They kind of miss some of the charm of this word in translation. Yes “tsumu” is pile up and “doku” is reading but “(v)de-oku” is to do that verb in preparation or “for later”. So tsunde-oku which you can contract to tsundoku also literally just means to pile up something for later. It’s a wonderful pun.
I must admit this is something I certainly can relate to. I buy probably more than average programming books and can only read some of them when I buy them. But a situation will come up, where it’s really handy to just reach into the book shelf / library and have one or two good books at hand to read and solve the current issue I run into or give them to a cooperator to level up the skills.
And I must admit I did something similar for electronics projects.
Paraphrasing Umberto Eco, there are two kinds of libraries: one kind are collections of trophies and mementos, but the other kind can be formidable resource in right hands. The latter one is knowledge management tool, and contains also unread books because it is useful to also manage ones future knowledge.
If you want to go the deep end, in 1970s or so Eco wrote guidebook to academic thesis writing that comes with a tutorial how to bootstrap a bibliography and an index card system for your research or other professional purposes, of course most conveniently (though maybe not most cheaply) used with your personal research library that contains whole of your bibliography.
That said, there is also a failure modes of sorts. One that used to be famous was people who collected a respectable looking library (or had someone collect it) but never read or used it themselves, only show off their supposedly good taste in books to visitors. Other, related one, but more in the spirit of plans "I will do all the cool things I wanted ro do when I have time after retirement" involves similar mismanaging ones time and thus spending too much time collecting the library compared to using it.
Warren Zevon said "We love to buy books because we believe we're buying the time to read them" and I mostly agree. Most book acquisitions are an aspiration to experience and a desire to flower in some particular direction, to pass a little afternoon in enjoyment, or even to master a concept.
I look at my unread, unwatched, and unheard media and I think it's a window into who I would like to be, even if only something so shallow as the years free to enjoy them.
For me, the ability to consume infinite information electronically is both a blessing and a curse. I tend to have decision paralysis when searching for information online -- is this method for learning X the best one? what else do I need to know about X? Am I ready to learn about X? Before starting X, what should I know? In the end, I'll end up reading all about the history of Y on Wikipedia, and never even begin with X.
So, recently when I get interested in a random topic, I'll read some book reviews online and pull the trigger on a used book for under $20. I know that one day, I'll get that spark of curiosity again; when it happens, I know I have a solid book there, waiting for me.
I stopped collecting, prior to Goodreads being "a thing."
My guess would be immediacy of access and, often, cost. I have some books I have picked up for rather cheap which go for no less than a hundred dollars now. However, the immediacy is what I would like to concentrate on for the rest of this comment.
From the daydream of an extra day off this month to the wish-fulfillment of superpowers, we think about who we might evolve into if we only had a little more time. This extends to woodworking tools and soon-to-be-dusty exercise equipment. And so the presence of an unread book, a DVD still in the sleeve, or a CD still in cellophane wrap becomes a subtle nag as you walk past it day after day. It says ...
For me, they stay at the forefront of my conscious, so it's difficult to just turn the other way around or pretend they don't exist somewhere. It's easy to get rid of goodreads, I will just never visit the page, I can't do that with physical books.
Audiobooks is the only approach that worked for me. Listen when I commute, when I shop for groceries, when I do household chores. It's a pretty fragmented way to get through a book, but with a busy lifestyle, it's better than nothing! Been doing that for years.
Edit: I should add that another optimization I got into this year has been to slowly ramp up the audio speed, which allows me to cover more content, albeit with some hit to comprehension, depending on book type. Currently listening to a non-fiction book at 1.6x.
That's kind of like saying, "people who are parents, how do you find time to have fun?"
It is overwhelming, particularly at first, but after a while you figure out is a marathon, not a sprint, and that an important part of being a good parent is self-care. Then it's just a matter of what constitutes self-care for you. Getting good sleep, eating healthy, getting exercise, socializing with friends, watching movies, having date night, and yes, reading books are just some of the activities that might be considered self-care. You figure put how much time you need to allocate to self-care to be a functional parent, and then you figure out how to carve it the time. All of that is hard a heck, but you figure it out eventually or you fail miserably at patenting.
