To celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas from now through Epiphany and to advocate for the idea of reading books to support New Year projects, resolutions, and goals, I’m writing a series of posts with themed book lists for various popular resolutions. So far…
Day 1: Be More Fit
Day 2: Be Happier
Day 3: Be a Better Cook
Day 4: Be Smarter about Money
Day 5: Be More Purposeful and Get Things Done
Day 6: Be More Creative
Today’s topic is reading. I woke up this morning to an email from a friend pointing me to an article by Claire Fallon on The Huffington Post about setting Be a Better Reader as a resolution. She knows me too well! There are some great ideas there for reading goals to set, but that piece doesn’t mention books that can help you become a better reader. Here are some.
A classic choice for improving oneself as a reader
A classic choice is How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. I read it years ago. I remember being annoyed by the arrogant tone, but still incorporated some things I learned into the way I read. I suspect the tone would bother me less now, so I should probably try it again.
More fun are the books by the librarian Nancy Pearl (renowned for her NPR gig and as the model for the Librarian Action Figure). She doesn’t tell you how to read but gives you great ideas of what to read in Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason. There’s a whole series of these books: More Book Lust, Book Crush (for kids and teens — and isn’t that the cutest title?), and Book Lust to Go (for armchair adventures).
The book I’m reading for the New Year’s Resolution Reading Challenge to support my resolution to Be a Better Reader is Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose. I’ve already started and have several pages marked with post-its peppered with notes of how I can apply what I’m learning to my writing and reading.
What books have helped you become a better reader?
If you’re reading books to improve your reading in the new year (or for other goals, projects, and resolutions), join us at The New Year’s Resolution Reading Challenge! Don’t forget that we’ll have a live Twitter Chat tonight to discuss our goals and books. That’s at 9PM Eastern / 8 Central / 7 Mountain / 6 Pacific / 5 Alaskan / 4 Hawaiian. The hashtag is #WSchat.
