How to Find Books That are Actually Worth Your Time
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2024
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I get this question surprisingly often: "How can I avoid wasting my time on bad books?" In other words, how do you find and pick the BEST books? Where do you go to get great book recommendations?
In this video, I'll share some of the resources I use to find the books that I read.
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I don't know who quoted this but here it goes -
"Reading? It's not about how many books you go through, it's about how many books go through you"
i read that on medium.com
that's really good line, i think.
#deep
r/Im14anthisisdeeo
Imma steal this
Thanks for this
"Don't finish a bad book" is the best advice when it comes to optimizing time and enjoy reading.
Dan_GD thank you!!
Also its ok to skip parts often you only really care for a few chapters
Yes, that is true but sometimes you may wish to power through a book to put another notch in belt. Books like War and Peace or Moby Dick come to mind.
@@neilspector9221 Those aren't bad books though. They are classics that you may not relate to because the prose has aged so much.
I agree but sometimes I feel guilty I'm not giving it a chance, once I hit page 100 if I'm not feeling it I'll ditch it.
Could not agree more. When I've tried to power through a book I've outright disliked it just puts me into a reading slump. Why waste time reading something you don't like when you could be reading something that you do?
Also, ask a librarian. Helping people find books they will enjoy or discover information they need is a huge part of our job.
As someone who has been a reader since grade school and now in college, it never occurred to me librarians would have recommendations.
@@tempestandacomputer6951 have you since asked a librarian for a suggestion?
@@ryanfinnamore1309 Since then, i haven't read much so no, but ive asked for reccomende from people when applicable. I almost always ask the waiter for one when going to a new restaurant.
My librarian does not read books, that is why I can't ask him
“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
I stopped buying books for two reasons. I only like them in physical form and they are expensive most of the times, and second, public libraries have amazing books that you can actually borrow. If you really like it, then you can buy it then to store in your own library. Why you didn't mention libraries?
Andy
To be honest, I haven't checked a book out at a library in a long time (though I still work at the Boulder one sometimes), so it totally slipped my mind when I was writing this video. I definitely should have mentioned it, which is why I pinned someone else's comment that called me out on it :)
In my city local libraries don't even exist, so I have only one option which is buy books
This is why I look up to this man. He has a good taste for books, and his videos are helpful and precise.
Mianroca true
Avoid books made by youtubers
Why's that?
@Alaskan Space Program lol Who the heck is that?
@Alaskan Space Program You might as well be speaking greek?
...It's all greek to me!!
@Alaskan Space ProgramWell, to quote Q*bert...@!#?@!
Best advive ever thanks
"A short history of nearly everything" is one of my favorite books as well, so surprised when someone else mentions it. Great video😊
Thomas, THANK YOU. You perfectly and quickly answered my questions. It is such a relief to know them . I respect your efforts so much. I'm also proud and happy to hear my own words in your video.
Also don't ever be afraid to start reading multiple books at once. You don't have to commit to everything, as long as one of them is enjoyable you already won.
You're such a great inspiration for me. Your videos have changed they way of my life. Keep posting great stuff, as always! :)
deleting the TBR list is great, if you really wanted to read something youd buy the book right away, instead the tbr list just gives you anxiety lol
I would recommend Goodreads as well. In my experience the reviews are quite reliable!
Another way I passively find out about new/recommended books is through podcasts. The podcast Fresh Air is always interviewing authors. I've found so many great books that way.
I was JUST having this issue the other day! Thanks for another great video!
I so appreciate your vlogs and this channel!! Still recommending it to my students. This is such a useful video. Commonsense that is so valuable.
Great video. I agree that reading a summary is like getting notes from friends. Even reading a book second time is a very different experience as you notice different things and make new connections.
When it comes to reading lists, when I add a book to it, I also add a reference (where did I heard it, why it got me interested). That way (hopefully) I will be able to evaluate better when the time comes, if it's still relevant/a good reason to read the book.
I second the Goodreads recommendation, it has been a pleasure following you these years! Cheers.
Thank you so much for this video! I lost my love for reading at the beginning of middle school, but recently regained it at the end of my freshman year of college a month ago and this question popped into my head. I’ll definitely have to check out Goodreads later.
I know everyone has different interests when it comes to reading, but a few books that I have enjoyed reading are as followed:
• Ego Is The Enemy (Ryan Holiday)
• The Obstacle Is The Way (Ryan Holiday)
• The Second Mountain: The Quest For A Moral Life (David Brooks)
• The Road To Character (David Brooks)
• Rising Strong (Brene Brown)
• Daring To Lead (Brene Brown)
One might say that a more accurate assessment is three authors that changed my life as I listed a couple books by each author that I've come to enjoy reading and have learned to grow my perspective and personal self from what I've read and apply them to my own life and situations that happen within it. I've always been a strong believer that while reading is fundamentally important and essential to helping us learn and grow, it's all in how we apply it as well. I hope for those that see this comment and decided to read any of these books or if you've already read any of them you can share your experiences below. I hope you can experience as much joy from these books as I have come to know. Keep reading what you love and find interesting and grow as much as you can as a person.
