Today's question comes from loyal reader and avid blogger Christy Nelson from Lincoln, Neb.
Question: Are you able to really take the time to ponder what you've just read or do you feel like you have to move on to the next book quickly in order to reach your goal?
That's a great question and one that I ask myself all of the time. I often wish that I had more time to ponder what I have read in certain books. The pace is very strenuous and I have to move to the next book quickly but, I have learned so much and I have become a better person through doing this. There have been many things that I have incorporated into my life like how to how help my brain let things that are bugging me go (I learned this from 'The Open Focus Brain'). I learned the power of analogies and metaphors and started to use them with my students (from a book by Rick Wormeli called 'Metaphors and Analogies').
One night when I was in an emotional funk I read 'The Big Moo' by Seth Godin and it really got me out of a bad place emotially and into a great place. I've learned how to present my ideas better, how to get more energy, how to teach reading, and how to bring my creativity out.
I have come to love fiction books over the past six weeks as well more than ever. I just read one book the other day and it was crazy to sit down and three hours later finish a 264-page book. Before this year I would have never thought I could do that. I've learned that we are capable of a lot more than we think. Actually I have learned so much and grown so much and that is what really drives me to keep going.
Next year I don't think that I will read so many books. I think that I will read maybe just a hundred books (editor's note: wimp!) and take time to ponder them more. I think that I will go back and reread some of my favorites from this year as well. I guess I look at it like this: I may have learned more from individual books if I took more time to read each one but, on the other hand I have learned a ton about a lot of different topics. In the world of food my experience can be compared to an all you can eat buffet which in this case results in binge literacy.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Q&A: How did this start? How does she chose books?
How did this journey start?
I was inspired to start this goal by two books. Last year I read probably 3 or 4 books, but one of them gave me a great insight. It was written by Pat Williams who is an NBA executive who has 19 children, including 14 adopted from nations around the world. In it he mentions that he is a voracious reader, which is a phrase I have seen describing many of the great geniuses I have read about. Pat talks about how he reads 4 to 6 books a week and may have ten or more open at the same time. This really intrigued me. I didn't know it was possible to read that many books. I thought that it had to take like a week or two to read just about any book except for something like Harry Potter.
So when I first set out it was to read a book a week. Then pretty soon I said that 100 books in a year sounded a lot cooler so I was going to read two books a week. That seemed like a lofty goal but I was up to the challenge. Then on January first I read a book called 'My Stroke of Insight' by Jill Bolte Taylor. She talks about our brains and what they are capable of and how they can do so much more than what we think. So was also a voracious reader except for the time during her life when she couldn't read because of her stroke. I read the entire book on New Years Day. That's when it sparked it in my brain that I could read a book a day. I wrestled with the idea of reading one every day because I knew that some days I wouldn't have a lot of time to read and others I would have a lot more time so I made the goal 365 in 365 and to average a book a day. For the first few weeks I did read a book every day. I think that has been my longest streak. I will probably break it during the summer.
It has been one of the best decisions of my entire life. I have learned so much and have become a better person and it pains me to think that if I wouldn't have read all those books and implemented the ideas that I would have missed out on a lot of growth. Next year I may slow down the pace a little bit, but we'll see.
How do you choose the book?
The number one way that I choose books are the books that are cited or recommended in the books that I enjoy. If a book is recommend in another book I will try it and I have enjoyed almost every book that I have found this way. When you read nonfiction books and people are talking about their ideas you sometimes feel like you know the author and that they know you. I trust their recommendations because I like their ideas.
Another way I choose books is through the Amazon recommendations list. I have found many books that way. I didn't repeat authors for the first 60 books or so, but now I repeat authors a lot more. I am preparing to be a language arts teacher this year so I look for young adult fiction that I can share with my students in the fall. I don't really look at reviews or other people's ratings. I also have the rule that if I don't like a book I can abandon it. There are only two books that I can remember that I wish I had abandoned: 'Five People You Meet in Heaven' and 'Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity.' For many of the books there is a chain where one book lead to another and that book lead to another and so on. I would like to read some more that are recommended by people but I have had a whole lot of recommendations.
I was inspired to start this goal by two books. Last year I read probably 3 or 4 books, but one of them gave me a great insight. It was written by Pat Williams who is an NBA executive who has 19 children, including 14 adopted from nations around the world. In it he mentions that he is a voracious reader, which is a phrase I have seen describing many of the great geniuses I have read about. Pat talks about how he reads 4 to 6 books a week and may have ten or more open at the same time. This really intrigued me. I didn't know it was possible to read that many books. I thought that it had to take like a week or two to read just about any book except for something like Harry Potter.
So when I first set out it was to read a book a week. Then pretty soon I said that 100 books in a year sounded a lot cooler so I was going to read two books a week. That seemed like a lofty goal but I was up to the challenge. Then on January first I read a book called 'My Stroke of Insight' by Jill Bolte Taylor. She talks about our brains and what they are capable of and how they can do so much more than what we think. So was also a voracious reader except for the time during her life when she couldn't read because of her stroke. I read the entire book on New Years Day. That's when it sparked it in my brain that I could read a book a day. I wrestled with the idea of reading one every day because I knew that some days I wouldn't have a lot of time to read and others I would have a lot more time so I made the goal 365 in 365 and to average a book a day. For the first few weeks I did read a book every day. I think that has been my longest streak. I will probably break it during the summer.
It has been one of the best decisions of my entire life. I have learned so much and have become a better person and it pains me to think that if I wouldn't have read all those books and implemented the ideas that I would have missed out on a lot of growth. Next year I may slow down the pace a little bit, but we'll see.
How do you choose the book?
The number one way that I choose books are the books that are cited or recommended in the books that I enjoy. If a book is recommend in another book I will try it and I have enjoyed almost every book that I have found this way. When you read nonfiction books and people are talking about their ideas you sometimes feel like you know the author and that they know you. I trust their recommendations because I like their ideas.
Another way I choose books is through the Amazon recommendations list. I have found many books that way. I didn't repeat authors for the first 60 books or so, but now I repeat authors a lot more. I am preparing to be a language arts teacher this year so I look for young adult fiction that I can share with my students in the fall. I don't really look at reviews or other people's ratings. I also have the rule that if I don't like a book I can abandon it. There are only two books that I can remember that I wish I had abandoned: 'Five People You Meet in Heaven' and 'Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity.' For many of the books there is a chain where one book lead to another and that book lead to another and so on. I would like to read some more that are recommended by people but I have had a whole lot of recommendations.
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