There are millions of books, and even if you spent your whole life reading, you would never have enough time to read them all.

Some books have the power to change your life, while others are bad, useless and will waste your time. If you give time to one book, it’s time you can’t give to another. It is therefore essential to choose carefully the books you will spend time on.

But the selection of your readings goes further than that. There are different ways to read a book. You can simply skim through it quickly, or you can give it a lot of time: read it thoroughly and then, after you’ve read it, spend some time analyzing it and sometimes even rereading it.

The more time you give to a book, the more you will benefit, but not all books are equal in this game. So the goal is to focus on the best books, give them time, read them thoroughly and get the most out of them.

How do you find the right books?

The book selection process is similar to the operation of a funnel:

  1. At the funnel entrance, your goal is to have as many suggestions as possible. The more choices and book ideas you have, the wider your horizon will be and the more opportunities you will have to find the best ones.
  2. Once you have a wide selection of books at your disposal, the second step is:
  • To define your goals,
  • Select topics you are interested in.
  • The things you want to learn.
  1. At the exit of the funnel, you will be left with only a few books: those that correspond to your desires and needs of the moment. Depending on your plans and experiences, your desires and needs can change quickly. This selection process is therefore to be repeated with each new book you start.
  2. Pre-reading a book is an additional filter: if you find that you made a mistake in your initial choice, stop reading and find a more interesting book.
  3. The in-depth reading and post-reading phases are to be reserved for the best books only.

Let’s now take a detailed look at each of these 5 selection steps:

Step 1: Fill The Funnel

At this stage, two things are important:

  1. Be open-minded: you never know in advance who’s going to make reading recommendations, where you’ll find book ideas, and what topics will interest you in a few months. Keep your eyes open and pay attention to any suggestions you may come across.
  2. Have something to write down your ideas: as soon as you come up with an idea for a book, write it down in a place where you will find it so you never forget an idea that comes to mind.

Anti-library: It’s about filling your library with books you haven’t read yet or may not be able to read right away. This anti-library will inspire you, remind you that there is a lot you don’t know yet and give you ideas of themes to explore or authors to discover.

Thinking of Creating a personal library? New Learn Path has a guide for you.

For it to be effective, your anti-library must be made up of a variety of books:

  • Different types of books (novels, non-fiction, art, etc.).
  • Various topics are discussed.
  • Different authors.
  • Older and newer books, etc.

If you don’t have enough space or money to build an anti-library, a good alternative is to create a playlist on Amazon.

To start filling your funnel today, here are some suggestions:

  • Listen to the recommendations of your friends and the people you follow on the internet (social networks, blogs, etc.) and note any suggestions.
  • Look for book recommendations from people you admire. Google is your friend for this. Many interesting and inspiring people have blogs where they share their reading recommendations.
  • When you have a few good books on hand, read the bibliographies they contain to find book ideas that have influenced the authors.
  • Finally, the best way to find new books is to chain the books one after the other. When reading a book, pay attention to the books and authors cited by the author himself and use them to continue your discovery of the subject.

Step 2: Understand Your Why

Before you start a book, ask yourself this question:

  • Do I really want to read this book right now?
  • And why?

Unless you have an imperative follow your interests, curiosity and passion to select or eliminate a book.

Always know why you are reading a book and what it can do for you.

Without it, you won’t be motivated and will have a hard time finishing it. Today, there’s no one behind your back to put pressure on you. You’re free to read what you want. Listen to your heart and enjoy yourself, it’s the only way to read regularly and take advantage of what you learn.

Step 3: Refine Your Selection

Now that you know your goal and why you want to read a book, it’s time to go through all the books at your disposal in the selection funnel and eliminate the ones that don’t fit your current desires.

Look at your anti-library and select the books that match your why.

Selecting a book is a kind of balance to be found.