Great vid. I have been stuck and only finished 2 of the last 10books I started. Now I have a direction and some good recommendations. Thank you
Thank you for the tips. Awesomely edited as always, keep up with good work sir!
And I enjoy your talk. Thanks Thomas for your great advice.
Tom, Ive been around for a long time and appreachiate every video you release. They really do help. Fam, the dislike percentage of basically all of your videos say something very good about you as a content creator.
I just want to appreciate your high quality content - Thank You Thomas !
Great video as always. Can you please make a video on how you take notes on the books you read? That'd be really helpful.
Thank you for making this video. My wife is a writer of clean historical romance novels based on places we have traveled. Now that I have retired, I am helping her publish Mellyora Ashley books for others to enjoy. I appreciate your help in this video showing how she might get her books discovered by those looking for enjoyable reads about actual places and history in England.
Thanks for uploading. I’ve been trying to read more recently but didn’t really know where to start
thank you so much thomas i was looking for books and couldn't really decide, moreover my exams just ended so a great time to read great books.
I was re-watching another video of yours, the one for the bad morning habits, when I received the notification for this one :D Just wanna share my HUGE admiration for readin 1367 books and for all the well-shaped, motivating and helpful videos you make in general. You make me wanna have a chanel on my own. Maybe sth similar to this but also a bit different. Once again thank you for all the work you put on a daily basis!
You were awesome, thanks for providing all your tips and links
I loved this video thank you so much for it. It really helped me place to perspective what reading really is. I love to read but always had the feelings I had to finish the book no matter what and felt disappointed if that goal was not achieved. Thanks to you I know I can take it easier and not read so aggressively, more like taking my time and focusing on what's important.
Thanks for existing!
(Also, liked that you ended the video in a kind of commercial way :P)
Hey Thomas! Could you do a video on the helpful things to bring or not to bring to a new college dorm or housing situation? Thanks! Love your videos and studying playlists!
Since you improved the color correction, the videos look amazing. Great job!
Thank you! I needed this video a while now, really enjoy your videos, they're incredibly helpful!
Very smart video idea!!! Thanks a lot Thomas! Keep up the great work!!
Thinking Fast and Slow is truly a life-changing book. It should be a required read before starting college. Great video thanks for the recommendations.
Charlie Goodson I read that book and yes it was beyond incredible. I think you will also enjoy reading The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy :)
I love the way he speaks...he's great....keeps your attention...content is good and delivery of the info is crisp...a natural
Thanks for the video!!! 😄👍. I have read your book and that's really awesome🙌
Great video! I have a request for the podcast: Could you do a whole episode about the posture problems and every day solutions, mentioned in the prelast epiosde of the podcast?
I think that's a topic that concerns a lot of people and could influence there lives in a positive way.
Thanks for all the amazing content!
The part where you say "Don't forget to enjoy the process of reading and that it's about the journey", totally resonates with me. At the start of this year, I had set a goal to read 2 books per month to resume my love for reading. Eventually, I realised that I was really rushing through. And, my sister pointed out exactly the same thing - what's the point of such a goal if you are not enjoying it. So, I have slowed down and enjoying all the reading 😊. Thanks for the tips..
It's so nice recognizing a book your bookshelf even in the blurry background
People, here is the best content, search no more, Tom, I love the work that you do here and the new mail up-do that you did - it is truly a quality read! I literary cant point to a single video that i didn't enjoy
Спасибо, are you Russian? I would love to learn this language
Isiah, if you’re serious about learning Russian I recommend you check out Italki. It’s a language learning website through which you can find affordable tutors and/or language exchange partners. Удачи!
Grace Poet: thank you very much, it’s just great, many teachers at an affordable price, Крани вас боже
Great video Thomas! Any recomendations on how to motivate yourself into doing mundane tasks that have no deadline.
And sometimes its good to read so called “classics” I found the books that we read in literature class such as Dostoevsky, Camus, Jane Austin, Fitzgerald, and etc. very interesting and entertaining. There might be boring books, but there won’t be “bad” books if you find them in this way.
Also, there is a list made by Ted, “why you should read” series, and it’s helpful.
Yesssss, some of the first books I ever read and still my favorites to this day were classic books. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Sherlock Holmes, A Tale of Two Cities and so on. If you can get through the different language and the length, you can find gems.
