These blog posts are short, daily ideas on reading deeply, taking notes, and applying the ideas. Each post is written by Eddy Hood with the goal of encouraging readers to pick up a book in favor of technology.
When you stop to think about it, Shakespeare really was a genius. In Richard III, we find one of literature’s most famous lines, “Now is the winter of our discontent” (Folger Shakespeare Library). Richard, who eventually becomes King Richard III, speaks this poetic and memorable phrase. Before we look at why this line is soContinue reading Now is The Winter of Our Discontent
I’ve been meaning to read Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals for a few months, but I just couldn’t do it. I’ve read so many “productivity” books that I needed a break. Once I finally turned the cover, I was happy to see that Burkeman’s approach was not only new, but actuallyContinue reading Life is Finite. Make a Choice.
When you read, how long does it take before the first distractions appear? For me, it’s less then a minute. We’ve forgotten how to be alone, and reading is a solitary activity. It requires time by yourself in silence. Author David Foster Wallace pointed out that people feel a sense of dread about having toContinue reading Do You Require Noise?
How do you read more books? The answer isn’t a speed reading course or playing Audible at 2X the speed – you have to invest more time in reading. Everyone’s hunting for the secret formula to consuming large quantities of books, but what they’re not willing to do is spend four to five hours aContinue reading Reading Takes Time
The great German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 – 1832), summarized the mantra of our reading community when he said, “We must plunge into experience and then reflect on the meaning of it. All reflection and no plunging drives us mad; all plunging and no reflection, and we are brutes” (Becker 199). The mantraContinue reading Madness and Brutes
At 9:00 a.m., the Mayor for our little town blew the foghorn and a mass of children ran onto baseball fields to collect thousands of Easter eggs dumped in the grass. I thought it would take quite a while to pick them up, but those kids swarmed the field and stripped it clean in lessContinue reading The Swarm of Children
There are five words that keep invading the books and conversations of my life. I hear them on YouTube as well, and I realized that I don’t actually know what they mean. I researched them this morning and thought you might find them helpful. I don’t know about you, but learning a few words seemsContinue reading 5 Words I Thought I Understood, But Didn’t.
My alarm goes off every morning at 6:30 a.m., and my first thought is always the same thing: What am I reading today? I’m so excited to get up, find my books, and get lost in my thoughts. I have no predilection toward drugs or other distraction because reading fills every gap in my life.Continue reading The Drug of Reading Books
I’ve been an Agatha Christie nut my entire life, and Hercule Poirot is one of my favorite fictional characters. I first heard about the detective in fifth grade, when Chris Porter (the smartest kid in the class) sat reading The Big Four while the other kids ran outside for recess. When I asked him aboutContinue reading Hercule Poirot
The best part about reading is that you find shelter in great ideas. Cicero (106 – 43 BCE) was a Roman statesman, orator, and writer. Today, I bumbled into The Six Mistakes of Man which is generally attributed to him. Have a look, and let me know what you think. The Six Mistakes of ManContinue reading The Six Mistakes of Man