Want to Read More Books? Try my unorthodox method.
I have a short attention span. Despite this flaw, since 2019, using my unorthodox technique, I have read more than 50 books, three at a time, and most in the category of Discrimination and Racism.
I recognize that by teaching you my strategy, I likely incur the displeasure of authors, but the glee of publishers.
The system is simple, but possibly noxious to serious readers: I use a timer and set it for 10 minutes. I open a book in my digital pile and when my iWatch, iPhone, or homey kitchen timer dings its particular alert, I bookmark the page and move on to another.
"Horrors!" I hear devoted readers shout as they curse my lack of loyalty to the just-closed book.
"Big deal!" is likely another response. "I read more books than that cover to cover."
To those who are able to concentrate for unlimited blocks of time, I say, "Mazel Tov!" My bizarre idea is for folks like me who get antsy if forced to sit in place for more than 30 minutes.
Friends who have heard my strategy ask, "How do you remember what you've read, if you only read a short time and move on, don't you get mixed up?"
Well, no I don't; in fact I have found that my focus is better because I never reach the moment when my mind starts to wander.
Currently, pages are open to Halfway Home, by Reuben Jonathon Miller, I Have Always Been Me, by Precious Brady-Davis, and How the Word Was Passed, by Clint Smith. Thirty minutes in the morning, and the same in the afternoon, allows me to advance through these current three, plus other genres, such as Memoir and Thriller.
While I'd love to purchase hard or soft covers, I read online so I can download a sample of any newly published, or top-rated book that catches my eye.
Another reason for digital is that I highlight passages and share them with my Discrimination and Racism Zoom group that has been gathering since May of 2020.
And to be a better moderator for my discussions, after I finish a book I return to Page One and list those excerpts, along with questions for the group. Some queries are specific to the text; others seek what the words mean to their own lives.
My interest in books in the Discrimination and Racism category started with my grandson, Isaac. Twenty at the time, and for a college class, he was reading The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead. Enticed by his enthusiastic review, I purchased a copy. After finishing this groundbreaking work, I realized there was much more unacknowledged history I needed to absorb.
The books that followed were The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander; The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin, Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehsi Coates; Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, by Roxane Gay; An American Marriage by Tayari Jones; Heavy: An American Memoir, By Kiese Laymon; Becoming, by Michelle Obama; and Black Boy, by Richard Wright.
Because I knew I needed a deadline and assignment to assure continuation of this particular path, I invited others to join me at monthly gatherings (second Tuesday of the month, 2 p.m. CST).
I select the books as domineeringly as I pen the date. Some may think this controlling, but I believe my takeover leads to the group's popularity. No one else has to worry about picking a book or leading a session.
Since this club began, we've read and discussed: Hood Feminism, by Mikki Kendell; Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson; The Color of Water, by James McBride; The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson; The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead; Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson; The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett; The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Alex Haley; The Yellow House, by Sarah M. Broom; How to Make a Slave and Other Essays, by Jerald Walker: Memorial Drive, by Natasha Trethewey; The Devil You Know, by Charles M. Blow; The Sum of Us, by Heather McGhee; How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi; and Transcendent Kingdom, by Yaa Gyasi.
I list all of these titles, not to show off my devotion to reading and cause, but to expel the "I'd read more if I had the time," excuses. Ten minutes per book, and pile up as many that motivate a purchase or library visit. Then set your timer, and become the book lover you've always claimed to be.