“Books aren’t for everyone.” ” I prefer to wait for the movie adaptation.” You have either heard this or said this and to be frank it’s complete bull. Everyone can enjoy reading, even you. The secret lies in how to find books you like to read. If you just pick up a random books to improve your grammar and find yourself in utter pain moving from page to page, then you probably going to hate reading. Here’s some great tips to help you on your journey on how to find books you like to read:
1) Use your surroundings as clues on how to find books you like
If you haven’t read many books, it is hard to find out what really tickles your fancy. You may even find it a mission to actually get invested in a book that you may potentially hate. To save your time and effort, you can instead look at your surroundings to give you clues on how to find books you like to read. What do you like talking about with friends and colleagues? What hobbies do you enjoy? what’s your favorite series and movies? To give you an idea of how I used my surroundings to identify books I liked to read, here is an example. I loved watching movies – To be exact book to movie adaptations. These were generally dystopian in nature as I enjoyed the concept of an alternative reality. To get into it, I first bought books of movies that I had already watched. What I found was that the detail of books could never be captured in movies….as each individual is likely to create different movie reels using their imagination. This idea alone had me hooked!
2) Ask the right people for recommendations
Recommendations are great! you can use it for just about anything. Movies, restaurants, schools and even books. The difference with book recommendations though, lies in the fact that the reviews are often a matter of perspective. Therefore merely asking random people to prescribe a book for you to read isn’t enough. Instead look for friends and colleagues with similar interests and personality types. Asking them for book recommendations is likely to give you a better idea of how to find books you like to read.
3) Use books to fix the problems in your life
Books generally become a thousand times more valuable when they are relevant. Everyone is going through some problem or challenge in their life. The most successful people know that books are a collection of past experiences of people that have gone through what they are experiencing. You can therefore use books to help you make better decisions instead of replaying failures already overcome by authors around the world. To give you an examples: After college I became interested in how businesses worked so I decided to read books on strategic thinking. After working for a few years, I began to feel purposeless so I invested my time reading motivational books. Once I found my purpose, I realized I wanted to start a side hustle so I started to read up on books that nurtured my entrepreneurial muscle. All of these experiences I was having would have been much more difficult to overcome if I had taken a first principles thinking approach. Therefore the key is to identify your challenge and just find the right book that will help you fix it.
4) Read with imagination – Your mind is a professional film maker
Coming from a technical background, I was conditioned by college to think practically. Reading countless textbooks on thermodynamics and fluid flow left me in a state void imagination. There are essentially two parts of your brain and to get the best experience from reading means using both of them. Obviously this is only with books that permit your mind to draw a picture. Draw an image of what characters look like, imagine the surroundings. Doing this while reading books can make for an even better experience that watching a movie. Use your mind – It is the best film maker.
5) Don’t rush it, feel it
Start small. Don’t be overwhelmed by the many books at your disposal. Take your time. Read with understanding and savor the lessons or story you are sharing with the author. I never understood the concept of reading a book twice until I embraced the idea that reading a book is more than just getting through the words – It is rather about enjoying an experience. Never spend time reading a book that doesn’t interest you. You should much rather spend your time engaged in one that you can’t put down.
6) Get a taste of the book before diving in
There are millions of people in the world and there is at least one of them that has already read the book you are about to. The power of the internet has put in front of us the opportunity to read countless reviews of books. If you are not certain about investing your time in a particular book, read the reviews and a few pages to get a feel of it. If you get the green light, then this will signal you to keep reading.
If you enjoyed this post, also check out the other lifestyle articles such as: Why you should go on mini retirements starting now! or One of these five mistakes could be your relationship killer!
Do you love learning about multiple subject areas? Then you may be a polymath. Read: Your Ultimate Guide To Being A Polymath; to understand how to harness your mind’s full potential.