In that context, reading books isn't much of a miracle or particularly impressive; it's just a choice of what works best for you.
I’ve tried many times. Just can’t focus on the audio. I’ll start thinking about something and the next thing I know 20 minutes will have passed without hearing a word.
I am shocked to find out that no one in in this thread mentioned Scribd.
Scribd is the go to place for audiobooks, it is the only major subscription service I regularly pay.
Audible is horrible, their business model sucks, and what sucks even more is their scummy marketing.
Scribd is basically the Netflix for books, and I honestly love it and cannot recommend it enough.
I do think it has way more potential to become something if it integrated with other services even better, but I guess working with publishers is not easy...
That’s exactly what I do. And, I realized that it makes a huge difference if you buy both audio and the eBook. I love Amazon’s whispersync functionality, because it allows me to switch back and forth between audio and text. So whenever I hear something I don’t understand I read it instead.
After a spine surgery, Audio books became the de-facto medium for books for me and I really appreciate the accessibility it provides.
Btw, Audio books for accessibility reasons are not new, 'Talking Books' have been in existence since 1930s through specialized record players, cassettes and mail-order libraries. Here is a nice video about[1] from TechMoan and article[2] at RNIB.
I don't even have kids yet and I'm also only able to complete books via sped-up audiobooks. It's a really great way to get through them.
For fiction, go for something with a professional narrator. Jim Dale's Harry Potter series is a good example. They can make it into a modern-day radio drama. But for non-fiction, I prefer if the author reads it. Authors imbibe an excitement to the reading of non-fiction; professionals often come across as monotone and I can't focus on them.
I have a big family including several young children and still manage to read about 25 books a year.
My method: we got rid of our TV a few years ago. I know that is a well worn statement on HN, and probably comes across to some as a virtue signal. That's not my goal, just relating an anecdote. But no TV is strangely freeing. To those thinking about doing it, I'd say unplug it and put it in the closet for a few weeks and see what you think.
Similar to this. Have three young kids. Don’t watch any tv, Netflix, etc. Every chance I get (e.g. before going to sleep, on the tube), I read books on the kindle app on my phone. It’s surprising how much you can get through as long as you’re consistent. Phone particularly helps when trying to read when lying next to a kid at bedtime to get them to sleep, can still read under the covers in the dark with the backlight.
Same thing here, though we don't have a kid just yet. In my case the TV cable decoder just stopped working for whatever reason a year and a half ago and I never really managed to call the TV cable company to tell them to come and fix it.
I can still watch football (soccer) matches by casting from my computer to the TV and we do have a Netflix account (which we don't even use that heavily) shared with a close friend but that's about it. I can confirm that the change for the best has been considerable.
If no TV is “too far” then limit it to 1 hour and only watch things you love, you will surprised how little that is. Dig in to the screen time metrics too, you can probably Twitter and Facebook less than you do, you can still see pictures of your mom’s dog but not lose hours to it.
This feels powerful in a world where TV consumption is already on sharp decline, yet you managed to move a few floors deeper in the historical entertainment stack.
No TV for us just meant playing games elsewhere (not complaining either, just a matter of preferences)
I have a toddler at home. I purchased a kindle a few months ago and it has drastically increased my reading time. I try to carry the kindle around the house instead of my phone. And read whenever I can - 15 to 30 mins chunks. I also read in bed before going to sleep and the backlit kindle is great for that.
Also I have been renting kindle books from my library. Very easy to try books and continue reading only if I find it interesting!
My son is still an infant, and sometimes things (teething, stomach aches, who knows) keeps him from sleeping. The Kindle makes it much more tolerable to walk around and rock him at night.
Of course, it also helps that my employer will reimburse any book purchases I make.
