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.
Stop Binging on Junk Media: Feed Your Brain
Feed Your Brain with Better Books Hello Reader, I need to lose 10 pounds (mostly around the belly) and the process of dieting has taught me something interesting about reading deeply. I know what you’re thinking…that I pull these reading thoughts from strange places, but I promise this will help improve your deep reading sessions. Keep reading. Ok, back to the diet. I tried eating less food. That makes sense, right? WRONG. By cutting down on calories, I get ravenous halfway through the day...
Improve Your Focus ( 90-Day Experiment)
Try a 90-Day Focus Experiment Hello Reader, Improving focus seems to be a major theme around here. 90 days ago, I lost my AirPod case and thought it was the end of the world. 🫨 I’m the kind of guy who loves filling every possible second with interesting information. My AirPods gave me a way to always learn with audiobooks or YouTube videos playing in my ear. When I couldn’t find the case, I immediately searched for a replacement so that I could charge my Airpods. And then, for some reason, I...
Live Deliberately (As a Reader) in 2025🎉
Live Deliberately (As a Reader) in 2025 Hello Reader, This week's post is rosy-eyed and overly optimistic. If you would rather be in a bad mood, then skip this one. Call me romantic or even naive, but I love a fresh start, so the New Year is my favorite holiday. I giggle (Yes, giggle) over the prospect of designing the next 12 months of life. 🌲When Thoreau went to live at Walden Pond, he wrote “Every man (and woman) is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation...
Battle Your Brain Rot with Hard Books
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas Battle Your Brain Rot with HARD Books Hello Reader, Have you come across the term “Brainrot” yet? It comes from our lifestyle of busy living, screen swiping, and “working in a state of semi-distraction” (Newport 43). 📥 We’re swamped with shallow work, the kind of tasks that do little to feed the growth of our brains. We spend most of the day checking email (shallow), multi-tasking (shallow), and moving too quickly (you guessed it – shallow). 🧑🏫 We...
Create a FOCUS Routine
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas Create a FOCUS Routine Hello Reader, The most common remark I hear in our reading community is, “I can’t focus.” If you feel the same, let’s do a quick mental exercise. Consider the fact that your focus is a skill you need to develop. Focus is not something you have, it’s something that you earn. Think of it like learning to play the piano. If that’s the case, and it is, then you can improve your focus if you establish a focus routine. How do you...
Do You Need More Time to Read?
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas Do You Need More Time to Read? Hello Reader, There’s never enough time to read. That’s the point. Reading is an activity of expansion. It adds to your life and makes it better, rather than something that must be done to avoid pain. It falls into the category of “should” tasks. 🏋🏽♀️ I should go to the gym. 📞 I should call my mother. 📚 I should read a book. We intend to do things that are good for us, but we often put those things on the back burner....
Why I Read Before Breakfast
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas Slay the Reading Resistance Monster Hello Reader, In 2002, Steven Pressfield published The War of Art, a book that explores the very real problem of Resistance in our lives. He approached the topic as a writer, but I’d like to apply his ideas to reading books. Let’s start with a great quote from the introductory pages. “There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard....
How to Set Reading Goals for 2025 🎉
📚 Read Slowly - Take Notes - Apply the Ideas How to Set Reading Goals for 2025 Hello Reader, I love this time of year. Things are winding down, families are coming together, and the world seems to get a little more introspective. I always take a week off between Christmas and New Year's to work on my goals, yes I'm one of those people, and I've picked up a few strategies over the years that have made my reading goals more helpful. 5 Tips for Setting Your 2025 Reading Goals: I like to choose...
📚📝How 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...
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.