Paul's Internet Landfill/ 2021/ Too Much Reading

Too Much Reading

In 2020 I read 29 books, and six graphic novels. This is a lower tally than I have had since 1999. It is not low enough. Reading for the sake of tallying up how much I have read is stupid if I do not retain that information -- and having accidentally re-read a few books over the past couple of years, I can confirm that I am not retaining much information.

I would do much better to read more slowly and carefully. For self-help books I would do well to spend time doing the suggested exercises. There is an awful book named Guerilla Marketing Remix that I read this year, and I hate it. Unfortunately, the book is very useful -- it contains a lot of information about the dark arts involved in persuading people and controlling their minds. Even though I hate the book I should study it closely. Instead I will race ahead and never look at it again.

I thought I would love graduate school because it would involve so much reading. I did not understand that graduate school involved deep reading for study, and the kind of reading I do is shallow reading for pleasure. I did not find grad school reading fun at all.

Once again, this kind of entry is supposed to end with a steadfast resolution to focus myself and learn the material in the books I read. I doubt I will live up to that promise, which is especially concerning given that I am not sure I have actually learned a new skill in over 15 years. My brain may now be too old to learn anything very new, or to relearn things I once understood (such as mathematics). That is upsetting, but addressing this would take resolve, and it is easier to just tally books I "read" year by year.