Books are my soundtrack

I’m a book addict. More accurately, a Kindle addict because it allows me to have all my books in one place, supporting my habit of reading based on my current need, which often leads to shuffling 3 at a time. I read not only for the immediate pleasure but for the subsequent outcome. The book themes and premises seem to bleed into my life in a very tangible way, impacting my thoughts and actions. There’s a window of time that begins once I start the book and lasts a month or so afterwards in which my mindset mirrors, or at least resembles, the book’s. This phenomenon is stronger and more time-enduring the more the book resonates with me. 

This is how I choose my next set of reading. What do I need to improve? What’s a flaw in my current thinking? What am I struggling with right now? What’s happening that I should be better prepared for in the next few months? Or it could be more tangential than a topic I need to learn or internalize, often it’s the author’s voice. Some authors I value for their succinct clarity in writing style (couple go tos: Ayn Rand and James Frey). It’s my favorite form of communication, precise and effectual. I realize I use ‘effective' and ‘efficient' an absurd amount in this blog, I’ve exhausted the point that they're driving standards in my life. But in the case of writing, it means a careful choice of word combinations that get an idea across in the best way with the shortest efforttime. Efforttime meaning time to read and time to understand. Best meaning the most descriptive and visual. Nothing extra or distracting, nothing missing. This style is a model for how I want to write and speak, so it’s a style I seek when I’m losing that default way of communicating.

That’s what books do, provide a new default or improve on an existing default. Applying the learnings is less purposeful and more subliminal. It’s like the quote ‘you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with’. I’d add to that calculation. You’re the average of the 5 people and 3 authors you spend the most time with.