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.
The 11 Books We're Reading in Book Club 2025 - 2026
11 Books for a Year of Deep Reading Hello Reader, One of my favorite moments every year is sharing the new reading list with all of you—and this year, it’s especially good. I’ve spent the past few months thinking carefully about the arc of our year: what kinds of conversations we want to have, what stories will challenge us, and how we can keep growing together as readers and thinkers. We’re covering a lot of ground this time around—classics, sci-fi, philosophy, memoir, nature writing, and...
Reading Gets Even Better the Deeper You Go
Build a Better Reading Habit Hello Reader, I’ve Unlocked a Magical Reading Door in My Brain I didn’t even know the door existed. But recently, I’ve discovered that my ability to sink deeply into a book and truly enjoy it is a skill—one that can be developed. Here’s what my reading journey has looked like so far, and maybe you’ll see yourself somewhere along the way. If you’re trying to level up your own reading life, hang in there. LEVEL 1: MAKING TIME FOR BOOKS The first step is simply...
I Think. You'll Love This Book
I Think You'll Love This Book Hello Reader, It’s been a big week for me. I needed a story to help me escape the madness of life and the stress of this goofy economy. I’m late to the game here, but I finally read LESS by Andrew Sean Greer, and I loved it for three reasons. This is the story of Arthur Less, a gay author on the brink of turning 50, who sets off on a global journey to avoid attending an ex-lover’s wedding. Accepting a string of questionable speaking invitations, he escapes the...
Why Reading Philosophy Is the Ultimate Brain Workout
9 Books That Will Make You Smarter (and Think Harder) Hello Reader, In Behave, Robert Sapolsky makes a powerful case that what you do with your brain changes your brain. Neurons rewire. Habits remap synapses. Your focus carves new mental pathways. That means reading—especially deep, challenging reading—isn’t just informative. It’s transformative. This is why I keep returning to philosophy. It forces me to slow down, think hard, and stretch my mind. If you’re new to the genre or ready to go...
How to read more when you don’t feel like it
Too tired to read? Same. Here’s how I deal with it. Hello Reader, Let’s talk about reading motivation. Should we worry when our motivation crashes and burns? I don’t think so. There are days when I absolutely do not want to read. Why? Because I’m tired. My chutzpah is out of go-go juice. I’ve got too many irons in the fire—and they’re burning the whole house down. Pick a problem, and it’s probably the reason my motivation fell apart. Here’s what I’ve learned: motivation is an unfaithful...
This Book Made No Sense...Then It Clicked.
You May Not Be Ready for That Book - YET - Hello Reader, When I first read Slaughterhouse-Five, I didn’t like it. I couldn’t figure out why people called it a great book. To me, it was just about a strange guy named Billy Pilgrim who bounced around in time, got abducted by some weird aliens from Tralfamadore, and tried to make sense of all the death he witnessed in World War II. Now, years later, I love it. So it goes. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut I didn’t like the book at first...
Does Reading Make You Smarter? Potentially.
Does Reading Make You Smarter? Hello Reader, Here’s a question: Do books make you smarter? Will reading Shakespeare or Robert Sapolsky’s latest deep dive into neurobiology improve your intelligence? Or are we just reading to massage our egos? Books have the potential to make you smarter, but your IQ doesn’t ratchet up just because you read one. Access to information isn’t the same as using information—and it’s in the using that real learning happens. We’ve been convinced that the goal is to...
The FLOW of Reading Well
Find Reading FLOW Hello Reader, Flow is a fancy way of saying Optimal Experience. You've been there. It's when you're unstoppable, everything works, and your focus and skill are laser tight. Let's talk about how to get into reading flow, or how to have an optimal reading experience. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of FLOW - The Psychology of Optimal Experience, says, "The best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish...
40 Years of Reading Taught Me This Lesson 📚
40 Years of Reading Taught Me THIS. Hello Reader, I've been reading books for 40 years. I started with those See Spot Run books—they were great. What's strange is that the lesson from those early books still holds true for the books I read today. In fact, it's not so much a lesson as it is a single word that has guided me along the way: Maybe. Every book I've read has taught me the invaluable power of saying, Maybe. Books have shown me that my culture is not the only culture. They've taught...
📖 Jane Eyre—Our Next Book Club Read (And Why You’ll Love It)
Jane Eyre 📚Our Next Book Club Read📚 (And Why You’ll Love It) Hello Reader, Next Tuesday (Feb 25), we’re starting a new book in our book club—Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. If you haven’t read it yet, this is your chance. If you have, it’s time to see it with fresh eyes. Why Jane Eyre? Because it’s one of the most fiercely independent, thought-provoking novels in literature. At its core, Jane Eyre is about a young woman who refuses to be defined by her circumstances. She’s orphaned, poor, and...
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.