I have two daughters (4, 12). Here is how I do, copied verbatim from a previous discussion on HN[1]
I don't have strict rules, methods, or patterns. However, I follow common themes such as skimming (or speed-reading) boring/mundane sections, change books and come back later, read multiple books at a time.
Personally, I feel something missing if I totally skip something, so I tend to or try to finish what I read. I was known to be that kid who read Newspapers top to bottom of all pages, so that is that.
My tricks;
- Don't drive, get an Uber and read. I have finished so many books inside an Uber car. I'm in India and is cheap to get a private driver, the monthly cost pays off with the amount of things you can do in the back of your car, reading books is one.
- If I'm flying, I finish about 2 typical books per leg of the flight.
- Always have your Kindle or a Book with you. Read instead of looking at your phone. ;-)
- If you have kids, read (physical books) to show them that you read, they will follow.
Sounds like you may be a much more talented reader than myself, but a question: how does speed reading not conflict with "text assimilation"?
By this I mean: if you read a book very rapidly (which I assume you have to do if you tend to finish two books per leg of flight), how can you mentally "chew" the substance enough to build full comprehension of the topic?
May just be I'm a slow reader & tend to read books in English (which is not my mother tongue), but this has always tripped me with trying speed reading.
I read rather slowly. I've been setting meager book goals for myself the past couple years, hoping to up my goals over time. But I feel my reading speed hasn't improved much.
Do you, or did you at some point, make a conscious effort to read faster? Or did speed just come with practice over time?
I read a lot in my teens, but was never good at it. Computers have always held my attention better. I've gotten much more into reading _after_ having a kid because I wanted them to love books and be better at reading then I am.
Started by reading to my kid before bed. Even at a really young age when the book didn't mean anything, it still seemed to calm them. It allowed me the opportunity to A) read anything I wanted, B) build a foundational hobby over time, and C) spend time with my child. They now bring me books (usually whatever story we're reading at the time, but occasionally a short kids book) and I make a point to take a break and read to them. Because of that and other events this year, I've been able to complete dozens of books.
I read novels aloud to my children at bed and nap times. This started after reading Alice in Wonderland to my one year old and realizing that a kid who couldn't talk yet obviously didn't care what I was reading. At this point my kids are two and five, and my older son is approaching the point where he'll be able to follow longer books and I'll shift to things he understands, but I've read about 15 novels in their entirety to the kids thus far.
I have read thousands of kids books in the past 3 years. Does that count?
Edit: more seriously, by age 3.5 or 4 kids can understand a huge variety of material, and there are tons of books that are fun for the whole family to read aloud together.
Disclaimer: My kids are 10 and 12, and so don't need constant attention, and they've always slept quite well.
Set aside 30 minutes to lie in bed and read before going to sleep. This also feels as if it has the effect of helping me to get to sleep faster.
This is my target, which I only reach occasionally. The hardest part is consciously de-prioritising whatever it is I'm doing at 30-minutes to sleep time.
I read/listen at anywhere between 2x to 3.5x speed, depending on the book and the narrator. If it's nonfiction, it's usually on the higher end, and if it's fiction, usually on the lower end, but again, it depends on the narrator themself.
In addition, I read when doing everything. Exercise? Reading a book. Washing dishes? Reading a book. Commuting to work? Reading a book.
A regular-sized book is between 10-20 hours of listening time. If you listen at 2.5x speed, that's around 7.5-12.5 hours-ish. If you commute 30 minutes a day each way, and only listen in your commute, that's already a book almost every week. Add in doing chores, exercise, etc, and you're getting a lot of reading time.
(For the record: 2 kids ages 2 and 4, and I read about 90-100 books a year, ranging from short books to long epic fantasies. But I also listen to podcasts quite a bit so that cuts down "reading" time as well.)
I understand a lot of people are exhausted, especially when there are multiple children involved. But reading books has never suffered from parenting for me.
