What are you reading?
The value of reading and the WTP Bookshop
I decided to increase the time I invest in reading this year. Knowing I had wanted to read more for years but continued to look at stacks of untouched books, I established a habit of reading for an hour every morning before I open up my projects for the day.1
I also moved in the spring, and finally have enough space to put all my books on shelves where they can rightly enjoy the sunshine in between my disturbing them to look for a quote or passage I can only hazily remember.
Reading — especially reading books — takes time. We like to think that listening to podcasts while we do the dishes or asking AI to summarize long articles puts us in a better position. Unfortunately, while it may let us do more things, we miss out on the value reading provides.
Research has confirmed that reading stimulates our brain in part because it forces us to devote our full attention to the task at hand. Conversely, when I was a kid, a doctor told me that my brain was less active watching TV than it was when I was asleep. Whether or not that’s actually true, it stuck and made me realize that TV was like empty calories — sometimes they feel good but they’re not doing anything for me.
Those of you who subscribe to a newsletter like this one have already made a commitment to reading articles. Perhaps you also seek books that touch on the same areas we cover here.
Here you can find books I’d recommend, learn more about them, and even purchase yourself a me-to-me gift.
By no means does the WTP Bookshop contain everything I’ve ever read;2 I’ve curated books I thought you would find valuable as someone who wants to make the most of their time. Some of the books you’ll find here will be books you’ve heard of. I hope there are some books you’ve never heard of and that you’ll wonder why on earth I’d recommend others in the first place.
There are two books I’d recommend that the platform on which our bookshop lives cannot find. They are “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future” by Michael J. Fox and “Why We Work” by Barry Schwartz.
I was gifted Fox’s book when I graduated high school. I read it on breaks while lifeguarding. The advice that stayed with me was simple: put your camera down.
His point was that, in life, we’re so focused on capturing moments, we forget to experience them. In a world where everyone seems to be a content creator, his shift of focus seems even more relevant. I often repeat the phrase to myself on particularly stunning days so I can savor the moment rather than pretending that my photo somehow allows me to keep it forever. It doesn’t.
Schwartz’s book has informed my work in a variety of ways, most notably in thinking about old assumptions about work, incentives, and how ideas shape reality. You’ll get a taste of some of his work by following mine, but I recommend giving it a read just the same.
I hope you enjoy this addition to WTP. There’s a lot more to come.
Happy Tuesday.
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Better defined as a habit-in-development.
I read a lot of books from high school through grad school and despite my wanting to read more, I kept reading books, articles, and newsletters at a fair clip as an adult. While not included in the bookshop, I’ll always recommend the plays of William Shakespeare — if for no other reason than to work through the word puzzle of a language less familiar.
Love this celebration of reading. <3 <3 <3