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 keep in mind how many more
Speaker 1: books you will actually read in your life. This can
Speaker 1: help you make good choices about what to read and
Speaker 1: what to skip. So I know that Before Breakfast listeners
Speaker 1: love to read. You read before bed, you read little
Speaker 1: snippets on the Kendall lap, when you're waiting for things,
Speaker 1: you listen to audio books in the car. There are
Speaker 1: a lot of amazing books out there, both those coming
Speaker 1: out these days plus those from all the years past.
Speaker 1: So no doubt your to be read list is a
Speaker 1: mile long. But here's the thing. You will only read
Speaker 1: so many books in your life. Let's say you read
Speaker 1: fifty books a year. That is a lot of books,
Speaker 1: and it's a lot more books than most people read.
Speaker 1: Let's also say that you will live for fifty more years.
Speaker 1: That's probably pushing our luck for some of us, but hey,
Speaker 1: we can hope. Fifty books a year for fifty more
Speaker 1: years is books. If you keep up a substantial reading
Speaker 1: pace for the rest of your life, you will only
Speaker 1: read two thousand, five hundred more books. That is it now.
Speaker 1: Perhaps that sounds depressing, but that is not my point.
Speaker 1: My point is that it is worth thinking about exactly
Speaker 1: which books you feel you must have in that it
Speaker 1: can be worth not reading some other books in order
Speaker 1: to make sure that contains what you wanted to contain.
Speaker 1: I have certainly been thinking about that as I have
Speaker 1: embarked on some big reading projects the past two years.
Speaker 1: In two thousand twenty one, I read War and Peace,
Speaker 1: reading one chapter a day for three hundred sixty one days.
Speaker 1: It was an amazing book, and that was a very
Speaker 1: doable pace, but it also meant I didn't have the
Speaker 1: mental energy for other demanding, long novels. I am seeing
Speaker 1: that this year, as well as I am reading through
Speaker 1: all the works of Shakespeare. Since January one, I have
Speaker 1: read Twelfth Night, the Three Parts of Henry the Sixth,
Speaker 1: A Comedy of Errors, and The Taming of the Shrew.
Speaker 1: I have not read any other fiction as I worked
Speaker 1: to keep the characters and plots straight. I'm not sure
Speaker 1: that I will read much other fiction this year, but
Speaker 1: so it goes. Tolstoy and Shakespeare have stood the test
Speaker 1: of time, and I want those books to be in
Speaker 1: my twenty five hundred remaining books. The opportunity cost might
Speaker 1: be a hundred other books, but that is okay. The
Speaker 1: problem would be if I didn't attempt Tolstoi or Shakespeare,
Speaker 1: thinking oh, I'll get to it later. I can always
Speaker 1: read something later, and maybe we can. But since I
Speaker 1: don't want to get to the end of my life
Speaker 1: and realize that I haven't read Twelfth Night, that argues
Speaker 1: for doing it now rather than later. I'd encourage you
Speaker 1: to think about this question too. What books definitely deserve
Speaker 1: a place in your twenty five hundred books? Make a list?
Speaker 1: What books have you always said you would like to read?
Speaker 1: What books do you assume that you will have read
Speaker 1: at some point. You're not going to have read them
Speaker 1: unless you actually read them, so it's worth getting a
Speaker 1: copy and getting started. Maybe you won't finish, Maybe we
Speaker 1: will decide the book shouldn't be part of that, but
Speaker 1: better to read the good stuff than not. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our top Hey everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear 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. H. Before Breakfast is a production of
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