I wake up at 6AM and spend a while reading on the sofa, before our child wakes up. On an average day, pre-covid19, I'd spend time doing the morning routine (eating breakfast, getting dressed, taking the child to daycare), then I'd sit on a tram/bus for 30 minutes to head to the office. That time would be spent reading.
Lunchtime I'd usually read a book while eating a sandwich, then again reading on the bus/tram back to the house.
Before sleeping I'd read for 30-60 minutes too, unless I was watching a film with my wife, going to the pub, or doing something else.
But even on very busy days I'd always have around and hour of commute time, on public-transport, to read a book.
15 minutes at bedtime every night, plus any time I'm commuting. I think having an e-reader with back light helps, because you can read without disturbing anyone else in the bed and they are thin enough to carry anywhere.
This is my solution. 15-30 minutes before bed and maybe another 15-30 minutes in the morning on the weekends before the kids rush our bed around 7:45am. I'm using a Kindle Paperwhite.
When the children are babies or much later? If they're above 4-5 years old, it's simple: don't devote all your free time to your children, and suffocate them in the process...
It did plummet from about 100 books to 40 per year. For me the key was a) getting an ebook reader so I always have books on me and b) commuting instead of driving to work, that's an easy 90-120 minutes of reading per day.
The Goodreads reading goal used to help too, especially planning to write a small review with notes to myself forced me to read more actively. The pandemic lockdown has broken that though, I've lost all will to sit down and write.
I read mostly in the evenings after the kids are put to bed, but I note that I watch relatively little television, which would likely otherwise consume that time.
I have four kids, who are now teenagers. On average I think I've finished maybe ten or twenty books a year, by reading them on my work commute. I'm lucky to live somewhere this is possible and comfortable. Some books I've finished on vacation trips, but basically almost none at home, except in the two or three last years.
In 2019 I've read 100 books. Im not married nor have children, but I might have advice to share
If your goal is to just finish a book, you can listen to an audiobook at 3.5x speed.
Some books are easy, some books are hard. If you pick easy books you can go through them much faster
You have to pick your goals and priorities about what you want from the book.
I mostly read non-fiction books that are not heavy in academics. So most of them are not written to be lean if you know what I mean
Being able to tell people I've read 100 books was pretty cool but it was just a vanity metric to boost ego. It's pretty dumb to be honest. Theres better ways to consume a huge amount of information.
This doesnt apply to domains that require deep knowledge/learning ie: programming, engineering, sciences, math, algorithms, hobbies, etc.
Also things you learn from books are not a rule of law, which Ive noticed that is something people tend to forget.
Thanks for pointing out the fallacy of trying to read 100s of books, seems to come next to trying to read infinite jest just to check a mark or brag about it.
The reality is that the majority of non fiction books are written by authors with perverse incentives - as a writer you can mostly make money by writing a complete book, whether or not you have a books worth of things to say about the topic. My approach has been to try and read 1 or two books a year but make sure they matter. The few books I do read, I remember most of their good parts and find them valuable and rewarding. Almost all of my friends and colleagues who are self proclaimed voracious readers never seem the wiser from it, not like they can recount any specific instance of a book affecting their life or decisions in any way at least.
All of this is about non fiction of course, fiction books are a whole another animal!
I leave a book in the bathroom and never bring my phone with me into the bathroom. It's not a very fast way of reading but I do finish a book every few weeks. I prefer paper books because I underline important points which I then summarize into notes.
25 pages in the morning and 25 pages at night. Done it for years. I have 2 kids. Its not always exactly these numbers, but its not far off and I try to keep to it.
I have twins, they're toddlers. I read at night before bed. My reading hasn't slowed from before kids to after kids. I average 2-3 books per month and I am usually reading two books at a time. I am reading exclusively on my Kindle right now, though I plan to get back to physical books as the twins age (I don't want them to confuse reading on a Kindle with tablet media consumption). We'll see what happens when they're older...
We put the toddler to bed at 8PM, which leaves us with 3 to 4 hours of time at home, during which we have to avoid making much noise.
