Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to commit to a must read for
Speaker 1: I am sure many people listening to this have a
Speaker 1: long list of books you would like to read it sometime,
Speaker 1: So why not choose one of those books and make
Speaker 1: the time as long time Before Breakfast listeners know. I
Speaker 1: have spent the past year reading slowly through War and Peace.
Speaker 1: I read Leo Tolstoi's epic for the first time in
Speaker 1: and really enjoyed it. But I also read it quite quickly,
Speaker 1: probably to get through it. I decided I wanted to
Speaker 1: reread this book so I could understand it's complex characters
Speaker 1: and the way Tolstoy weaves together philosophy and history and
Speaker 1: narrative action. If generations of book lovers have identified War
Speaker 1: and Peace as one of the best novels ever written,
Speaker 1: then I wanted to make sure I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1: There are probably classics that you keep meaning to read.
Speaker 1: Maybe you read them once in school but you think
Speaker 1: you missed some of the nuances, or maybe you just
Speaker 1: keep hearing how profound these books are and you want
Speaker 1: to experience that yourself, Moby Dick, Ulysses, Beloved, Middle March,
Speaker 1: The Brothers, Karamazov. The list is long of classics we
Speaker 1: just can't miss, and yet we inevitably have missed some
Speaker 1: of them. Or maybe you want to read the Bible
Speaker 1: or another sacred text all the way through. There are
Speaker 1: lots of online study plans that provide a roadmap for
Speaker 1: reading through the whole Bible just a few minutes day.
Speaker 1: That is totally doable. And if you profess a certain
Speaker 1: faith but have not read the sacred text associated with it,
Speaker 1: well it's probably worth doing. Why not in or perhaps
Speaker 1: you must read? Isn't something that's lasted through the generations. Rather,
Speaker 1: it's something more recent. Other people keep talking about it,
Speaker 1: and you want to join in the conversation. Are you
Speaker 1: the only person in your circle who hasn't read kel
Speaker 1: Newport's Digital Minimalism or Emily Aster's The Family Firm or
Speaker 1: Oliver Berkman's Four Thousand Weeks? Or maybe you haven't read
Speaker 1: your partner's favorite novel. If your partner's favorite book ever
Speaker 1: is Cormac McCarthy's The Road, don't you want to read
Speaker 1: that as a window into his or her in her life.
Speaker 1: Whatever it is that you have been meaning to read,
Speaker 1: commit to act really reading that one particular book in
Speaker 1: the coming year. If you commit to one must read
Speaker 1: and focus your energies on that one book, you will
Speaker 1: finally be able to check it off your list. Yep,
Speaker 1: even if it is something long like were in Peace
Speaker 1: or the Bible, and then you will become the kind
Speaker 1: of person who has read that book. For something long
Speaker 1: and intense, you could certainly spread your reading out across
Speaker 1: a few months or even the whole year. For something
Speaker 1: shorter or lighter. Maybe all it will take is putting
Speaker 1: the book on your nightstand and actually opening it or
Speaker 1: packing it into your carry on the next time you travel.
Speaker 1: You could cross this new year's resolution off your list
Speaker 1: in the first two weeks. As long as you focus
Speaker 1: and do it, then who knows what that sense of
Speaker 1: reading momentum will lead to next. If you decide on
Speaker 1: a two must read, I'd love to hear what it is.
Speaker 1: You can reach me at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod.
Speaker 1: That's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: At i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I
Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.