First, I don’t want to get too intellectual or holier than thou on the subject, so let me just say from the beginning that I am the biggest television junkie I know. And not only am I a junkie, but I watch the junk of the junk, reality shows, game shows, kids shows it doesn’t matter I can get hooked. I definitely put my television time in each week and enjoy it, but I have found one problem, it leaves me a little bit empty. Watching only television is like trying to run a marathon but eating nothing but sugar before the race, you will get off to a fast start, feel really high, but ultimately you just don’t have enough substance to finish the race. So, to go along with my television addiction I have rediscovered the lost art of reading books. Rediscovering reading has become one of the great joys of my life, unlike TV or movies which are snacks, a book is the whole meal, so hear are some tips about reading books and some good recommendations.
1.) I know that many of you are saying I don’t have time to read a book, I have kids, a marriage, a job when do I have the time? Well, I bet you watch some TV everyday, let’s cut into some of that time. And it doesn’t matter how long it takes you to finish a book, read ten pages before you fall asleep at night, ten pages during your lunch break, ten pages while you are waiting to pick your kids up from school or their activities. It’s not how fast you read, if it takes you months to finish a book that’s ok, it is that reading is fuel for the mind, even a little at a time will re energize you.
2.) I know many of you are wondering what to read, so before I make actual suggestions of books, lets talk about types of books. Personally, and now I know you are going to think I am a little crazy, I try to read two books at all times. Hold on, there is a good reason, as I told you I like my junk, so I always like to read a good novel, something that is gripping holds my attention so I don’t want to put the book down. But I also want to feel I am bettering myself, so I try to read some form of educational book at the same time. I read many biographies of great people, the past is always a prologue, there are many things to learn from our great men and women of the past. I also enjoy books on business, sometimes about the leaders of business, sometimes about the businesses themselves. I just finished a fantastic book about Google and it’s history, it was very interesting and I’m not really a computer guy. And every once in a while I even go to the self help books, whether they be about improving myself, my spirituality, or my relationship, every so often it is good to work on your self.
I think everyone needs to find the types of books they enjoy reading, their are so many great writers and subjects. If you like horror and mystery, nobody is better than Stephen King. If you like action there is a writer named Vince Flynn whose lead character is a CIA agent named Mitch Rapp and those books are great fun. Nobody can write a legal drama as well as Richard North Patterson, and no one can scare you like James Patterson. I have recently read great biographies on Lincoln ( Barack Obama is reading one as well), Andrew Jackson, Martin Luther King and I am currently reading a great book on the greatest investor of our time Warren Buffett. As for self help books, I can recommend Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars by John Gray, Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting by Lynn Grabhorn, and the Introvert Advantage by Marti Laney, but there are so many great choices there is no real need for my recommendations just head to your local bookstore or library and find what interests you.
There is also one other great thing about reading, like television it is a cheap form of entertainment. Most books are available at your local library for free, or available at book stores for discount prices or in paper back. Remember I am a television junkie, but nothing fuels the mind like a good book, so try to start reading again, their is so much to learn in this great world of ours, and the truth is reading a good book makes you feel better about everything.
November 25, 2008
I usually have two or more books on the go at the same time as well. Right now I’m about halfway through Vince Flynn’s new one. Mitch is such a great character, isn’t he! My most recent personal growth read is Living Life As If Thinking Matters by R. L. Wysong. If you have a chance to check it out, it’s really well done, and will definitely make you think.