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READING AS A WAY OF LIFE

• Understand the depths of your ignorance and your perceived illusions of your
intellect
• Reading is the tool for sharpening intellect and guaranteeing its timelessness
• Types of reading
o Entertainment
o Information
o Understanding
o Writing
• Reading for understanding vs information– bridging inequality with the author
• Importance of reading non-fiction
• Choosing your books carefully
• All books are not equal and not to be read equally
• Types of reading
o Elementary
o Inspectional
o Analytical
o Syntopic
• Active reading is the reader obligation
o What is the book about as a whole? – leading theme
o What is being said in detail and how ? - main ideas and arguments
o Is the book true, in whole or part? - making up your mind
o What of it? – where are you at the end of it
• Disagreeing with a book
o I understand (a prerequisite ) I understand, I agree, I disagree or I
suspend judgment
o Disagreement - uninformed, misinformed , you are illogical, you
analysis is incomplete
• Extrinsic tools best avoided as they take value away from reading
• Plough through the difficult books don’t avoid them
• Well read – quantity vs quality
• Speed reading
o There is no recommended or ideal speed

© Himadri Bose
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o Different types of reading require different speeds
o Concentration and speed of reading interrelated
o Use tools to avoid regression
• Find your way to reading as a way of life
o Owning a book is not just buying it. It is the start point of the journey of
reading
o Making it stick ( notes taking, books reviews, photo library and
discussions)
o Reading lists ( make your own ) sources Lithub,Penguin,Goodreads,
Fivebooks, Oberlo, Lifehack,Time ,Guardian ,Amazon, Greatest books,
military reading lists
o Books vs devices( pluses and minuses and why books work )
o Time ( create time , there is always enough time it is only a question of
priority )
o Reading choices ( non – fiction over everything else out there)
o Access to reading ( device/ book or a read in some form)
o Nurture your reading
o Making it personal (environment and owning your books in the true
sense)
o TV, digital consumption – how much it too much ?
o Libraries and your own library ( the joy of owning a book )
o Reading goals and reading logs ( make your own )
o Find your special books
• A simple list to begin with
o Sapiens and Homo deus– Yuval Noah Harari
o India and the Indian Ocean: An Essay on the influence of Sea Power
on Indian History – KM Pannikar
o India’s wars - Arjun Subramanium
o Seapower – A guide for 21st century – Geoffrey Till
o Genius weapons – Louis A Del Monte
o Pakistan - Courting the Abyss – Tilak Devasher
o India's China challenge: a journey through China's Rise and what it
means for India – Ananth Krishnan

© Himadri Bose