GoodReads

Fifty-two books in a year?

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Came across a Huffington Post article this past week on “How to Read a Book a Week“.  Its all about reading goals and the incentive they offer to better reading. And I get that. My own reading goal for the year is 100 books (on Goodreads). So far, I’ve read 24 and will probably make it, which is my own tip for reading goals–set them, but probably lower than what you will actually read. I think reading goals should be fun–maybe a slight stretch but doable.

So, there were some things I liked that the writer of this article mentioned:

  • One day at a time:  he suggests figuring out how many pages the average book one reads and setting a daily goal (say 30 to 40 pages) and try to set aside time early to read. I do have a daily goal in mind and I do read early, before life ramps up and I get into my day.
  • Make it a routine: I try to read first thing each day (which the author does). Don’t always get to do this because of early morning meetings, but this helps.
  • Use every moment: I will often do this if I have enough time to focus on what I’m reading. Otherwise, I often carry a periodical in my bag or on my Kindle that I can read in a few minutes.
  • It’s OK to give up: Some books just don’t turn out to be what we think, or we are not in the place to read them. No use being miserable just to reach some goal.

I had a problem with some of this article because it just seemed pretty OCD–and some of us bibliophiles don’t need any encouragement in that regard!

  • It’s OK to cheat: Sure, there are good short books we can read to reach our goals. But reading short books just to catch up if I’m behind on a reading goal seems to make the goal more important than reading good books–long or short. While I also agree that there is no inherent virtue in long books, I would say that the best thing is to read the book that captures your interest, that enriches your life, that is right for you at the time.
  • Never fall behind: This seems the most OCD to me. Sometimes life happens and there are things more important than reading. Sometimes we are just reading books that take longer than a week.

I agree with the writer’s conclusion that reading can enrich our lives. If a goal, whether reading one book a year, a month, a week, or even a day (as I understand was Teddy Roosevelt’s practice) serves as an on ramp to those riches, great. But let’s keep it rich, not a misery. Sometimes a challenging book takes mental effort to read and is worth it. But making oneself miserable (or just very task-oriented) just to add a book to meet our reading goals seems to defeat the purpose. My two cents, anyway!

 

When Reading Challenges Aren’t Such a Good Idea

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I came across a post on Book Riot that reminded me that reading goals might not always be such a good thing. Any of us on Goodreads is familiar with the “Reading Challenge” and also some of the kinds of stats you can look up on your profile page. And some of you are already feeling bad about the goal you set for this year.

Each year, Goodreads allows you to set a “reading challenge” for yourself and provides a nifty little progress bar that gives you the percent of books you’ve read. It also includes above the bar how many books you’ve read toward your goal and below the bar how far ahead or behind you are. Currently mine says, “You have read 18 of 100 books” and “4 books ahead of schedule”. And it is that last phrase that can get you. Some of us are just compulsive enough to feel bad if we get behind. We might even change our reading choices from “goodreads” to “quickreads” to catch up.

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If you enter the “Reading Challenge” you can also see how other friends are doing who enter the challenge. Alternately, this allows you to gloat or feel shame, depending on how you are doing. If that is not OCD enough for you, there is a stats page that will tell you how many pages you’ve read so far this year and how many pages you’ve read in previous years. Still haven’t had enough? There is an explore tab with the menu item “people”. You can find out for example the top readers in the US (this week, someone from California who has read the insane number of 2428 books this week) or the top reviewer (who has reviewed 227 books this week). One look at that list and I realized I will never make the top 50.

The question that we should ask though is what does any of this have to do with good reading? The short answer is, “Absolutely nothing!” It seems to me the question of whether you do a challenge or not, whether you complete a challenge or not, and how many pages you read or reviews you write has nothing to do with good reading. Good reading has to do with finding great writing that captures your imagination, enlarges your world and changes the way you look at it and engage with it. Whether you read one book, or five, or a hundred is beside the point. The real question is what your reading experience is like reading those books. Some thoughts on what makes for good reading–some of which I’ve probably shared before:

1. Good reading starts with setting aside time where you can be attentive to the book before you. Depending on the season of life, that could be anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. For some, 10 minutes hiding out in the bathroom may be the best you can do!

2. Of course, good reading takes a good book. Now “good” can cover a wide variety of meanings for us and I think there are “good” books in every genre from theology to sports writing. There is also badly written stuff, and stuff that is just “mind candy.” Actually, I wouldn’t worry too much about this. Over time, you learn what is good for you, and what doesn’t speak to you.

3. I do think a good read doesn’t simply amuse us but also helps us get a better take on life and the world around us. Conversely, bad writing panders to our fantasies and paranoias. Those books may engage us, but they also distort our vision of the world we actually live in.

