So You Want to Be a Serious Reader?
Рет қаралды 11,716
Күн бұрынMy advice on reading seriously. #ReadSmart made in collaboration with @ProseAndPetticoats whose video on the same subject can be found here: • How to get the most ou...
Read Smart Tag questions:
1. What is your strategy to stay focused and engaged while reading?
2. How does your environment influence your focus and what can you do to optimize it?
3. What methods do you use to retain and recall information from what you've read?
4. How do you approach difficult or challenging material?
5. What role do note-taking and annotation play in your reading process?
6. How do you balance reading for pleasure with reading for personal or professional development?
7. What is the importance of setting reading goals?
8. What are some strategies for overcoming reading slumps or lack of motivation?
I tag @saintdonoghue, @aaronfacer, @davidnovakreadspoetry, @Paradisereading, @TheActiveMind1, @thegrimmreader3649, @HannahsBooks, @TriumphalReads, and @readreadofficial (I forgot to mention all of these in the video, unfortunately).
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Consider Buying Me a Coffee (Thank You!): ko-fi.com/toreadersitmayconcern
If You'd Like to Surprise Me with a Book (Thank You!): www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls...
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Chapters
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00:00 Advice on advice
03:25 On collaborating with Prose and Petticoats
05:43 How to stay focused and engaged
17:14 How to optimize environment
20:05 How to retain and recall your reading
24:02 How to approach difficult texts
31:35 How to annotate
35:21 How to balance personal and professional development
39:14 Importance of setting reading goals
45:11 How to find motivation
49:05 Who else should do this
51:07 Reminder to check out Prose and Petticoats
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
Prose and Petticoats has a wonderful video on the same subject right here! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oNd9YLB_td_PnoE.htmlsi=NQeoLG0HIEzM38Dc And here are some other videos that have responded to this tag so far! From Steve Donoghue: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nL2EaNqkscqvhGg.htmlsi=Im1D80p5OKh-Lmw6 From Paradise Reading: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eZZ7fJZ6x9PJiYk.htmlsi=ViwibSYlzz-mhpHH From Joe Spivey: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jrdoitGb17G9hps.htmlsi=bLkR2uUJ24x97dMm From Hannah's Books: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g51zdq-JnMqRkmw.htmlsi=-dULajHYMPnVP0DT From Curtis Books and Books: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hpejpMWIldizcoU.htmlsi=cNHkdmEOH_35T1wE From Triumphal Reads: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hLSFrLSH27zGiKM.htmlsi=JQDUVD_CJBg5cp-x From Randy Ray: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gqxhh9Jopt3FY30.htmlsi=i__0XjAZgsegpDFd From David Novak Reads Poetry: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n6h-lr2U17a3cXU.htmlsi=HFwjyOrfKBO_UM7F From Bibliosophie (not directly in response to the tag, but covering similar subject matter): kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g9B8iqiHp7uwmWw.htmlsi=57HUy8XH-bfFkI3k From Book Chat with Pat: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bNp_h6VemtfbiKc.htmlsi=9fZz7DQ56dvSKcJd From Jzy Shzy: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qpZ_q72b3dPXpmw.htmlsi=dyTBx_8UTCA3QJU9 From Another Bibliophile Reads: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ir2jesqk3M-rfH0.htmlsi=Jw-FOdBAHKCPYaS5 From Aaron Facer: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/e6iXnbSFzciRqJ8.htmlsi=23IUxW84CVLfouGc From Reading IDEAS: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/m5dyZqiWqbquhKc.htmlsi=lJSz-_g2JS18Aph8 From Quaint and Curious Volumes: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qNiToMWqvrXOiWQ.htmlsi=bD4RZEOF7zlnTq6L From BookZealots: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/r898i86ZnZidfn0.htmlsi=s2258iBsezfxX4fp From Stuart Griffin: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pqeAjcmDl9SnpHk.htmlsi=qxJ3qRs4TlRkOwQ3
@chryptus 9 күн бұрын
"And because books are uninviting in their silence, it becomes necessary to seek them out yourself." Good line, great channel. I look forward to your future efforts.
@ProseAndPetticoats 22 күн бұрын
Can't wait to watch this, Ruben! I'll be returning to this after my concert. 🎻 Thank you so much for this collab 🥰
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
I hope your concert goes exceptionally well! [And remember, everyone reading this comment, to check out Prose and Petticoats videos!]
