“When you read a book, use a pen to make notes in the margins and highlight important text.”
I cringe at that statement. I never, ever highlight or write in or mark in a book in any way. To me that is a mortal sin. It’s like drawing a mustache on the Mona Lisa. The second you write in a book it is ruined; desecrated. I don’t even do book-signings for my own books anymore because it pains me so much to desecrate my books by writing in them.
Years ago when I was a book dealer and dealt with used books I refused to accept or buy any book that had been highlighted. I considered those books ruined and worthless. And I certainly won’t read a book that has been highlighted or written in by a previous reader. That spoils the reading experience for me.
Anyway, that’s how weird I am.
A hundred years ago, when I was in my Twenties, I also used to keep track of how many books I read each year just like so many of the youngsters here at Medium. (There seem to be an endless supply of articles about it.) I kept the list in a spiral notebook (hopefully everyone knows what that is). But my goal was to read 300 books a year. I reached my goal 4 out of the 6 years that I kept track. The other 2 years I came very close. I always had a book in my hand. Always.
Buy in bulk? Even better, get a job in a bookstore. That’s what I did. Of course, if you’re going to do that you’d better do it quickly while there are still some bookstores left.
As far as the relevancy of books and choosing books go, I prefer it when the book chooses me instead of me choosing the book. The best books are the ones that mysteriously fall off a shelf and hit you in the noggin. And never judge a book by its cover. What I like to do is hold the book between the palms of my hands and close my eyes. I FEEL the book. I feel what kind of vibrations are emanating from it. I feel the energy. This, in my opinion, is the best way to choose books. Sadly, it is hard to do this when shopping for books online.
Remembering what you read? To me, it is more important to remember the FEELING of it. By remembering the FEELINGS you experienced reading the book, the information comes back much more easily. Often, the FEELINGS are more important than the information.
So how many books did I read in the last year? I never keep track anymore but I can probably count them on my fingers and toes. I read far less than I used to. Why? Because I just can’t stop writing. My reading addiction morphed into a writing addiction. I compulsively write so much that I have little time for reading anymore. Luckily, though, books keep jumping off of shelves and hitting me in the noggin so I still manage to read some masterpieces. The quantity is down but the quality seems to remain very high.
Anyway, I think everyone now has a pretty good idea of just how weird I am.