We didn't read anything half as amazing as Camus or Dostoyevsky in any of my classes, but they're 2 of my favorite authors now, with Camus actually being my fave author of all time.
thanks for not being superficial with this topic! you could have made it easy for yourself, but you didnt, and i always appreciate that in youtubers! i, too, try to give my content as much depth as possible. thanks for raising the bar, thomas 😉
Hi Thomas, Your channel is the most unique one out there and very educational and realistic too. Congrats, you are not feeding the egos of people by creating crap content. Good going!
I really needed this. Thank you 🙏🏻
Hey Thomas! It's my first time watching your video and I love it. I'm an avid nonfiction/business book reader who has also happened to read The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear. I love your advice about what books to choose. To add another layer here for nonfiction book readers. I think it's important to pick a book topic in the area you need the most improvement on 'at that specific time' in your life. Best way to do that, like you said, is to check the book out on Goodreads, which btw I followed you.
On another note, I just posted my first 'New Business BookTube Tag' video today which is something me and my fellow avid business book readers just started about 3 weeks ago. As you have mentioned, BookTube consists of mostly fictional book readers. It is our goal to get more fictional readers to start reading more nonfiction books through starting this 'New Business BookTube'.
It was awesome watching your video and I'll be sure to stop by and watch some more. Thanks Thomas.
I've been asking myself this for ages now and just yesterday too. Open TH-cam; Thomas's solved my problem.
Wow! I just saw Thinking Fast and Slow on the bookshelf and thought I need to read that but wasn’t too sure. But since you mentioned it, I’m definitely going to read it
Glad this is here, had this problem for a while
Oh my god Pat’s Goodreads profile is basically my book oracle; I scroll through it day in day out
and The Name of the Wind is my favorite fantasy novel (still waiting on the third book...I’m looking at you Rothfus). I was so happy you like it 😁
I'm a huge fan of Stephen Fry. I can believe that it's a fantastic listen. 😊 Enjoyed this episode. Thanks so much for taking the pressure off my TBR list.
Author recommendations is a great source when looking for something new to get into. I don't know if most authors are active on Goodreads but what I do is go to their personal website if they have one and see if they have any book recommendations. Found some amazing stuff doing this!
There are a lot of good ideas in your videos and this one particularly is worth watching again. I used to just pick up top books from Amazon but I just made an account on Goodreads. Thank you Thomas:)
ooh that's so cool!!! I started reading The Complete collection last semester. I only finished 7 stories because of finals
Your videos are QUALITY
I really loved what you said about taking time to enjoy books, and that milestones don't really matter--you could have a goal to read 100 books in one year and finish feeling totally unfulfilled, or only read 10, at your own pace, and love each one. This is a lesson I need to learn!
I set out at the beginning of this year wanting to read as many books as possible, but then began Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive--which is QUITE the undertaking! I am enjoying them, however, I don't know if they will end up becoming some of my favorites. I don't know why this is (I feel sort of sad about it for some reason; I want to like a book I spend 2 months reading)...I guess only time will tell. Regardless, this is such a fantastic reminder that readers should only read what matters to THEM!!
Can we just take a moment to appreciate Thomas (and his team) for his very well done job on creating personal brand. Well done good sir. You instill value into every damned video. For lack of better words, and my own personal favorite phrase. Fuck yeah man. Good work!
"The Greatest Ingredient to learning is interest"
"Enjoy the journey, you never really "get there"
yes! such a good reminder that not all books need to be completed, especially if it's just becoming a drain for you. so thank you! such a good video :)
Lot of great info in this video. Love it 👌🏼
Didn’t know Stephen Fry had recorded Sherlock! Thanks for this tip 👍🏻
Thnx Tom, I'll surely read a book this summer!!!!!
I've had these kinds of problems several times, Thanks Thomas
Please do a video on books that greatly impacted you! Something besides the usual self-help books! Stories!!!
this was great thankyou. Excited to check out good reads and those recommends. The idea of befriending someone for book recommendations cracked me. Your cadence is very similar to nerdwriter, so many people on youtube are sounding like this maybe your all from the same neck of the woods but sometimes its a little jarring especially in addition to the music for the uber audio sensitive like me. Something to think about or completely disregard.
This was fantastic! Thank you very much!!!
Thank you. I needed this.
Great video. I've always spent more time figuring out which books to read, and I read a lot.
Esben Andreasen Have you read The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy? It’s fascinating but not plenty of people know about it
another excellent video! very helpful, thank you!!!
Currently listening to Sherlock Holmes collection, read by Stephen Fry, on my commute, the narration is amazing!
Congrats on 1M subscribers!!!!!!!
I just can't get myself to make a reading habit, no matter what... I don't understand why...
But I'm still very excited to get that habit, and working on it...
find your taste first
I was the same way until I switched to a daily habit. I failed at trying to read "x" number of books a week or month. Switched to 25 pages a day commitment, which is not hard, and now it's ingrained. Try it out.
Read about Penile Augmentation...!!!