@JDesEsseintes-x 15 күн бұрын
When you write it down, you really only store it and unload the responsibility of having to remember it. Let's face it, if you're gonna read a million books, you will learn nothing. What I found is that I really only remember the things that already coincided with my own beliefs and helped to better understand and clarify them.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 15 күн бұрын
I make a similar point about the nature of writing and memory at the 20:07 chapter in the video. I do not have that same experience, though, of only remembering analogue beliefs to those I already hold. Just this last year my view on metaethics has shifted dramatically from where it was held before, and that has stuck to memory quite solidly. Other dramatic shifts also come to mind regarding other arguments in philosophy. I'm not sure I relate to the last point you made.
@JDesEsseintes-x 15 күн бұрын
@@ToReadersItMayConcern I have like 5 candidate replies for you that sound true in my head but contradict one another. So I will just say, fair enough, I was probably wrong to generalize.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 14 күн бұрын
This is very mature, self-reflective, and honest of you. Maybe I can imagine an outline of a view that supports your position, just for fun: memory runs on the coherence between associations, and so even if it feels like my mind has been wholly changed, it is still within a familiar enough framework to change within prior boundaries; anything that is actively beyond my particular frame of seeing wouldn't even register let alone be remembered. Or one could argue that it's particular sorts of arguments that persuade me; arguments that don't maintain that familiar structure don't receive weight. But I'm spitballing. Interesting to think about. In the end, it feels necessary to remain critical while also expecting to never reach a final, perfect stance. Learning for its own sake.
@pretentioussystem9367 3 күн бұрын
Many thanks! No, your videos are not too long because they are so informative and well spoken. :) Many thanks for tagging others - I just discovered TheActiveMind! ps. I will reply properly to you on the other video over the next few days. Many thanks for your patience.
@PoorPersonsBookReviewer 22 күн бұрын
Great video, I could have used it 2 years ago when I started reading everyday. People really don’t understand it takes dedication and time. Ps reading is a great way to burn calories
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
As heavy a workout as it gets. Gotta keep that brain muscle pumping! (Love the look of your channel; I'll be checking out your stuff soon!)
@RetNemmoc555 15 күн бұрын
Reading space and the most expensive book I own. In college I found it easier to read in the main cafeteria than in the library. Somehow the din of conversation and clanking dishes was less distracting than the occasional spike of someone coughing, or turning a page, or dropping a pencil in a quiet library. Recently I thought I'd try to reproduce that experience by going out to breakfast with a book I've been putting off for almost twenty years (Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis). The problem was that I only got about twenty pages read each time before self-consciousness set in about languishing in a cafe, so I'd pay up and leave. I continued the experiment however, until I reached the end of the 248-page book. At roughly $12 to $15 spent on each breakfast, and no more than twenty pages read, that's about twelve sittings, or between $140 and $180 on breakfasts that I normally would make at home. So now, exaggerating a little, I say that Founding Brothers is my $200 book. No more of that, obviously, but it is still true that it's easier for me to read in a clanky setting than in a quiet room. I'll just have to figure out a cheaper alternative.
@sadiecoyne 10 күн бұрын
This was an absolute pleasure to listen to. I’ve felt so many of these feelings about books (& KZfaq videos) but haven’t been able to articulate them. Great work!
@ToReadersItMayConcern 10 күн бұрын
You're so welcome! Thank you, Sadie!
@owendavis4154 22 күн бұрын
A way to circumvent books being uninviting in their silence is to read as a form of meditation. Every year for the last twenty years I have read One hundred Years of Solitude. For this to work it has to be a book you truly love, one that changed your life and that was the first book I read after deciding I wanted reading to be a part of my life again. I am so intimate with the story that it calls out to me from the shelf. Last week I felt that call again and so this years re-read has begun. The power of the written word is in its ability to infiltrate all parts of your life. The story and the characters are always walking beside me sometimes to challenge, sometimes to nurture, but there presence is something that I always look forward to. One read through was all it took to hook me but it was the subsequent read throughs that brought the characters into my life, made them as familiar as my own family members. I didn't just read the book, I am in the book, it is part of me, as are all the things that make up the story of my life. Thankyou. Your videos and thoughts are a source of inspiration in my life as much as the things I read.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
This is such a clear-eyed hymn to the resonance of great books, those that call to us long after reading. I read One Hundred Years of Solitude long, long ago, possibly right out of high school. That self is another person entirely from me now; to read that book again would be to read a different book, in a sense. I wonder what will linger for me this time? We are as shaped by-as much as we shape the meaning of-the books we read. You know, I'm not sure if I have my copy of that particular book anymore. I just checked now where it should be and can't find it. Perhaps it's time I get another copy for this other self I am today. Thank you for your thoughtful musings. You've been there watching me steadily grow in this strange BookTube world. Thanks for that, too.
