ian McEwan. Of all McEwan’s fine novels, this is my firm favorite.
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt. What becomes of six unusual and secretive classics students at a small, elite Vermont college…
- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. If you’re into historical fiction, you’ll love this — and if you’re not into historical fiction you will also love this!
- Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain. Much is said about the armed forces, but rarely do we consider what it’s actually like to be a soldier in the modern (PR-driven) world.
- The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. Okay, so not one book, but I’ve only recently read this series so had to include it here.
If you’ve made it to the end of this article, do leave a comment with a book recommendation or two of your own.
Happy reading!
Footnotes:
[1] Sorry, but I couldn’t resist the irony…
[2] Clearly, books can be physical, bound paper objects or digital artifacts read on an e-reader. I tend to read the former format because I like underlining passages and scribbling in the margins, but this is simply a matter of taste.
[3] I know this because I’ve been keeping a reading log for the past 15 years.
[4] I know quite a few people who only read “serious”, non-fiction books and who have no time for reading fiction, seeing it as a childish or frivolous pursuit. It’s a free world and each of us is different, but personally I find my life is much richer for having read many wonderful, insightful, and life-giving novels over the years. Lots has been written on the benefits of reading good fiction — see for example: Reading literary fiction improves empathy, and Five Ways Reading Fiction Makes You Better At Your Job.
[5] The Phoenix Project is actually told in narrative form, so I guess you could argue that it’s a work of fiction, but as I suspect people primarily read it in order to learn about DevOps, the “three ways”, systems thinking, etc., I’ve classed it as non-fiction here.
