Read on Twitter
Here's a thread on the problem with the North American non-fiction book industry.
We'll call them NFBs to save space, because what's a good non-fiction book without a few acronyms? https://twitter.com/InfluencerGarb1/status/1362045809882247179
We'll call them NFBs to save space, because what's a good non-fiction book without a few acronyms? https://twitter.com/InfluencerGarb1/status/1362045809882247179
If you walk into any North American book store, virtually all NFBs placed at the front of the store are about individualism or self-improvement. North Americans are obsessed with fixing themselves and being better. We want all of the tips and tricks to being better.
If you're in the UK, walk into a bookstore there. You'll immediately notice a difference. Front and center are books on history, nature, culture - you know, THE WORLD. Other cultures value learning about other shit beyond the self.
Our culture is stuck in this mindset that reading a book will make us a better person. Maybe, but HOW and WHY most of us read books is inherently flawed. At the end of the day, a book is a shortcut. We love buying books as a symbol of personal development and growth.
I cringe when I see people post the stack of books they read in the past year. As if it's some kind of trophy hunting flex. If books really changed how all people think and act, we'd have 1000% more good leaders and entrepreneurs thanks to Simon Sinek and Tim Ferris.
What's lost on people is that all those books (and most NFB for that matter) accomplish is they make the authors wealthier. Most NFBs are written to make the author a lot of money - first as an author, then as a speaker/consultant. Do you think Lean In was written to help people?
We evangelize these people because we all worship a deity of some kind. No one is truly an atheist (David Foster Wallace). We consume their works. We read harrowing tales of success retro-fitted for the author's half-baked thesis. We soak up the insights. And we apply nothing
Why? Because change is really frickin' hard, and reading is viewed as a complete activity, rather than the start of something bigger. Think of the last non-fiction (or even fiction) book you read. What happened after?
Did you read Meditations and become a badass Stoic? Did you read Start With Why and discover your Why? Did you read Never Split the Difference and start selling more? Did you read Tools of Titans and found a unicorn start-up?
No?
Wanna know why?
No?
Wanna know why?
Because you read the book and put it back on the shelf.
Checked the box.
Snapped a picture on Instagram and called it a day.
Achievement unlocked.
Checked the box.
Snapped a picture on Instagram and called it a day.
Achievement unlocked.
Then you're on to the next trend and you've completely forgotten about what you just read. It's kind of like how we approach school except there's no final exam. We just don't know HOW to learn very well. Education is so transactional today.
A few years ago it was all about empathy + being a good leader. Then it was happiness. Then it was Un-f*cking something with your life, finances, or the world. This year it was dismantling racism. Next year it'll be some other repackaged self-referential bullshit.
Most of these books are just bad. Designed to sell, designed to make the author money. Your outcome does not matter. If that were the case, why isn't there a far smaller section of diet and health books? It seems to get bigger every month.
A good first step is to slow down how much you read. Reading is not just the act of reading. If you truly want to get better at reading, then you also need to work on writing. Read, reflect, synthesize, write, repeat.
Journal, blog (privately or publicly).
Journal, blog (privately or publicly).
Part of why I started this website is for my own self-reflection and learning. Making money from it would be nice, but the 14 bucks a month I pay to Squarespace is worth it since this is a hobby for me. You can track along and see what books I was reading based on my writing.
If you want a comprehensive guide on how to read better, check out Jim Clair's guide: https://jimclair.com/ex-libris/
There are good books out there, but you'll have to go digging for them. Just like when you're grocery shopping, all the healthy stuff is tucked off the the side.
END
There are good books out there, but you'll have to go digging for them. Just like when you're grocery shopping, all the healthy stuff is tucked off the the side.
END