@SP-qi8ur Күн бұрын
Aureliano
@ProseAndPetticoats 22 күн бұрын
I love that you touch on the subject of listening to music while reading. You also mention your reading space. I would LOVE to see it in one of your future videos ;) That question of ‘why do I want to read this’ is so useful, and the fact that we have to be selective, because we won't be here forever... I usually don’t have anyone to talk to about the type of books I read, and I sometimes miss this. I notice a huge difference in how well I retain the story when I read with others and talk about it. Absolutely amazing video - every second of it was interesting.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 21 күн бұрын
That's funny, I almost inserted a short clip of my reading space but then thought no one would really care to see it. Oops! I'll have to insert footage of it sometime in a future video! You touch on a challenge for readers that grows worse as one's reading becomes more specific and esoteric: it becomes difficult to find others who are curious about and understand the topics you're reading about. I've noticed this as I've read more philosophy and history-these subjects require a lot of background information, which makes them less tenable for casual conversation. Sometimes it helps to make connections yourself, if not vocalized then at least mentally, as you watch videos or listen to others or read other books. So long as you're regularly recalling in some way what you've read, that will help with memory. I kind of thought that making a BookTube channel would solve this problem completely, and it somewhat does, but speaking to a camera is not quite the same as speaking directly to another person. I think reaction is vital, and that's missing when recording alone in a room. With how you format your reviews, that would seem to help: you seem to walk through so many of the key points in a helpful manner. If you're ever in need of a bookish conversation partner, just know I'm always down. Deep book conversations can be so rare!
@lucyleadbeater7081 22 күн бұрын
Thank you for this brilliant video Ruben. I will be listening several times to get the most out of it. So much wisdom from such a young man!
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
Oh, thank you so much! This is perhaps a topic I'll return to time and time again: I'm always striving to improve my habits, and if I can help others, too, then that's just as worthwhile.
@aaronfacer 19 күн бұрын
This was wonderful! It's the kind of advice I wish I'd received back when I was trying to become a better and more disciplined reader at the age of about 17. It's certainly given me a lot to think about, and I'm looking forward to giving it a go. Thank you for tagging me!
@drendelous 11 күн бұрын
16:49 let's be honest, we are talking tiktok ytshorts and reels
@brenboothjones 21 күн бұрын
Excellent stuff, as usual! Having a specific reading chair is a great tip. “I cherish reading so much” yes man! I feel exactly the same. I love the way booktube connects likeminded people!
@readreadofficial 22 күн бұрын
Great video, Ruben, and thanks for the tag. I might give it a go, but to be honest, a lot of our answers cross over, and I think you've already done a brilliant job at diving deeply into each question. I appreciated your point about practicing teaching even to thin-air as a way to test how much you really know something - that's actually the reason why I always drive in silence, because the mute void of the commute to work is perfect for that!
@BookishTexan 13 күн бұрын
Great advice on just going with the flow and paying attention to what interests you in so called difficult texts.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 13 күн бұрын
Yes, important to remember reading is for ourselves. We don't need to be perfect in our knowing.
@reef6826 22 күн бұрын
“It is so much easier to put down a book, than it is to pick it up.”
@fiwebster9814 21 күн бұрын
Wrong. It's super easy to start reading a book. What's hard is realizing you should bail on a book that's not worth finishing, instead of compulsively reading it all the way to the end.
@MarkTodd-yc1zd 19 күн бұрын
@@fiwebster9814 I think that depends a lot on someone's personality, I certainly have little trouble with giving up on books because I "don't have time".
@markfortuin7111 22 күн бұрын
I enjoy watching your videos, but I also enjoy listening to you. You inspire me [to read] and take it seriously.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
I'm so glad! I genuinely love the feeling of helping others cherish reading.
@ryanbartlett672 22 күн бұрын
Thanks. Love your thoughtful, calm, honest delivery.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
So nice of you, thank you!
@TheActiveMind1 21 күн бұрын
Wonderful video and tag!
@z111.01 4 күн бұрын
thank you. so much to learn in one video!
@ToReadersItMayConcern 3 күн бұрын
You're very welcome! Glad you received some worth from it.
@jedjedjedjedjedjed 22 күн бұрын
Lovin the channel, looks like it's growin ! Hell yeah man :)
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
Appreciate it! I've been incredibly lucky thus far.