At the same time, I'm too exhausted to do anything productive (actively learning new stuff or coding for-fun projects), and I'm finding media and games much less satisfying than before.
As a result, I often spend my evenings reading (fiction, mostly). I'm probably now reading more than ever before.
Past Me always thinks he knows exactly what Present Me should be doing with my time. Past Me is a lazy asshole who doesn't want to make the effort at the moment, so he does something like buying a book and leaves it for Present Me to finish. Everything from the dishes to articles to books.
Sometimes that jerk doesn't even bother to make a long term memory, so I open my Kindle reader and there's books in there I barely recognize. The Complete History of Czarist Russia?? Who the hell does Past Me think I am? It's like he thinks between then and now, I've suddenly become a completely different person.
Of course, I try not to do this to Future Me. I might bookmark a few sites, added a few movies to my watch list and signed up for an class or whatever. But I'm sure he'll have the time and focus that I don't have now. I'm sure of it. He'll thank me, really, I'm sure.
I have a few "masters degrees" worth of books... physics, math, origami, Japanese, art/design, photography. I've had to force myself to slow drastically buying in favor of reading the ones I already have. Also, I'm running out of space.
Same here. Every time someone checks out my bookshelf I tell them that I only read a few select pages from most of those books during my studies and that's it. No regrets, too!
Readit News
And I must admit I did something similar for electronics projects.
If you want to go the deep end, in 1970s or so Eco wrote guidebook to academic thesis writing that comes with a tutorial how to bootstrap a bibliography and an index card system for your research or other professional purposes, of course most conveniently (though maybe not most cheaply) used with your personal research library that contains whole of your bibliography.
That said, there is also a failure modes of sorts. One that used to be famous was people who collected a respectable looking library (or had someone collect it) but never read or used it themselves, only show off their supposedly good taste in books to visitors. Other, related one, but more in the spirit of plans "I will do all the cool things I wanted ro do when I have time after retirement" involves similar mismanaging ones time and thus spending too much time collecting the library compared to using it.
Deleted Comment
I look at my unread, unwatched, and unheard media and I think it's a window into who I would like to be, even if only something so shallow as the years free to enjoy them.
Is there an advantage to buying the books, rather than just putting them on your Goodreads "To read" shelf?
So, recently when I get interested in a random topic, I'll read some book reviews online and pull the trigger on a used book for under $20. I know that one day, I'll get that spark of curiosity again; when it happens, I know I have a solid book there, waiting for me.
My guess would be immediacy of access and, often, cost. I have some books I have picked up for rather cheap which go for no less than a hundred dollars now. However, the immediacy is what I would like to concentrate on for the rest of this comment.
From the daydream of an extra day off this month to the wish-fulfillment of superpowers, we think about who we might evolve into if we only had a little more time. This extends to woodworking tools and soon-to-be-dusty exercise equipment. And so the presence of an unread book, a DVD still in the sleeve, or a CD still in cellophane wrap becomes a subtle nag as you walk past it day after day. It says ...
You could still be this person.
Edit: I should add that another optimization I got into this year has been to slowly ramp up the audio speed, which allows me to cover more content, albeit with some hit to comprehension, depending on book type. Currently listening to a non-fiction book at 1.6x.
It is overwhelming, particularly at first, but after a while you figure out is a marathon, not a sprint, and that an important part of being a good parent is self-care. Then it's just a matter of what constitutes self-care for you. Getting good sleep, eating healthy, getting exercise, socializing with friends, watching movies, having date night, and yes, reading books are just some of the activities that might be considered self-care. You figure put how much time you need to allocate to self-care to be a functional parent, and then you figure out how to carve it the time. All of that is hard a heck, but you figure it out eventually or you fail miserably at patenting.
In that context, reading books isn't much of a miracle or particularly impressive; it's just a choice of what works best for you.
Scribd is the go to place for audiobooks, it is the only major subscription service I regularly pay.
Audible is horrible, their business model sucks, and what sucks even more is their scummy marketing.
