1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: Today's tip is to read through a book flight. Reading 4 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:21,600 Speaker 1: a handful of books on a topic in a row 5 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: can be a fun way to explore different perspectives and 6 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: keep life interesting. If you've ever done a wine tasting, 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 1: you might have tried what's called a tasting flight, a 8 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 1: handful of different wines presented together for tasting and comparison. 9 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:40,200 Speaker 1: By trying something like three to eight types of wine 10 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,520 Speaker 1: in a row, you can appreciate the differences and similarities 11 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 1: in a way that you might not if the experience 12 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:50,240 Speaker 1: were more spread out. In general, the wines are related 13 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,599 Speaker 1: in some way, like a handful of Chiante's, for instance, 14 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: or wines from South Australia, so you are in the 15 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: mindset of appreciating these particular aspects of the wine. It 16 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: turns out you can do something similar with books. As 17 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: you're thinking about what to read next, try to consciously 18 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,959 Speaker 1: read through a selection of related titles. The most obvious 19 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: way to do this is to read books by the 20 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: same author. Let's say you read one book by Wendell 21 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: Berry and enjoy it great. He's written others. Go buy 22 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: a handful or check them out from the library and 23 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: read those right after the first rather than some other title. 24 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: You'll start to see how he tells stories and uses description, 25 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: and of course you'll have a really good sense of 26 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 1: the geography of Port William. To take the book flight 27 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: up a notch, you might read commentaries or biography of 28 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,279 Speaker 1: the author, or maybe a nonfiction book about a place 29 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: that your fictional characters live or where the author grew up. 30 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: You can do this for nonfiction subjects to A few 31 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: years ago, I went through a Civil War kick and 32 00:01:57,280 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: guess what, It turns out there are a lot of 33 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: books about the Civil War, so I tried to look 34 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: at various angles. I read Battle Cry of Freedom, and 35 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: I read Team of Rivals. But then I also read 36 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant and Frederick law Olmstad's 37 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: Cotton Kingdom Work to understand what the Antebellum South was like. 38 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: You could mix fiction and nonfiction and read something like 39 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 1: Cold Mountain or fiction books that shape that time, like 40 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:26,399 Speaker 1: Uncle Tom's Cabin. It's intriguing to see the different takes 41 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: on different events. The first book or two reminded me 42 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: of the chronology. After that I could focus on different aspects. 43 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: I've been doing the same thing lately with books on 44 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 1: early human evolution. I've long been fascinated by the idea 45 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:44,520 Speaker 1: that other humanlike species lived on Earth at points in 46 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: the past, so over the past month, I've read several 47 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: titles on Neanderthals and early humans in general, including Kindred 48 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: Lone Survivors, The Neanderthals Rediscovered, Catching Fire, and Before the Dawn. 49 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: I can't say that any of the fiction titles featuring 50 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: Neanderthals of interest in me that much, but I know 51 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: that clan of the Cave Bear has its fans. I 52 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: feel like I've learned a lot, and hey, knowing that 53 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: I've got a list of titles on a topic to 54 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 1: read helps keep me off social media, which is never 55 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,640 Speaker 1: a bad thing. You can approach a flight consciously or 56 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:23,360 Speaker 1: a bit more spontaneously. Some people might like to plan 57 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: it out. That might be good for a more obscure topic, 58 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: figure out which books are good to read, and then 59 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: make a list and start working on it. But you 60 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: can also read one book and then see what your 61 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: bookstores algorithm recommends next, or just read any of the 62 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: books mentioned in the first book's bibliography, or any authors 63 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: cited in the book. I'm tackling Charles Darwin's Descent of 64 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: Man just because all the modern authors of the work 65 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:54,119 Speaker 1: on human evolution keep mentioning it. Wish me luck. Nineteenth 66 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: century prose can be challenging, but rewarding too. In any case, 67 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: it's fun to follow your fancy. In school, you might 68 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: have taken a whole course on a topic, but adult 69 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: life doesn't always feature such immersion. So created and you 70 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: don't have to write a term paper, so it's all good. 71 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and 72 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, 73 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me 74 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,600 Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with 75 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. 76 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:45,039 Speaker 1: That's b the number four, then Breakfast p o D. 77 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:48,720 Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast 78 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: podcast at iHeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is 79 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,159 Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I 80 00:04:55,200 --> 00:05:03,280 Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a 81 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I 82 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 83 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:12,599 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.