@triggywinkle 11 күн бұрын
Very informative video. Thank you for sharing!
@ToReadersItMayConcern 11 күн бұрын
Glad it was helpful! Thank you!
@davidnovakreadspoetry 22 күн бұрын
This requires some thought, but you have many useful tips. Of course focus has been my main struggle - something Steve Donoghue doesn’t have to wrassle with. Now let me get to Prose and Petticoats, a channel I’ve never seen but am newly subscribed to. Thanks.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
One thing I could have discussed (and maybe I will someday) is I do have plenty of rough days wherein reading doesn't come easy. For those days I strive to read just an hour, perhaps spread out, then allow myself to do whatever feels necessary. The key is just some consistency-steady progress if leaps in progress aren't viable-and eventually whatever mental rut I'm in passes; often, something I read in that hour prompts renewed interest, and curiosity becomes my spur for focus. I hope you find much to love in Prose and Petticoats' videos! I found her recent videos on being an author and on the history of commonplace books fairly interesting.
@TriumphalReads 20 күн бұрын
Interesting vid and questions Ruben. Some will easier to answer than others for sure.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 20 күн бұрын
No obligation or anything! Just an invite (for the sake of my own curiosity to hear your reading habits).
@johnstephen399 22 күн бұрын
Excellent video once again.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for continuing to be here!
@deepchillexperience9789 21 күн бұрын
I would love to see a library tour… looks like you have so many interesting titles!
@ToReadersItMayConcern 21 күн бұрын
Someday! I just want to finish a few other video ideas first. 😀
@kewl0210 16 күн бұрын
That was great, thank you. I really need to carve out more time to read regularly. It's kind of always a matter of deciding what else to exclude. But when I do get into a book I always feel like it's time well spent.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 16 күн бұрын
That's the memory that holds me, the memory of time well spent. Though countless other activities tempt more stridently, I remind myself of the gratifying significance of books, and that propels me into reading. Perhaps have it be the first thing you do in the day, if even just a few minutes, before your phone or your computer or noise generally-a small hint of devotion at the start of your day to remind you of the sublime in ink-filled pages.
@rich_in_paradise 22 күн бұрын
I started setting myself reading goals a few years ago when I realised I only had so many years left and worked out how finite the number of books I could read in the rest of my life is (I am middleaged btw.) I take your point about not reading books for the sake of wanting to say you've read them or external motivations like that. But honestly I don't know whether I'm going to enjoy them until I try. So a goal to read all the most renowned literature I can seems worthy even if I DNF some along the way. I bought a copy of Proust - I don't know when I'll attempt that, but I feel like if I expire without even trying that would be sad.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
I feel much of what you describe here. I do allow and invite the literary canon to spark intrigue. There are some works worth reading because they have become a marker of influence, and grasping that influence becomes a means of understanding what has followed. That is necessary and vital to one's fullness of reading. Thank you for your thoughts. I, too, must finally read Proust. He can't stay on my shelf as an imagined allusion forever.
@lucyleadbeater7081 22 күн бұрын
Thanks!
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
Wow, this is so incredibly kind of you! I don't know what to say. Completely unexpected and amazing and thank you!! ❤
@Summalogicae 20 күн бұрын
I cannot listen to music while reading unless it’s something highly repetitive and harmonically minimal. Pärt’s tintinnabulation meets such criteria, he’s an exception, in the same way that if I listened to any period of classical or jazz, in that I would be far too focused on what’s happening in the music. So, I’ve been able to read while hearing Boards of Canada or Aphex Twin, but no Bach, Maiden, or Holdsworth.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 20 күн бұрын
Aphex Twin has been a particular favorite for me.
@aadamtx 22 күн бұрын
As usual, very interesting. Your comments on annotations raised my somewhat moribund academic librarian hackles a bit - nothing worse for preservation than pen marks in books, except for using Post-It Notes as bookmarks. But I get annotating one's personal collection. The bookstore just got in a heavily annotated copy of Wittgenstein's Tractatus, and it does look a bit of a mess. My other thought is on goals, which I too loosely define. One personal goal is to read something by many of the important thinkers and commentators past and present - finally got around to Richard Dawkins a week or so ago (I'll take a pass on Wittgenstein, though). Another goal as far as fiction is concerned is to develop a good background in international literature, and I'd argue that I've achieved that goal for the most part. And now that I've finished watching YT videos while having lunch, I can return to my comfy chair and continue with Zafon's SHADOW OF THE WIND (lots of fun, recommended).