Scribd is basically the Netflix for books, and I honestly love it and cannot recommend it enough.
I do think it has way more potential to become something if it integrated with other services even better, but I guess working with publishers is not easy...
Btw, Audio books for accessibility reasons are not new, 'Talking Books' have been in existence since 1930s through specialized record players, cassettes and mail-order libraries. Here is a nice video about[1] from TechMoan and article[2] at RNIB.
[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiaMxU01Rrg
[2]https://www.rnib.org.uk/reading-services/celebrating-history...
For fiction, go for something with a professional narrator. Jim Dale's Harry Potter series is a good example. They can make it into a modern-day radio drama. But for non-fiction, I prefer if the author reads it. Authors imbibe an excitement to the reading of non-fiction; professionals often come across as monotone and I can't focus on them.
My method: we got rid of our TV a few years ago. I know that is a well worn statement on HN, and probably comes across to some as a virtue signal. That's not my goal, just relating an anecdote. But no TV is strangely freeing. To those thinking about doing it, I'd say unplug it and put it in the closet for a few weeks and see what you think.
I can still watch football (soccer) matches by casting from my computer to the TV and we do have a Netflix account (which we don't even use that heavily) shared with a close friend but that's about it. I can confirm that the change for the best has been considerable.
If no TV is “too far” then limit it to 1 hour and only watch things you love, you will surprised how little that is. Dig in to the screen time metrics too, you can probably Twitter and Facebook less than you do, you can still see pictures of your mom’s dog but not lose hours to it.
No TV for us just meant playing games elsewhere (not complaining either, just a matter of preferences)
Also I have been renting kindle books from my library. Very easy to try books and continue reading only if I find it interesting!
Of course, it also helps that my employer will reimburse any book purchases I make.
I don't have strict rules, methods, or patterns. However, I follow common themes such as skimming (or speed-reading) boring/mundane sections, change books and come back later, read multiple books at a time.
Personally, I feel something missing if I totally skip something, so I tend to or try to finish what I read. I was known to be that kid who read Newspapers top to bottom of all pages, so that is that.
My tricks;
- Don't drive, get an Uber and read. I have finished so many books inside an Uber car. I'm in India and is cheap to get a private driver, the monthly cost pays off with the amount of things you can do in the back of your car, reading books is one.
- If I'm flying, I finish about 2 typical books per leg of the flight.
- Always have your Kindle or a Book with you. Read instead of looking at your phone. ;-)
- If you have kids, read (physical books) to show them that you read, they will follow.
1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25357932
Counterpoint: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.kin...
You can get a lot of reading done on a long subway commute. But there's no reason not to do it on the phone you carry with you anyway.
By this I mean: if you read a book very rapidly (which I assume you have to do if you tend to finish two books per leg of flight), how can you mentally "chew" the substance enough to build full comprehension of the topic?
May just be I'm a slow reader & tend to read books in English (which is not my mother tongue), but this has always tripped me with trying speed reading.
Do you, or did you at some point, make a conscious effort to read faster? Or did speed just come with practice over time?
Started by reading to my kid before bed. Even at a really young age when the book didn't mean anything, it still seemed to calm them. It allowed me the opportunity to A) read anything I wanted, B) build a foundational hobby over time, and C) spend time with my child. They now bring me books (usually whatever story we're reading at the time, but occasionally a short kids book) and I make a point to take a break and read to them. Because of that and other events this year, I've been able to complete dozens of books.
Edit: more seriously, by age 3.5 or 4 kids can understand a huge variety of material, and there are tons of books that are fun for the whole family to read aloud together.
Set aside 30 minutes to lie in bed and read before going to sleep. This also feels as if it has the effect of helping me to get to sleep faster.
This is my target, which I only reach occasionally. The hardest part is consciously de-prioritising whatever it is I'm doing at 30-minutes to sleep time.
I read/listen at anywhere between 2x to 3.5x speed, depending on the book and the narrator. If it's nonfiction, it's usually on the higher end, and if it's fiction, usually on the lower end, but again, it depends on the narrator themself.
