The Need to Read: 5 Tips to Read More, Better, Faster

Today’s post is written for both avid readers and those averse to reading. These tips will help those with towering stacks of books just waiting to be read sort out the “must read” from the “should toss”.  And for those infrequent readers, the first three tips will allow you to spend minimal time with maximum payoff.

First a disclaimer: I fall in the “avid reader” category.  I love authors who have a way with words. I love the quiet peace of curling up with a good book in my hands. I love the escape. I love the challenge of learning something new and expanding possibilities.

As a child, I was far too often chided for having “my head in a book” rather than my hands in the dishwater. When I landed a job with a book printer friends marveled at what an amazing fit that was. When we found a house with floor to ceiling built-in bookcases it became “the” house we had to buy.

I admonish my Purdue students that “leaders read.” And I believe that is true. As I work with leaders across lots of different companies, and from CEO to beginning supervisor, I find that the leaders that read have fresh ideas, multiple perspectives, and are more connected to what is going on in the world.

So how does one sort out what is worth reading? How does one read faster and retain more? Here are 5 tips that serve me well.

Tip #1 – Find your book genies; avoid the gremlins

All kinds of people will recommend books to you: friends, co-workers, speakers, coaches, your pastor, the media, or the man in line at the book story. There are just a few people who, no matter what they recommend to me, it is a valuable read. And there are some folks who consistently recommend books that are duds. I will always pick up the books recommended by my book genies – and be more cautious with others. My book genies are (1) well read, (2) know me well, and (3) tailor their recommendations based on that. My book gremlins, on the other hand, tend to (1) read less and become enamored with the one book they read 5 years ago, (2) are trying to impress rather than help, or (3) are trying to sell THEIR book.

Tip #2 – Try before you buy

Spend minutes giving a book a test drive before you invest hours of your precious time and brainpower.

• If you have a Kindle, request the free sample, which allows you to read the first part of the book and then make your buying decision.
• Book abstracts abound and make it easy to download either a PDF or a file to your tablet or reader.
• There are compilations of book categories. For example, I love The Best Business Books Ever: The Most Influential Management Books You’ll Never Have Time to Read. Each book has a 2-3 page summary. Even if you don’t ready the full book, you’ll get a sense of the message.

Tip #3 – Read a book in 10 minutes

One of my book “genies” turned me on to this methodology – as detailed by Keith Drury, a pastor faced with an insurmountable reading list. This is the idea in brief:

Minute 1: Memorize the title and author.

Minute 2: Read the cover content and recommendations.

Minute 3: Scan the front matter to get a summary of the book.

Minutes 4 & 5: Find and scan the key chapter.

Minutes 6 – 8: Find and read the secret clues. (Chapter summaries, diagrams, outlines of the book in the back matter.)

Minutes 9-10: Write a quick summary.

Tip #4 – Don’t listen to your mother or the librarian

I was taught not to mark on, write on, dog ear or otherwise deface books. I now do just the opposite. I highlight, write in the margins, tear our really good pages, dog ear key pages and make summary notes wherever they fit. You could quickly scan my library and find the books that influence me the most simply by finding those with the most Post-it^® Notes‎ affixed.

Make reading an interactive exercise. Know that the true value of a book is not its pristine condition (with a few exceptions – none of which are in my personal library); but in the ideas within it. Let the ideas out by working with them, making it easy to find them, and raising good questions.

Tip #5 – Savor and save the good ones

If pushed, I could hone my library down to 20 to 30 that have had a profound impact on my life and profession. Know what those books are for you. Keep them close. Reread them – knowing that each read surfaces something richer and deeper. And become a book genie by passing these titles along to just the right person!

I always have more books to read than time to read them. So I’d welcome your tips – what else can I do to work through the big piles of yet to be read books?