4. The best books are those from which we come away changed for good. Maybe one question we should ask ourselves is whether this is one of our reasons for reading.

5. Good reads take us into community. We want to share that book with another so that we can talk with them about it. Or we pick up a book because of what it has meant to a friend. Or a group of our friends are reading it together.

So, if a reading challenge is encouraging you to carve out time in your life to read good books, great! If it just feeds an OCD thing or is a source of guilt, ditch it for the leisurely soaking in a good book, even if it is the only one you read this year!

Bob on Books in 2014

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IMG_1933We changed the calendar on our refrigerator last night before turning in. For many it seems January 1 is the day for New Year’s Resolutions (and from the viewer response, it appears a number of you are including “read more” among those resolutions!). Personally, I’m not one for resolutions but I thought I might share some thoughts I’ve had about the blog in the coming year.

1. I hope my son and I can do another conversation on our blogs. No guarantees here but we’ll see what comes out of our Tuesday nights at Chubby’s!

2. The question of how new technologies will impact reading, discourse, learning and the world of higher ed is one I hope to continue exploring. I think we are in a new Gutenberg revolution and I’m alternately intrigued and disturbed as I think about how this might affect literacy and thoughtful engagement with the books we read (or even the prevalence of reading).

3. I’m also intrigued by the intersection of reading, which is often a solitary activity, and social media and its potential to create new forms of learning communities, ranging from virtual book groups to online engagement among those sharing a professional interest.

4. I will be reading more books in the area of higher education because of a project I am working on related to my work in campus ministry.  Look for topical posts in this area as well as reviews of individual books, and a cumulative review post at some time in the first part of the year.

5. GoodReads and my shelving choices also make it possible to identify other categories where I’ve read a number of books on the same general theme. I’ll probably figure out a few other cumulative review posts–perhaps on biographies, American history, sports, books on Christianity and culture, mysteries or sci-fi. And I’ll probably save some for future years!

6. The posts “on life” are the least planned part of this whole thing. They arise out of something I’ve read, some personal life experience, or something that is happening in the world that I feel I have something I want to say about it. This is totally unpredictable.

7. I will continue to post writing on reading in general. I assume that many of those who consistently view or follow this blog love reading and are as interested as I am on how books may not only enrich our interior lives but how we might be enabled to live well through the books we read.

8. There will be those reviews! Generally those aren’t the most popular posts and not all the reviews will be of interest to all who follow me. I review a number of books that represent “a thoughtful approach to Christian faith” that reflects the university world I work in and my own passion for a seamless connection between our love for God, for his world, and our closer and more distant “neighbors”. Even if you don’t share my beliefs, I hope you will find some books that touch on interests that are common to us. I’ll be reading other things as well–history, biography, and fiction (some literary, sci-fi, and mystery especially), and a good baseball book here and there and an occasional science work.

9. At some point in the year look for a Teddy Roosevelt marathon! I have a couple volumes of Edmund Morris’s biography of Roosevelt on the stack and received The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin for Christmas. I’ve always loved reading about Roosevelt and love anything I’ve read by Doris Kearns Goodwin so this will be a marathon I look forward to!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on reading this year, and on anything you’d like to see me explore in the blog. I’m still learning about this stuff and those who view and comment are my best teachers!

Best Reads of 2013

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Here it is at last! My “best reads” of 2013. These are not necessarily, or even in most cases, books published in 2013 but rather the books I read in 2013 that I gave a 5 star rating to on GoodReads. These only reflect my own reading tastes of course, which might seem eclectic or eccentric to some. But what can I say? Each title is linked to my review of the book. Enjoy, and I hope you find something good here.

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1. A Good Man: Rediscovering My Father, Sargent Shriver, by Mark Shriver . This is a moving memoir of the life, character, and faith of Sargent Shriver, adviser to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and first director of the Peace Corps, written by his son.

2. Summer of ’49 by David Halberstam. Always love a good baseball book, and this chronicles the pennant race between the ’49 Yankees and Red Sox that came down to the last game of the season between these two teams.

3. Desiring the Kingdom by James K. A. Smith. Smith explores the important role liturgical practices have in shaping our desires toward kingdom ends. A clarifying book for me.

4. The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer. Tozer writes in plain language about our relationship with God in this little gem.

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5. 4:50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie. Christie at her best, complete with Mrs. McGillicuddy!

6. The Bible Study Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to an Essential Practice by Lindsay Olesberg. The title says it all and this is a very helpful resource for anyone who wants to learn how to study the Bible on their own or with others.

7. The World is Not Ours to Save by Tyler Wigg-Stevenson. A “save the world” complex is why most activists burn out. This author writes well about the change in his own perspective that sustains his activism.

8. Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves. This is a clearly, and if I may say, delightfully written book about the doctrine of the Trinity, a stumbling block to belief for some, a conundrum for many believers, but indeed a source of delight for Christians.

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9. The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis. Nine messages by Lewis that are absolute gems, including “Learning in War-time”.

10. The First Thanksgiving by Robert Tracy McKenzie. A wonderful new book about what we can know historically about the first Thanksgiving and how this challenges us in our contemporary setting.

11. John Quincy Adams by Harlow Giles Unger. This one just made this list. Unger brings John Quincy out from under the shadow of his father as statesman, president, and an early abolition leader.

I’d love to hear about your “best reads” for the year.

3 Steps to Reading Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

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3 Steps to Reading Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (from BookRiot.com) has some great ideas if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to read more.

I often get asked how I read so many books (although I was humbled by the person in this article who reads 2-300 books a year). I would agree with everything written here. Here are a few other thoughts.

1. I would amplify the idea of avoiding distractions. Read where and when you are free from TV, social media or smartphones.

2. Carry a book or e-reader with you for unexpected free moments–waiting for a flight, eating alone, while you are waiting to meet someone or on public transportation. I’ve probably read a book or two just in airports this year!

3. If you are working to cultivate a reading habit, don’t start with the most demanding, dense stuff you can think of that seems “profound”. Start with authors you like, or books in a genre you like.

4. Find book reviews or blogs on the kinds of books you like and see what others like. Goodreads is a great tool to find out what your friends are reading and what they think about their books.

5. After you read a book, try to capture in a few sentences what you liked about the book, a favorite quote, or something you want to remember from the book. Again, the Goodreads site is a great tool for this–you don’t need to be lengthy–think of this as just putting down what you want to remember about the book.

6. If you are a person who likes goals, track your progress through the year. Probably one of the few things I remember from my behavioral psych class from many years ago was that when you track a behavior, you increase that behavior if it is desirable, and often decrease it when it is undesirable. Hopefully reading is the former for you!

7. Read something “off the beaten path” for you — a different genre, an international author, a perspective you don’t think you agree with. Pick up a book at your bookseller’s that they are recommending that sounds interesting that you wouldn’t otherwise read.

Happy reading!

Am I Reading the ‘Wrong’ Books?

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Goodreads opened up its annual reader poll for Best Books of 2013. I discovered in going through the poll that I had not read a single title on the list! Kind of makes me wonder if I am reading the ‘wrong’ books. At very least, I am not reading the books that are currently popular.

I can think of several reasons for this:

1. I read a number of books that would fall under the category of “religious” which was not included in the poll. That is pretty central to my identity and work, so I will probably go on reading a number of those books, and I find there are those in this “niche” who seem to appreciate what I have to say about these books.

2. I tend to pick up lots of my books at second hand stores and so am reading things that have been out for a while, usually longer than a year.

3. It also tends to take me a while to work through the stack of books unless something is of such current interest and importance to me that I make it a priority to read.

4. I do read some books in the categories that are polled, but usually those that have stood the test of a few years and have been recognized as significant books–“so many books, so little time” is a mantra for me.

Still, it was valuable to go through the lists and in some categories I cast votes for the books I would like to read, for example I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai. I also voted for a book by John Scalzi in science fiction since my son has recommended him. I do want to pick up some of his stuff.

What is your experience when it comes to reader polls like this or other best-seller lists? Do you find yourself reading what lots of others read, or do you tend to choose “the road not taken” by others?

Good Readers

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I’ve used GoodReads for approximately two years.  What sites like these focus on are what are the “good reads” and why? What I want to focus on is what makes for a “good reader”? Is it something more than simply the number of books a person reads? What are the virtues of a good reader?

Here are a few of my thoughts and I’d love to hear what other readers think:

1.  Good readers are charitable. They have some perception on how hard writing is. George Orwell said, “Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.” They realize authors are trying to give them a gift and are willing to take the time to receive the book on the author’s terms.

2.  Good readers are attentive. Sometimes I try to read when I’m tired or distracted. Sleeping, or praying, or even watching TV might be better. Or perhaps reading something light–a Thurber story or an Agatha Christie mystery. Whether I am reading good history, fiction, or theology I think I do both the work and myself justice if I bring my best to the best of the author.

3.  Related to this, I think good reading is undistracted reading. We try to multi-task far more often than is good. I like to listen to music as I read yet I am concluding more and more that I do neither justice when I do this. Great music is worthy of the same kind of attention–it isn’t simply a background soundtrack for my life.  I can read in silence or in a buzz of conversations.  I can’t read when there is one conversation that I can follow–whether I want to or not!

