Paperbacks & Minimalism

“One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time.” – Carl Sagan.

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Over the past 2 years, I've built up this habit of buying a new book every 3 to 4 months or so. Now, even though I plan to get one book only, I mostly end up getting 2 to 3 books instead; the offers available are better that way, and it also helps save some money.

Currently, I have 16 books in my collection, out of which I've managed to finish 3, and I'm halfway on my fourth book from here. Yes, the numbers aren't impressive, and it isn't supposed to be impressive. I read because I want to, and when I want to, not because I need to.

It's not a habit, it's a hobby that comes in handy when I require a bit of mental stimulation.

“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.” — Mortimer J. Adler

That's the way I say...

It's a matter of quality, not quantity. Quality of learning, understanding, and delving deeper, searching for more...

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ᴵᵐᵃᵍᵉˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵒᵛᵉʳᵃˡˡ ᶜᵒⁿᵗᵉⁿᵗ ᵃʳᵉ ᵐʸ ᵒʷⁿ ᵘⁿˡᵉˢˢ ᶦᵗ'ˢ ᵐᵉⁿᵗᶦᵒⁿᵉᵈ

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I also listen to some podcasts, but quite rarely; it depends on the guests and topic.

Recently I watched 2 episodes from Andrew Huberman's podcast, the guests were David Goggins and Robert Greene. I've read their books and followed them and their methods for quite a while now. So, I always try to stay updated on their latest content.

Now, listening to a podcast is alright, it's more concise and sometimes easier to understand. For some, it's less "boring" because there's a conversation going on.

Yet, having a nice book in your hand, reading it slowly, while you work on your breathing, calming both your body and mind, now that's productive. I also work on my voice, pronunciation, and speaking while I'm at it. I don't read out loud, but I like to maintain a definite tone and pace. It all helps with improving your fluency, and since English isn't my native language, every bit of such effort certainly helps.

Thus, whenever I have free time and feel like reading, I put everything aside and just lean my back onto a wall or pillow, and start my reading exercise. I read for 20 to 30 minutes, which I think is enough, there's no need to rush it. Making it lengthy and forcing it will just take the fun out of it, which I certainly don't want. Because if you're forcing it, then you're probably not in the mood to read, or reading may not be your thing.

The best part about reading is either learning something new, or an interesting point of view. A fascinating quote or line mentioned in there is just the icing on top. That's a total win for me. I will most of the time highlight such quotes and paragraphs so that I can come back to them later, and maybe delve a little bit deeper into understanding and grasping the idea better.

The two books you see above are my latest acquisitions. I've heard good things about these, so I decided to get them. There's no point in hesitating when getting a book, they are dirt cheap anyway. The worst that can happen is if it turns out to be a boring book. So, if it's not your thing, then just hand it to a person who might like it or someone who is simply into collecting books.

For now, this is the only true calm and productive hobby I have on my list of countless hobbies and curiosities. And it's also the most nominal of them all.

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