Read on Twitter
A thread about #Books. Two of my friends asked me for book recommendations that would help them pick up the habit/speed of reading and sustain it. For them, and for you all, I have one word: anthologies.
You'd never go wrong with an anthology like 'Folktales from India by AK Ramanujan'. Crisp, neat, and sharp English-retelling of folktales from different Indian languages that make you want to read more and more. While some stories are just a page-long, there are longer ones too.
There are wonderful anthologies published by almost any good publishing house. At home, we have Sahitya Akademi's anthologies that include translations of bhasha lit. Move beyond Panchatantra and Arabian Nights. Pick up Grimm's, or a collection of short stories by Puthumaipithan.
A good reading plan is to timebox 30 minutes of your evening or even bedtime for reading before you doze off. Needless to say, keep phone on silent and read till you drop. Not tough at all.. being away from blinking screens for an hour before sleeping is good for your health too.
A back-of-the-envelope calculation would reveal that, say, if you read 50 pages a day for 300 days a year, and for 30 years from today, you can only read 1,500 books (300 pages apiece) and retail far less in your memory..
Given the fact that thousands of books are getting published every year, our lives are painfully limited when it comes to intellectual capacity, so all the more, we should be careful about what we choose to read. It is perfectly OK to skip boring books. Go for what interests you.
As your reading speed accelerates, you will also realize that less is more, and classics are called so for a reason. You will discover that there are hundreds of book genres. Mine is science, tech, and science fiction. Choose yours and stick to it.
Follow specific sites that cover books in your chosen genre, and create reading wishlists. Note down references of books in other books. Go #meta. Rely on the power of note making - use Google Keep or Evernote, or whichever notetaking app you have on your phone.
Don't buy books whimsically. Don't pick up that flashy-covered 'bestseller' or the one that has become a Netflix/Prime series/movie. Better still, watch that movie for a few minutes, pause if the plot captivates you, go fetch the book, read, and get back to the movie later.
Create a reading shortlist - add all that you love to your online shopping cart /wishlist it and review the list later. May be, download a free sample on Kindle/Google Books / other such marketplaces, and sample it before you spend on it. Borrow it from your library if available.
Learn the art of skimming. Less is more, and quicker is smarter. Pick up the classic 'How to read faster and better' by Norman Lewis and improve your reading speed and comprehension. You can improve this skill! No one is a born reader - we all get better with perseverance.
If you prefer to listen rather than read, try Audible / Storytel apps, but get back to reading - as reading it yourself clearly has a different route to your brain as you can read at your pace, skip portions, and flip back and forth. And, you can imagine different voices!
Again, don't jump the gun and buy some book that your friend suggested, or the one your favorite star held in their hand / the front row of display at a bookstore. May be an exaggeration, but choose a book just like you would choose your friends.
Because, a bad choice of film lasts not more than 3 hours, but a bad book choice not only wastes at least twice that time, but will also put you off your reading streak, and may disrupt your habit altogether too.
Read reviews/columns by authors. Watch interviews. Follow people like @sharinbhatti (of booksontoast) on social media. Follow book review handles on Twitter. Spend a minimum of 20% of all your reading time on reading reviews and 80% on your actual reading. Sharpen that knife.
Narrow down your interests, but don't be too harsh. Be curious, but choose books from your favorite genre. There's a buyer's sorrow that is like FOMO - fear of missing out on books in other genres, but hey, we all have a painfully limited time left on this planet.
Above all, reading should make you more humble, more self-aware, and more action-oriented and better in your life pursuits. Don't develop 'intellectual arrogance' and let that pigheadedness cloud your personality.
Understand that reading is a habit practiced by a very few fortunate and privileged souls, and if you are one, be more humble and grateful. Never diss a commoner's street wisdom. Never say harsh things or pass comments such as 'youngsters are dumb, they don't read much..'
Now that you have the knowledge, don't say others lack it - spread it in all ways possible - incite meaningful conversations about important, and interesting books - be the change - don't force it though - don't be the party bore and try to shove your wokeness into others.
Don't be that 'Boys movie Bharat' who speaks about Doris Lessing in a random bus stop to a random uninterested girl. Always contextualize your conversations and speak only if you know there is adequate warmth in the receptor's heart, and the time for them to listen.
No one is going to give you an Oscar for reading the most books - you will die like everyone else, and you will be forgotten like everyone will be - but if there are books that have become immortal, do your bit to immortalize them even more by speaking about them. Sincerely.
'Reading is therapeutic, reading makes you a complete personality'.. don't fall for such selfish drivel. It need not do these things. It can just be for your sheer pleasure too. Don't judge others' reading lists. Create yours with sincerity and that's all there is to it.
If reading opens up different sides of your personality, and make you a better communicator (beyond being an annoying Grammar Nazi), go for it with full zest.
Reading should make you intensely aware of the 'other' and taste 'others' lives' vicariously and develop the most important quality of being human: EMPATHY. So, tonight, pause your inert Instagram Reels marathon and pick up a book. Read. Enjoy. Share your joy. One book at a time.
Long thread over. Best wishes for a 2021 filled with great thoughts, conversations, and memories. If you like book recommendations, follow my profile 'bookgramam' on Instagram. Take care!
