In a world of emotional sound bites and clickbait articles, books offer us one of the last few spots to still read a full thought. They require the author, as well as the reader, to commit to understanding on a deeper level.
Having a good reading list is a great way to help you expand your knowledge base, as well become a more avid reader.
I always have two reading lists that I maintain:
- Want to Read List – I keep a list of about 15-30 books that I want to read in the future. These books are from a few different genres/categories (mostly finance, business, philosophy), so that I can always find a book based on what I’m feeling at the time. I also review the list throughout the year, and remove books that linger on there too long.
- All Time Favorites – I also keep my all time favorite books to read again. I love to re-read great books, and doing so probably comprises about half of my yearly reading. Any book that doesn’t become a favorite get’s donated.
I keep my “want to” reading list mostly on Amazon. Although I have a few qualms about them as a company, their book selection, reviews, and wish list features work well.
My favorite books are kept in a collection in our library (storage in our basement). Although I do have some books on Kindle, I fall into the camp of enjoying the physical feel of a book while I’m reading it.
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This post is Day 18 of 21 Days of Simple.
My library is great for tracking books I want to read. I almost never buy my books, and just check out everything from library up the street.
I really should use my library more. I just have this internal aversion to having due dates for returning things… certainly costs me each year. That said, I feel better at least supporting authors and donating books that don’t make it to the favorites list.
I use my kindle. When I started to embrace minimalism a few years back, I decided to no longer purchase physical books. PLUS it’s nice not having to wait for books to arrive.
I went through big kindle kick for a while. But I eventually found that I was more engaged with books that I could physically turn the page and interact with.
I do miss the flexibility of having so many books on such a slim device!
I am a library lover and missing it greatly during the quarrantine.
Love this series you are doing.
I definitely need to use my library more. Our local library is actually open for curbside pickup of books during quarantine, which is great.
And I’m glad you’ve been enjoying the 21 day series!
Many libraries have extensive digital collections if you set up the app. Also project Gutenberg has many out of copyright books. I love the all-time list!
That’s a good point Jimi – I know a few of my friends have taken advantage of the digital book checkout feature with our library system.