One of the three books in my rotation. I started just writing the chapter titles down because they make sense. “Don’t compare yourself to others.” That’s a good one, especially when you think of yourself as a reader.

Okay, well far as love goes, you should try to be human , respect and work things out, and let them down easy but as far as books go, love ’em or leave ’em.   Here are some other important differences between love and reading:

• Having multiple ‘partners’ is healthy in reading.    You can read several books and articles in quick succession.
• You can drop a book the minute you’ve gotten whatever you want out of it.
• A book can’ t break your achy breaky heart.

Why read?   Sam Beckford,  co- author of 100 Ways to Create Wealth explained that the difference between his  successful business and a several failed businesses before that was the 700 books that he read in between the two.   Reading and applying what you read is a powerful way to move forward.    Most importantly, reading is just plain fun way to explore and use your mind and a great way to keep it active.

(Being shiftless, cheap, and easy is specially important when you are using reading to learn a foreign language.   Keep it fun, or drop it and leave.   I know I quoted AJATT in my last post but I want to emblazon the title of his last piece into my brain:

That Righteous Feeling, Or: If You’re Not Feeling Naughty, You’re Doing It Wrong)

• Browse. Go to real bookstores and libraries and relaxedly look around.  Even if you don’t buy or borrow a single book, a browsing session is a fun way to explore and map out the
  

  I picked this up at a local Bookoff. Kenichiro Mogi”s , “Only do Good Things with Your Brain.”

  topography of your heart’s desires.

• Speed it up.  Spend one minute, five minutes, ten minutes on a book if time is limited or even just to get more out of it.    For a long time, I was one of those people that said that ‘there is no time to read.’   However, adding ‘time pressure’ to your reading can actually make reading more fun.    Set a timer or just use your interest as a guide.  Skim through every page or read closely.  Whatever turns you on.
• Suck the marrow out and spit the rest out.  You aren’t married to your book.   Lately, especially with Japanese books, I’ve noticed that I get a lot out of a book even if all I do is read the table of contents.   Skip to the good parts.  You can always go back later.
• Break up huge or ‘unapproachable’ books into small bites.   Ask yourself, ‘What is fun or interesting’ about this.   It can be fun to claim some herculean work.   I’ve been reading The Making of Modern Japan by Marius B. Jansen with the help of a timer.  It also helps that I ask myself what is fun about what I am reading.   I tend to skip over the parts about the bureaucratic administration of rice allotmentzzzzzz.

Sakamoto Ryoma, the 19th century samurai who is credited with helping to create the plan that would help Japan move into modernization and protect it from the West is credited with saying, “In whatever situation a person finds himself, he should not

After finishing this post, I went for my last browse in a Japanese bookstore until I come back next summer. This is an NLP inspired book called (roughly) “NLP Speed Reading Techniques to To Speed your Information Retention by 10X” Talk about serendipity.

abandon his favorite ways and his special abilities.”  Remember this as you read and choose how and what to read.  You are the artist, defender, and creator of your life.  Have fun, read, and  grow.