4.  While good readers are charitable, they are also discerning.  Just as a wine-lover can tell the difference between great and mediocre wines or even the subtleties of different vintages of the same wine, so good readers recognize the difference between writing of quality and mediocrity–whether it is elegance of style, subtlety of character development, clarity of thought, or believe-ability of plot development.  Good readers, like good customers, reward good writing with their “custom”. They re-read works and acquire other books by the same author.

5.  Good readers reflect upon what they read.  They don’t read simply to be amused, as much as they find joy in the act of reading. They read with an openness to learn, to gain a new perspective, to see the world differently or even to change.

My son is a writer.  He has given me some of his ‘drafts’ to read. Reading the work of a family member or a friend calls out these virtues because it reminds you that you hold in your hands the work of someone who matters greatly. In truth, that is the case with every work we read. Reviewing someone’s work calls even more for these virtues, I think.

One of the rewards of “good reading” is to discuss great works with other “good readers” either online or in book groups. Again, sharing a good book is like sharing good food–a doubly rich experience. What are the practices of good reading that help you enter deeply into a book and enable to share that richness with others?

Making GoodReads Better

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I have been using GoodReads for about two years as a way to post reviews of books as well as learn of good books others are reading.  It serves as a kind of Facebook for book lovers.  It provides recommendations of books you might enjoy based on books you have read.  And it connects your posts easily to Facebook and other social media sites.  There are some things I wish this site would improve, now that it is funded by the behemoth of Amazon (perhaps another post on this sometime!).

1.  It would be great if the text entry box for reviews would provide the same features WordPress offers its bloggers, including easy integration of links and the ability to tag posts.

2.  I wish there were a limit on the “wants to read” posts from one person at one time–perhaps three to five–so that one’s whole newsfeed isn’t filled with one person’s posts.

3.  The search function to add titles to you “reading” list often seems not to turn up the book you want even if you’ve entered the title exactly, in my experience.  Sometimes, the only way to get this is via entering ISBNs.

4.  Currently only GoodReads authors have their blogs automatically posted to GoodReads.  It would be nice if those of us who blog on books might also have this ability without pasting in links.

5.  It would be helpful if GoodReads suggested categories for books based on publisher and cataloguing data.  I might still like to add my own categories but this might make for more systematic sorting and searching of reviews.

Finally, I don’t want my reviews posted to Amazon without my permission.  While I do want to see people read, I don’t want to be an Amazon sales person. For those of you who use GoodReads, what would make it better for you?

How I Review a Book

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I was asked a while back by some colleagues how I review a book.  I feel I am still on a learning curve about this and so would love to interact with others who both write and read reviews.

1. First of all, I really do read the whole book.  I don’t write a review until I finish the book.  Maybe I’m compulsive, but it somehow feels like cheating to review something I don’t read.

2.  I often “lead” in the review with something that particularly intrigued or interested me in the book that I think might connect with others.

3.  I usually summarize the contents.  This comes in part from my original purpose of writing reviews–providing myself with a reminder of what the book was about.  I find this also seems helpful to others in deciding if they want to read the book.

4.  Often, I will briefly engage the book–what I like (or more rarely dislike or disagree with) about the book.  This could be a matter of plot development in fiction or particular ideas in the book with non-fiction.  I do sometimes highlight good or bad writing.  I must admit to detesting writing that is convoluted and obscures what I think the writer is trying to say.

5.  Sometimes I will include a recommendation for which audiences a book might be useful.

6.  Most of the time, I keep reviews to 3-4 relatively short paragraphs.  I’m writing for online rather than print audiences.

7.  I write my reviews on my GoodReads page, which I now have linked to this blog.

I’d love to know what other reviewers and readers of reviews think about this.  And as you read reviews I post here, I would be glad to get feedback about how to make these more useful.

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I originally wrote this post over a year ago. Since then there are a few things I would add to what I wrote here:

1. Since I’ve shifted to blogging, I’ve tended to write longer reviews but usually in the 800 word range. This format seems to allow me to cover at a greater depth the book’s content and my critique.

2. Reviewing in this context means that my reviews are seen more often by the authors (and sometimes editors) of the books I review. It has made me more conscious of what I think a reviewer’s responsibility is, which is to attempt to understand the book, to be honest in one’s critique while trying to be fair and generous to the author.

3. Reviewing is no longer simply my way of remembering what I’ve read. I’ve come to see it as a dialogue with readers and potential readers (as well as with authors and editors) about the books I’ve read. With rare exceptions, I hope others will borrow or buy at least some of the books I read.

4. Finally, I realize none of us can read everything. What I want to achieve in reviews is to give enough information about a book to help someone decide whether it is worth reading for them, and, even if not, to give them enough to be conversant about the book where that is useful to them. Other reviewers do this for me. Hopefully I can return the favor!

Thanks for reading and, when you like what you see, reposting these reviews and other posts on this blog!