Bringing Sanity To My Bookshelf

My dream reading room

I love books. But like everything we love, unless  consumed in moderation, the results can be be counter productive. Last week I was on leave, and decided to spend sometime on my bookshelf, only to realize I have over 15 unread or half read books. I also noticed at least 5 titles I’d skimmed over with the promise to read later that never came to pass. That and the following other realizations spurred me to take a more structured, possibly less fun approach to reading:

• As much as I was reading millions of words monthly, I wasn’t gaining much from the reading. I rarely took notes as I read within a year or two of reading a book, I could hardly recall more than just a basic outline of said book,  leave alone the impact it had in my life. Most books aroused good emotion as I read, but never resulted to any improvement or change in my life.
• I wasn’t doing as much leisure reading as I should. Save for The Art of Travel which I read when I was on holiday, I hadn’t read a novel or ‘fun’ book in 6 months.
• At any one time, I would be reading as many as 10 books at a time, some of which drop off the reading list before they’re finished. This isn’t very productive. Case in point, I have been reading The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid and From Good to Great for the last one year. I skimmed through The Search For Significance (a great book by the way) over a year ago, put it aside for in-depth study, and never read it. Currently, beside my bed I have The Leadership Pipeline, the full version of Monitor’s Promise and Progress,Joyce Meyer’s Battlefields of the Mind, Ombi (School of prayer) workbook, 2 Bibles and Principle of the Path by Andy Stanley. Then on my e-reader I have Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

How did we get here?

First, I get many book gifts. Over the last 3 months, I’ve received 4 book gifts, and I lack the self control to put the book aside till I finish what I’m currently reading.

Second, I love to buy books. I very rarely borrow books as I don’t like dog eared or dirty books, and I hate to give out my books (we don’t return books when we borrow). So when I see a book I like, I’m likely to buy it ‘to read later’ only to get home and start reading “only a few pages”. Last week I decided to bring some sort of sanity and structure to my reading, to make it more beneficial:

The first step was to put away all the books occupying my bedside (and sometimes bed), but the Ombi workbook and Bibles. The second step was writing  on my journal the books I’d like to read for the next 3 months, and why I’d be reading them. I figured, reading a maximum of 4 books every 3 months is healthy.  Thirdly, I committed to take notes, especially for categories 2-4 reading. Note taking sounds juvenile, but it helps recall, and also forms an easy reference years later. To do this, I divided my reading into the following:

1. Leisure Reading – This is pure entertainment, and maybe some great English. In this category, I am reading Les Miserables.
2. Spiritual Reading – I believe this is self explanatory. Reading that helps my walk with God. Since Ombi is an external course, it doesn’t count, I’m reading Principle of the Path by Andy Stanley. First skimming through in the next one week, then I’ll do a two and a half month in-depth study of the book.
3. Developmental Reading – These are books that develop me either as a person or manager, but aren’t spiritual. I am reading The Leadership Pipeline, a book that came highly recommended by our pastor and was gifted to me by my team (they’re not psychic, I shared my wishlist with them 🙂 ).
4. “Text Books” – These are books that have a direct bearing on my career or business. In this category, I am reading the Monitor Report; it’s key to what we’re doing at Open Capital Advisors.

In addition to this, I have committed not to buy any more books, until I have finished reading what’s unread on my insane bookshelf. Not sure I’ll stick to that though.

Over to you. What is your reading style? Do you prefer leisure or more serious reading? What are you reading currently, and what is your favorite book? What title would you love to receive as a gift?