You need to know your daily routine. If you realize you have a consistent downtime each day, say, commuting to and from work takes you two hours, you could fill it with reading a particular number of pages or chapters. There’s no one formula to get into the habit of doing something, it depends on your lifestyle. Don’t set a goal that’s too high for your current lifestyle. If you can only read 5 pages a day, go for it. Build it through time.
You might also want to reflect on what motivates you to do something. If it’s through meeting metrics, make a tracker. If it’s through food, read while having eating dinner. If it’s through learning, join a book club. If life is going too fast and you need to just sit down, read a book. Get to know yourself and how you’ve formed your current habits. I’ve developed my own resding habits because it’s a stress-reliever at the end of the day.
If you haven’t found your taste in books, have an experiment week. Try reading a chapter from a particular book or genre for each day of the week. You’re bound to find one that piques your interest.
I bet a friend $100 that I’d read 25 pages a day for 3 months. I ended up reading 13 books. Was hard at first, but after a couple weeks I actually noticed my focus improving and the reading went quicker and easier
Great Video!! So helpful!!
Yes! The video the world (or, at least, my world) needed!
I totally agree when you say that the interest is the main key for us to pick a book to read. Sometimes we read books that someone said was good, but it just doesn't work for us. It's really a matter of what you are into at the moment.
Reading is so important and knowledge boosting. I'll never stop reading, it's like my way of life now.
I enjoyed a short history as well, but my favorite Bryson atm is definitely at Home, a history of the things in ours houses like salt and pepper and why they’re always together on the dinner table, and why they’re there at all.
Another great Audible buy is 'Galaxy Outlaws: the complete Black Ocean Mobius Missions 1-16.5'
It is an AMAZING universe to explore and in which to enjoy the varied and interesting adventures. There are sequel series which are fantastic as well, but for one credit, this takes the cake!
I also fully back the Sherlock Holmes collection mentioned in the vid. Awesome!
I like Naval Ravikan'ts approach to reading. He doesn't force himself to finish a book he started, he just reads whatever he's curious about. I haven't fully adopted his philosophy, but he do notice that at times I lose reading momentum if what I'm reading is not that interesting to me, and I skip reading for 1-2 days. Sometimes I also just need a break from a certain book, and then come back to it at a later point, or I don't. The only time I try to be consistent is with text books that I'm trying to study. But because of that I try to read 2-3 categories of books each day, so that I'm always reading something "interesting". The categories would be text-book/study-book (something that requires more focus), non-fiction (something I'm interested in) and fiction (the last book of the day and to balance my reading habits and create diversity in the topics I read).
I love Stephen Fry! Thanks for the recommendation :)
I liked your attitude very much ,for most things you give an answer that it is RELATIVE ,which is always true ,because IN THIS WORLD NOTHING IS GOOD OR BAD EVERYTHING IS RELATIVE...
I had picked up Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland because of Patrick Rothfuss too! His reviews are really cool
Thank you so much for this vedio, i was waiting for a vedio about this topic.
Thanks a lot Thomas for the audible free trial.
If ever we find a man with intellect we must know what books he reads-Emerson
The swerve is on your book shelf!!!!!! I love Lucretius omg
I am really struggling on how to consistently read books. A video on this would be excellent.
I noticed the Mary Beard book in the thumbnail. Seems we are both a fan of her. I bought her book Women and Power earlier today. I can't wait to buy S.P.Q.R. in the future.
Do you have some schedule when you read fiction and not fiction books or you pick them randomly?
"Enjoy the process, don't worry about reading all the best books out there". Best advice, great content!
“Don’t finish a bad book” that is a great advice, personally it has to be a really bad book in order to left it unfinished. I like and I’m interested in most books that you mention. One recommendation: “The Coaching Habit” and also I’m slowly getting all the books the author recommends at the end haha.
Hey! Could you make a video on best books to read; fiction, non-fiction, and/or self-help books? Thanks!
Omg HP:MoR! I wish more people would read that story. Thanks for bringing it up in your video
Thomas getting even more slick with his ad segways😂😊 8:38
Perfect timing! And great tips thank you very much. I have a quick question for you, on past videos you talk about taking notes / marking up / using post its on books to highlight whatever is important, well I assume on audible you can’t really do this so how do you really take advantage of audiobooks without being able to do this?
You and your videos are wonderful. Thank you! :)
I taught myself how to create a bookshelf in GR titled No Go.
I paused the vid to add the books and authors you mentioned.
THOMAS ALL BOOKS ARE WORTH MY TIME. I am currently reading Being Mortal by Atul Gawande which is extremely well written also extremely eye-opening and existential crisis causing. One of my first Non-FIction that I am reading all the way through. I personally do a lot of the tips you are giving but the video was a great reminder. The first sentence was caused by my first reaction to your title. Love yah!