The Read Well Podcast
Subscribe to my newsletter for tips on close reading, detailed note-taking, and applying bookish wisdom to your life. I talk about fiction and non-fiction, interview literary experts, and host The Read Well Podcast. Subscribe today and build better reading habits.
đź“šđź“ťHow to Take Great Notes (For Fiction Readers)
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas How to Take Notes (For Fiction Readers) Watch the Video → Hello Reader, Not all fiction calls for note-taking, but sometimes a novel resonates so deeply that it’s worth capturing my thoughts. I recently shared a new video on my approach to taking notes on fiction, where I walk through setting up a dedicated notebook and recording my insights. If you've been wanting to get more from your favorite books, this video should help. 🙏 Also, if you find it...
🧑‍🏫 Why Philosophers are Weird (And Wonderful)
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas Why Philosophers are Weird (And Wonderful) Hello Reader, I’m pleased to report that philosophy is not dead. It did not go the way of the Dodo with the death of Socrates, Nietzsche, or Foucault. We have living and breathing philosophers today, still writing and pondering the mishaps of our nutty world. One of those living philosophers, Dr. Michael Huemer, points out in his book Knowledge, Reality and Value, that “Philosophy may be the only field of...
The Art of Mastery (For Book Lovers)
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas The Art of Mastery (For Book Lovers) Read the full Essay Online → Hello Reader, Ever wonder what you’re meant to do in life? Robert Greene, author of Mastery, suggests that each of us has a “Life’s Task”—a unique path to master. In my latest essay, I look into how Greene’s approach to reading can help you uncover your true calling and achieve new skill levels in any field. I share Greene’s insights on finding your passion, why a mentor is...
5 Books I HATED But Now I LOVE
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas 5 Books I HATED But Now I LOVE Read On the Web → Hello Reader, I’ve grown as a reader. I can tell because books that once made no sense to me are now intertwined with my soul. The more we read, the better we get at focusing, visualizing, and thinking. Reading is like going to the gym for the brain—if you read well. Speed-reading or skimming doesn’t offer the same benefits as reading slowly and taking notes. Anyway, here are five books I hated but...
Want to Read Crime and Punishment?
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas We're Reading My Favorite Book. I'm SO Excited! I Want to Read Too!!! → Hello Reader, We just started reading my favorite book in book club yesterday. If you've ever wanted to tackle Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, now is the time to do it. This is a spooky, psychological narrative that explores the connection between our actions and our emotions. It's not to late to join us! We're reading 20 pages a day, so if you start today, you'll...
đź‘‹ Why You Should Read Philosophy
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas Why You Should Read Philosophy for Fun Read On the Web → Hello Reader, Let me start by saying that philosophy is incredibly fun to read. For all you haters out there who think that philosophy is just a bunch of windbags pontificating about the impossible, well, you’re partly right. There’s a lot of pontification on questions that have no answers, but that’s not the point. Let’s get to the point. In “A Gentleman in Moscow,” Count Rostov, the...
Do You Know These Authors?
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas Reading a Diverse Range of Authors Hello Reader, Lately, I’ve been thinking on the importance of reading diverse literary voices. While I love the Western canon, I recognize its limits in perspective. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing like spending hours with Whitman, Emerson, Thoreau, Plato, or Nietzsche. But if I’m going to be a great reader, I need to make space for a wider range of voices—female thinkers, people of color, and the myths and...
Get in a State of "Flow" With This Book
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas Get Into a State of "Flow" with This Book Hello Reader, We’ve been looking forward to this one in the book club for a while! We’ve just started reading Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It’s the go-to book on achieving a state of flow—the mindset where you’re at your best, and everything just clicks. You can reach this state no matter what you’re doing. Whether you’re launching a new bookstore (like me at www.edgewaterbookstore.com), going to...
A Wall of Forgotten Books
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas A Wall of Forgotten Books Read On the Web → Hello Reader, If you look at your bookshelf, do you see a wall of forgotten books? These might be books you’ve read and possibly even loved, but now you can’t remember what they were about. While you may be able to tell someone the general idea of a book, you struggle with the thought of teaching a 1-hour class on its concepts. This happens a lot, and it’s OK. Step one as a reader is being kind to...
The #1 Benefit of Reading Books
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas The #1 Benefit of Reading Books Read On the Web → Hello Reader, I might be off here, but being able to control where my attention goes feels like the greatest benefit of reading books. All day long, people and businesses are fighting to occupy my mental space. There are ads everywhere, emails piling up, and my kids calling “Dad” all day long. Don’t get me wrong—I love being a dad, and I would do anything for my kids, but they sure do soak up a lot...
Subscribe to my newsletter for tips on close reading, detailed note-taking, and applying bookish wisdom to your life. I talk about fiction and non-fiction, interview literary experts, and host The Read Well Podcast. Subscribe today and build better reading habits.