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
I do strive to be conscious about the books I will resell. In some extreme cases, such as with a rare book that others would want someday, I don't annotate at all but take notes in a notepad. When a book is common, though, I find it immensely valuable for concentration and learning to write as I read (sometimes in pencil). I partially justify myself in considering the historical value of such notes: the book is not just for resell but now a record of one's thoughts at one time. Let's say I ever commit myself to becoming an author (one can dream), those notes are suddenly curiosities. I fantasize about these sorts of things. If you ever decide to read Immanuel Kant, I find the Pluhar translations to be far more readable, though still dense and difficult, than the others. Such a relief for me to find an actual tenable version of Kant to read (again, still immensely difficult, but manageably so in that translation).
@aadamtx 22 күн бұрын
@@ToReadersItMayConcern Kant is on my "Ain't gonna happen" reading list, but I'm saving time for Hume, Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, and William James (I was the editorial asst as a grad student on The Henry James Review and have read more than my fair share of primary and secondary Jamesiana, same for WJ's longer works). One benefit of working at a large used bookstore is finding inexpensive good editions, but the drawback is finding way too many books that I want to read. I completely understand your thoughts on reading within a limited lifespan - so with luck we'll live to at least 100 with our wits about us. ;-)
@owendavis4154 22 күн бұрын
I always had an aversion to annotation until I discovered some books my Grandfather had annotated. He died before I was old enough to truly know him. Those books are the only things that are truly precious to me, having the chance to see inside his mind, to know him in a way I couldn't in the real world is a true comfort. It reminds me that what matters is not ticking the box (reading the book) but what did I think of it, how did it alter my world view and being able to share that new perspective in some way. If I see two copies of the same book secondhand and one has annotation that's the one I buy. I'm fascinated by new ways of seeing things and other peoples annotation is a great way. Imagine having something Nietzsche annotated!!!
@adeladeeb5576 22 күн бұрын
Hi Ruben. I am from Bihar, India.I found Your Channel a while ago, and i have binge watched most of what you have put out (and Greedily Collecting all your recommendations to my TBR) Thanks for all the the wonderful recommendations and thanks to you I got to know about Steve's channel and many other booktubers, i also want to appreciate how you keep promoting other new booktubers. It certainly. You are doing good work, please tell me how could i get in touch with you.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
Hi, Adel. Nice to meet you, and thank you for the kind words. There should be an email available if you select my channel page and click on the description for the channel. Under Channel Details there should be a button that says, "View email address." I don't think I'm able to directly put my email into this comment as then KZfaq will flag and delete the comment automatically. Hope that helps!
@PudgeHolden 22 күн бұрын
Hey Ruben, I noticed you mentioned to allow ambiguity at times, and you also mentioned the left-hemisphere. I was just wondering, have you ever read The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist? That segment reminded me a lot of the book. Love the videos.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 21 күн бұрын
Yes, I'd say that book had a strong influence on those insights. I still have to read his follow-up, The Matter with Things. Thanks for watching and for your kind words!
@DonovanGG__ 5 күн бұрын
@27:15 Watching your video and right now having a revelation with a game called Elden Ring.
@ToReadersItMayConcern 5 күн бұрын
Oh, yeah, questioning one's completionist tendencies is essential for gleaming worth out of video games as much as anything else.
@drendelous 11 күн бұрын
40:58 no you are devaluating eating, making it seem like a thing to do to survive. it is as important for your mind and health as reading for mind
@ToReadersItMayConcern 10 күн бұрын
I agree. My intention at that moment was to devalue KZfaq.
@dragonsbreath5408 17 күн бұрын
book collection tour??
@ToReadersItMayConcern 17 күн бұрын
Some day! I have over a thousand books. So it will have to be split up across many videos and will take a long time to finish. I somewhat dread the time it will take, but I know people want to see my complete collection, so it will happen eventually.
@SP-qi8ur Күн бұрын
*addenda
@ramenpower8097 19 күн бұрын
So you want to be a serious reader. Step #1: close KZfaq and read
@drendelous 11 күн бұрын
all these videos about reading are like pills which do not cure the cause but ease the pain. if you cannot read or concentrate take a look at how much you sleep how you sleep who is around you and what you eat first
@ToReadersItMayConcern 10 күн бұрын
That is hugely important. I could have discussed at length the value of sleep. Consider that an oversight on my part.
@spikedaniels1528 22 күн бұрын
Thanks!
@ToReadersItMayConcern 22 күн бұрын
Oh my, thank you, thank you!!
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