Note from Tucker

I’ve been trying to build a stronger reading routine. I have always been reading, but lately I’ve wanted to make a protected time for my reading. To make actual space for it in time and physical space. Part of the challenge is battling all the other neon and shiny stuff to look at: my phone, the TV, The World Cup, my to-do list, my must-do schedule, cleaning/organizing a new house, my laptop, my email, movie trailers, YouTube, podcast hot takes on NBA trades and AI tech.

It’s a lot to block out. And I value a lot of that stuff, enjoy it even. But I love reading and what it does to my mind. I love how it feeds my curiosity in this unique and slow way. Or how it immerses me in a story.

The writer John Paul Brammer recently put it most succinctly in his recent essay, “How I learned to read way, way more”:

I don’t need to go on about the benefits of reading, but here’s a brief paean: it has dramatically improved my quality of life. I’m less anxious. My thoughts feel cleaner. Thinking itself is more pleasurable. Pain is less mysterious. My brain is just better. Books are a privileged medium. We’re grammatical beings. We talk to ourselves in sentences.

I agree with a lot of this. I can feel a difference in the day when I’ve read and when I haven’t. It’s like coffee or exercise for me, it enhances my daily/weekly life in many ways. It makes me feel lighter. It’s fun, too.

Today’s Adventure Prompt: Pick a book you want to read. Something fun and pleasurable. Find something to read that you’re super curious about. But it must be something new to you. Get wild and put your phone in a different room if you can. Get even wilder and go outside; go to a coffee shop, or a park, just with the book — no phone. Read and let it take you somewhere.

Resources

• Why Reading Feels So Hard Now, John Paul Brammer talking to Charlie Warzel.

• How to cultivate a habit for reading from The Stacks podcast host Traci Thomas.

• If You Quit Social Media, Will You Read More Books? by Jay Caspian Kang

• “How to mark a book” by Mortimer Adler, which is old ass advice from 1941, but if you want close reading, deep advice, this might be a good starting point. Celebrated book critic Ron Charles recommends it.

• Applied researcher Andy Matuschak’s notetaking advice, which is kind-of reading advice. Be careful, you might spend hours getting into this site if you want to improve your note-taking.

Stuff I am doing and did

• It’s got the Oprah stamp and perfume on its sales, but I am reading John of John by Douglas Stewart, and I love it so far. Immersive storytelling, engaging characters, and a big whale-sized heart.