Further Thoughts on Reading (Part 3)

How much and how often should a dedicated reader read? More from Further Thoughts on Reading: Going Deep AND Wide:

"3. Set reasonable goals based on where you are in your life.

My wife’s reading goal will look different than mine. My goal may be different from yours. I suspect that D.A. Carson, Al Mohler and John Piper have very different reading practices.But I still affirm my initial challenge to set a goal for reading. Why? Because you are more likely to read if you set a goal than if you don’t.

Set a reasonable goal and then go for it. If it’s a book a month, so be it! Goal-setting is simply a way of holding yourself accountable to a discipline.

Let’s say you set a goal of 25 books this year (roughly one book every two weeks). It’s possible that you might not make your goal, but I believe that you’ll get closer to that number having set a goal than if you forget the goal and read unintentionally all year long."

Reading Deep and Wide (Part 2)

Can you read a book too fast, or too slow? Further comments form the excellent post by Trevin Wax Further Thoughts on Reading: Going Deep AND Wide :

"2. You cheat yourself when you read some books too slowly.

Having acknowledged that some books deserve reflection and time, I still believe that many books (if not most) can and should be read more quickly. Not every book is Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress or Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship.

In the case of many (if not most) books, the reader can quickly come to grips with the main point, consider the author’s perspective, and then move on. Some books deserve careful attention and reflection. But many are practical and easy-to-comprehend. Get what you need and go on.

If you are in a five-star restaurant with a five-course meal, you are foolish if you devour the meal in ten minutes. On the other hand, if you’re in a Steak and Shake, you don’t want to spend three hours on the Frisco Melt. A steak dinner is digested differently than mashed potatoes. You may find you enjoy both meals, but you (hopefully) enjoy them in different ways."

10 Tips to Read More and Read Better: Number 6

Tim Chailles has written a list of 10 Tips to Read More and Read Better. His blog is one of my favorite sites. I really like his points on reading ( not to mention that I am an addicted reader and bibliophile) so I am going to quote one of his ten points each day for ten days. I encourage all my readers to put this into practice.

Number six is:

Read Heavy Books - It can be intimidating to stare at some of those massive volumes or series of volumes sitting on your bookshelf, but be sure to make time to read some of those serious works. A person can only grow so much while living on a diet of easy-reading Christian Living books. Make your way through some Jonathan Edwards or John Calvin. Read Grudem’s Systematic Theology or David Wells’ “No Place for Truth” series. You will find them slow-going, to be sure, but will also find them rewarding. Commit to reading some of these heavy volumes as a regular part of your reading diet. Consider joining in one of our Reading Classics Together efforts to add some interaction and accountability in reading one of the classics of the faith

10 Tips to Read More and Read Better: Number 3

Tim Chailles has written a list of 10 Tips to Read More and Read Better. His blog is one of my favorite sites. I really like his points on reading ( not to mention that I am an addicted reader and bibliophile) so I am going to quote one of his ten points each day for ten days. I encourage all my readers to put this into practice.

Number three on the list is:

Read Deliberately - Similar to reading widely, ensure that you read deliberately. Choose your books carefully. If you neglect to do this, you may find that you overlook a particular category for months or even years at a time. Al Mohler, a voracious reader, divides books into six categories: Theology, Biblical Studies, Church Life, History, Cultural Studies, and Literature and has some project going within each of these categories at all times. You can draw up categories of your own, but try to ensure you are reading from a variety of the categories on a regular basis. Choose books that fit into each of these categories and plan your reading ahead of time, so you know what book you will read next and you know what you’ll read after that. Anticipation for the next book is often a motivating force in completing the current book.

10 Tips to Read More and Read Better: Number 2:

Tim Chailles has written a list of 10 Tips to Read More and Read Better. His blog is one of my favorite sites. I really like his points on reading ( not to mention that I am an addicted reader and bibliophile) so I am going to quote one of his ten points each day for ten days. I encourage all my readers to put this into practice.

Tim's second point is:

Read Widely - I’m convinced that one reason people do not read more is that they do not vary their reading enough. Any subject, no matter how much you are interested in it, can begin to feel dry if you focus all of your attention upon it. So be sure to read widely. Read fiction and non-fiction, theology and biography, current affairs and history, Christian and non. You will no doubt want to focus the majority of your reading in one broad area, and that is well and good. But be sure to vary your diet.

10 Tips to Read More and Read Better - Number 1

Tim Chailles has written a list of 10 Tips to Read More and Read Better. His blog is one of my favorite sites. I really like his points on reading ( not to mention that I am an addicted reader and bibliophile) so I am going to quote one of his ten points each day for ten days. I encourage all my readers to put this into practice.

The Number one tip for becoming a better reader is simply: Read.

Read - We start with the obvious: you need to read. Find me someone who has changed the world and who spent his time watching television and I’ll find you a thousand who read books instead. Unless reading is your passion, you may need to be very deliberate about setting aside time to read. You may need to force yourself to do it. Set yourself a reasonable target (“I’m going to read three books this year” or “I’m going to finish this book before the end of the month”) and work towards it. Set aside time every day or every week and make sure you pick up the book during those times. Find a book dealing with a subject of particular interest to you. You may even find it beneficial to find a book that looks interesting—a nice hardback volume with a beautiful, embossed cover, easy-to-read fonts and beautiful typography. Reading is an experience and the experience begins with the look and feel of the book. So find a book that looks like one you’ll enjoy and commit to reading it. And when you’ve done that, find another one and do it again. And again.