And of course, along with personal development will come more wealth.

There’s nothing wrong with reading a book that others say is too challenging for you. Just be aware that it may be a tough slog in places.

-Nate

I often read for sometime before going to bed, but depending on the nature of book, I tend to go on for couple of hours.

Good point on making notes at the end of reading session. I haven’t been doing this in a long time, I need ot get back into that habit.

Great tipe on “Best moment of the day”. I need to starting recording those. I used (or sometimes even now) write down the activities (journal) but not necessarily the best moement of the day. I believe doing this helps me have an awareness and be alert through out the day. Thank you for this write up.
-Ram

I wrote a similar article in early November on how to incorporate reading into your daily life:

http://www.scordo.com/blog/2008/11/how-to-incorporate-reading-int.html

People like Buffett and Gates understand how important it is to read each day – I think they both read tons of newspapers each day, as well as play Bridge!

Vince

However when I’m looking for information on a new topic, I usually go to the Internet before the library. Sort of like survey books, I find that the net has a good “breath” of information. Books are great when I get some idea of which ones might be useful to me, which authors I’d like to read, and/or I’m looking for a greater depth of information.

SS.

If a book is boring you, figure out why.

Sometimes when I’m reading a book that doesn’t appeal to me, it’ll turn me off of reading for months. Then, when I finally come back to reading another book and it’s a good one, I can’t figure out why I ever stopped. I think it’s because I never spent time figuring out WHY the book didn’t appeal to me.

The problem is, if you go too many years without opening your mind and investing some time or effort in learning or thinking about the kinds of bigger, more complex ideas that typically come from books (as opposed to more narrow and fundamentally simpler ideas you will glean from newspapers and TV), you’ll start to have fewer and fewer original thoughts. And before you know it, you’ll be letting the media do all of your thinking for you!

Great article.

I completely agree with this. I’ve tested as a very fast reader with advanced reading comprehension. In my life right now, I read almost entirely for pleasure and personal growth. But I’ve found that when I go back and re-read things that I was assigned to read in university, and *did* read in university, my understanding of them is much greater now. I don’t think that’s a result of personal growth since I graduated. I think it’s that I was under time pressure to read and complete assignments in university, and now I read at a self-directed pace.

If you’re reading for personal growth, then for heaven’s sake, read at your own pace! You’ll absorb more, enjoy your reading time more, and you’ll have more time to develop your own connections and reactions to what you’re reading. Reading is not an entirely passive activity. The whole point is to incorporate what you read into your own thoughts, views, and understanding, even if you disagree with what you read. All that takes time and attention. It can’t be hurried. Reading isn’t a race.

That goes triple for fiction readers, but we’re pretty good at the non-fiction as well.