In addition, I read when doing everything. Exercise? Reading a book. Washing dishes? Reading a book. Commuting to work? Reading a book.
A regular-sized book is between 10-20 hours of listening time. If you listen at 2.5x speed, that's around 7.5-12.5 hours-ish. If you commute 30 minutes a day each way, and only listen in your commute, that's already a book almost every week. Add in doing chores, exercise, etc, and you're getting a lot of reading time.
(For the record: 2 kids ages 2 and 4, and I read about 90-100 books a year, ranging from short books to long epic fantasies. But I also listen to podcasts quite a bit so that cuts down "reading" time as well.)
I wake up at 6AM and spend a while reading on the sofa, before our child wakes up. On an average day, pre-covid19, I'd spend time doing the morning routine (eating breakfast, getting dressed, taking the child to daycare), then I'd sit on a tram/bus for 30 minutes to head to the office. That time would be spent reading.
Lunchtime I'd usually read a book while eating a sandwich, then again reading on the bus/tram back to the house.
Before sleeping I'd read for 30-60 minutes too, unless I was watching a film with my wife, going to the pub, or doing something else.
But even on very busy days I'd always have around and hour of commute time, on public-transport, to read a book.
The Goodreads reading goal used to help too, especially planning to write a small review with notes to myself forced me to read more actively. The pandemic lockdown has broken that though, I've lost all will to sit down and write.
If your goal is to just finish a book, you can listen to an audiobook at 3.5x speed.
Some books are easy, some books are hard. If you pick easy books you can go through them much faster
You have to pick your goals and priorities about what you want from the book.
I mostly read non-fiction books that are not heavy in academics. So most of them are not written to be lean if you know what I mean
Being able to tell people I've read 100 books was pretty cool but it was just a vanity metric to boost ego. It's pretty dumb to be honest. Theres better ways to consume a huge amount of information.
This doesnt apply to domains that require deep knowledge/learning ie: programming, engineering, sciences, math, algorithms, hobbies, etc.
Also things you learn from books are not a rule of law, which Ive noticed that is something people tend to forget.
The reality is that the majority of non fiction books are written by authors with perverse incentives - as a writer you can mostly make money by writing a complete book, whether or not you have a books worth of things to say about the topic. My approach has been to try and read 1 or two books a year but make sure they matter. The few books I do read, I remember most of their good parts and find them valuable and rewarding. Almost all of my friends and colleagues who are self proclaimed voracious readers never seem the wiser from it, not like they can recount any specific instance of a book affecting their life or decisions in any way at least.
All of this is about non fiction of course, fiction books are a whole another animal!
At the same time, I'm too exhausted to do anything productive (actively learning new stuff or coding for-fun projects), and I'm finding media and games much less satisfying than before.
As a result, I often spend my evenings reading (fiction, mostly). I'm probably now reading more than ever before.
Dead Comment
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0049U444U/ref=dp-kindle-redirec...
Maybe the last book you'll read?
* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17636829
Some other previous discussions on the term generally:
* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10283990
* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22311690
doku in "tsundoku" is 読 'read' (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%AA%AD#Japanese)
doku in "sudoku" is 独 'single' (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%8B%AC#Japanese)
Sometimes that jerk doesn't even bother to make a long term memory, so I open my Kindle reader and there's books in there I barely recognize. The Complete History of Czarist Russia?? Who the hell does Past Me think I am? It's like he thinks between then and now, I've suddenly become a completely different person.
Of course, I try not to do this to Future Me. I might bookmark a few sites, added a few movies to my watch list and signed up for an class or whatever. But I'm sure he'll have the time and focus that I don't have now. I'm sure of it. He'll thank me, really, I'm sure.
I have a few "masters degrees" worth of books... physics, math, origami, Japanese, art/design, photography. I've had to force myself to slow drastically buying in favor of reading the ones I already have. Also, I'm running out of space.