Reading Rainbow
Earlier this month a friend of mine asked me about my reading habits. I document them here in case anyone is interested. (I also covered this ground a little bit a few years back here.)Books are for right before bed (as well as summer vacations). As an introvert who lives a cluttered existence (kids, sales/service/managerial responsibilities at work), reading is a great way to end the day, recharge, and transition to sleep. But, the real world is complex enough that I don't feel any interest or energy to get into the make-believe worlds of fiction, so I read almost exclusively non-fiction. And, because I like to be well-rounded in my information consumption, I try to balance my choices in terms of topics and worldviews. (In case you're wondering, the book I'm reading now is H.W. Brands' "The Age of Gold, The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream," a fascinating account of the euphoria that swept over much of the world upon the discovery of gold in California.)
Magazines that come to my home address include Wired, The Atlantic, The Economist, and Fast Company. These I like to read during my morning and evening commute and on the weekends.
Magazines that come to my work address include numerous trade publications, some on some pretty obscure topics. (Green Manufacturer, anyone?) These I skim over lunch at work, to see if anything's cooking in any of these worlds that I need to be aware of.
Newspapers include the Philadelphia Inquirer, which I'll daily read over breakfast at home, and the Wall Street Journal, which I'll occasionally read over lunch at work. Newspaper websites are a common visit for me early in the morning, as well, as are a number of econ blogs (Marginal Revolution), social commentaries (Ta-Nehisi Coates), and other interesting aggregators (kottke.org).
Lastly, I keep a "to print" folder at work, where I save research reports, white papers, and publications on a wide range of topics. Every few months or so, I print out the executive summaries (or, if the topic is really interesting, the whole document) and plow through the whole wad (or wait for a long train ride to do so).
How about you? How/what/when/where do you read?
Comments
Guess what Lee? I figured out I'm an extravert! I've been a closeted extravert most of my life. (Funny concept, huh?)
Oh, did I mention that I have to read and write a lot of relatively short emails, and incoming/outgoing communications with my customers via the web tool? It's safe to say that relaxation is NOT my primary motivation for reading these days, because I feel like I'm frantically trying to keep up with all the little bits and bigger bits of writing that are flying around every second of every day from millions of people to millions of other people.
It's like TV. What do I watch on TV? Whatever my wife wants me to watch with her. What do I read and when do I read it, and how? Whatever I feel compelled by other people to read, when I feel compelled, and I read it whatever way I need to. (Have I convinced you yet, that I'm an extravert?)