Welcome back, my fellow travellers. It is a joy to have the pleasure of your company and spending a moment together. I hope your week has gone well and you’ve gotten as much life out of that as possible.
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When I began writing full-time about two and a half years ago, one of the first books I read was “On Writing” by Stephen King. It is part memoir and part ‘here’s how to do stuff’ book. One of the things that struck me was his insistence that to become a good writer; you have to do two things. One is to write. Then I learned that writing is much more than just putting words onto the page or screen. I won’t go into it, but if you are a beginner writer looking for a good book about how to write. I can’t recommend it enough. The other thing that you must do is read. Purists will say that you have to read a ‘proper’ book. Stephen disagrees, and I share his opinion. There are many ways to read these days. Both in ‘proper’ book form and other media. Such as e-books and audiobooks.
Using apps allows me to carry a whole library of books wherever I go. Helpful when going on holiday. You are not taking up vital space in your luggage for reading material. It is also beneficial if I chat with someone about a book and they express an interest in it. I can send them a copy and share mine with them. It doesn’t cost them or me anything extra. As you know, a book habit can get costly if you’re not careful.
I will only tell you the author of the book and the title. I’m not sharing feedback on the books. However, I may do it at a later date. The list is quite long, and the author and title are enough.
Another thing that I have found extremely useful is learning how to read speedily. Most of us read at a rate of around 190 words per minute. Using a combination of apps and webinars, I have increased my speed to about 260 wpm. Don’t you think that’s possible? Try it and find out for yourself. Please don’t take just my word for it.
I will put the list in alphabetical order of the author’s surname. So if you have a favourite author in mind and want to know if I’ve read them, you can scan through the list quickly, which gives it some structure and makes sense to me. Other opinions and methodologies are available.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dsLa5RFhmCaioH_W7Z02iyV43fOmDymYzsSlxoZs0XE/edit
Suppose mine disagrees with you. Leave me a comment, and I will do my best to find another solution for you. Would a recording of the list be helpful, for example? Should I be thinking about more significant font types? What about other languages? Do let me know. I welcome all of your feedback and comments.
So there we go, a list of the books I read last year. As you can tell, I read a wide range of genres and a mix of fiction and non-fiction. Which I believe was something else Stephen King encouraged. I do read everywhere I go. That’s another benefit of having different media to choose from you. I can pick the press to suit the environment that I am in. I squeeze in a few minutes while waiting to have my groceries checked out. Or any other queue situation I find myself in. Doctor, dentist, pharmacy, customer service call on hold, and so forth. I can read in the car and my reading corner at home. I would instead read than watch something. When I want to watch something, I use a reward system—20 mins for each goal or sub-goal I achieve in a day. So for an hour of viewing. I would need to complete a minimum of three goals. I mark it off on a little chart on my fridge door. Seeing lots of ticks on the sheet as the weeks and months pass is very satisfying.
Has anyone else compiled a list of books they have read in the past year that you would like to share? Do you have any recommendations that are not your own? What reading habits have you taught yourself? Please let me know by liking and leaving a comment.
Well, that’s it for another week. Remember to hit the like button and subscribe to your inbox for future publications.
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