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: re read this book so I could understand it's complex
Speaker 1: characters and the way Tolstoy weaves together philosophy and history
Speaker 1: and narrative action. If generations of book lovers have identified
Speaker 1: War 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 in just a few minutes
Speaker 1: a day. That is totally doable. And if you profess
Speaker 1: a certain faith but have not read the sacred text
Speaker 1: associated with it, well it's probably worth doing. Why not
Speaker 1: in or perhaps you must read? Isn't something that's lasted
Speaker 1: through the generations. Rather, it's something more recent. Other people
Speaker 1: keep talking about it, and you want to join in
Speaker 1: the conversation. Are you the only person in your circle
Speaker 1: who hasn't read Kel Newport's Digital Minimalism or Emily Aster's
Speaker 1: The Family Firm or Oliver Berkman's Four Thousand Weeks? Or
Speaker 1: maybe you haven't read your partner's favorite novel. If your
Speaker 1: partner's favorite book ever is Cormac McCarthy's The Road, don't
Speaker 1: you want to read that as a window into his
Speaker 1: or her in her life. Whatever it is that you
Speaker 1: have been meaning to read, commit to act truly reading
Speaker 1: that one particular book in the coming year. If you
Speaker 1: commit to one must read and focus your energies on
Speaker 1: that one book, you will finally be able to check
Speaker 1: it off your list. Yep, even if it is something
Speaker 1: long like War in Peace or the Bible, and then
Speaker 1: you will become the kind of person who has read
Speaker 1: that book. For something long and intense, you could certainly
Speaker 1: spread your reading out across a few months or even
Speaker 1: the whole year. For something shorter or lighter. Maybe all
Speaker 1: it will take is putting the book on your nightstand
Speaker 1: and actually opening it or packing it into your carry
Speaker 1: on the next time you travel. You could cross this
Speaker 1: new year's resolution off your list in the first two weeks.
Speaker 1: As long as you focus and do it, then who
Speaker 1: knows what that sense of reading momentum will lead to next.
Speaker 1: If you decide on a two must read, I'd love
Speaker 1: to hear what it is. You can reach me at
Speaker 1: Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com. In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart
Speaker 1: media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with
Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I
Speaker 1: heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit
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Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.