  • If you give time to one book, it’s time you can’t give to another. Don’t waste time reading bad books. There are enough good books to keep you busy for the rest of your life.
  • The best books are the ones that change your life or the way you see the world. A good way to decide between books is to remember what made you buy them when you first discovered them.
  • If it’s someone you trust and who has already recommended several good books, the score for that book increases.
  • Conversely, if you discovered it in an article on the Internet, published by an illustrious unknown, the book loses points.
  • Start by reading the book that has been recommended to you most often, and by the people you trust the most.
  • One last remark: for an amateur reader, it is very difficult to distinguish a good book from a bad one. Every year, hundreds of books are published but the vast majority will be forgotten in less than 10 years. A book written more than 100 years ago and still selling today is a good book – time has proven it. You can read it with your eyes closed, it will bring you something.
  • If you have to make a choice: prefer old books to newer ones – ideally you should alternate between the two.

Step 4: Pre-reading

You can’t always be right about the quality and usefulness of a book. Only when you start reading it will you know for sure. The pre-reading phase is an important step and an additional test for your book. If after a few chapters you find that you have made a mistake and the book is bad or does not correspond to your objectives then stop reading. Then again, there’s no point in wasting time with a bad book.

Step 5: The in-depth and post-reading

The in-depth and post-reading steps take time. A lot of time. You should reserve them only for the best books, and only for the parts of those books that interest you.

7 Tips you can use when Finding good books to read

  1. Is the author of the book credible?

We recommend that you give no credit to authors who do not live what they say or have no proof of their results. Would you trust a fat sports teacher? 🙂

  1. Evaluate the reputation of the book.

Is the book rated well on Amazon or Goodreads? We recommend that you read the 3-star reviews as they seem to me to be the most accurate in the review. Neither harsh nor emphatic.

  1. Is the book recommended?

Is it often mentioned by experts or niche communities?

  1. Accessibility of the book’s resources and ideas.

Are summaries available to demonstrate the quality of the book and its relevance to readers? If there is a Wikipedia page, this is a good sign.

  1. Read the back cover.

This is the sales page of the book. If this has aroused your interest, do some additional research to find interventions by the author (videos, interviews, articles).

  1. Know where you stand

What is the current state of your finances? Where are you at with your professional life? Being aware of this context filters out books that are not useful to you from the outset. If you’re in a precarious stage in your finances, prefer to read a book on how to perform well, motivate you to work hard, and stabilize your finances.

  1. Know your problem

Every day we have to deal with different aspects of our lives including health, wealth, relationships and happiness. If you pay attention to your thoughts, you’ll realize that you often think of only one issue: the most impactful and also the most confusing. It is the one you procrastinate on and that scares you the most. Can you identify it and know how it formed?

Top 7 best apps for reading on Android

Is the paper book living its last days? Probably not. But our traditions are changing. More and more people favor the smartphone for reading. Easier to carry around, assurance of always or almost always having it on hand and above all, lots of choice.

But then, which option to choose? What is the best app to read on Android?

We’ve selected seven applications that might just make you rediscover the pleasures of a good book, even a digital one.

  1. Aldiko

Aldiko is one of the main references in online reading. Everywhere, we praise its ergonomics but especially its very large catalogue. Enough to convince more than 10 million users to download the application from the Google Play Store. In short, a very complete application that has the added luxury of being free even if you have to pay for some books.

  1. Wattpad

WattPad is the community solution for reading. This virtual bookstore is entirely composed of books submitted by other Internet users. So, of course you won’t find the latest fashionable books. For copyright reasons, you will find mostly works by budding writers or those that have fallen into the public domain.

  1. Google Play Books

Of course, it’s impossible to overlook Google’s native solution, installed as standard on all Android smartphones. Very basic, it allows you to access your books but also to buy them directly from the application.

  1. Kindle

We often associate Kindle exclusively with Amazon but the application does exist on Android. You’ll need an Amazon account to access books, comics and audiobooks. Most of the content is paid for, however, so you’ll only get one free clip.

  1. Moon + Reader

This app is not beautiful. It’s clear and sharp. Ergonomics and design are not there. But this is probably the only reproach that can be leveled at it as it is so complete on the other dimensions. Of course, it allows you to access your own files (PDF and EPUB) but also has a large library of free ebooks in many languages.

  1. Universal Book Reader

It is a very classic application that offers a pure design and a rather important reading comfort. The available choice is quite similar to the Aldiko application presented above.

  1. Challenger Comics Viewer

If you’re a fan of comics and manga, you’ve probably already realized that reading comics and manga is complicated on a smartphone or tablet. Finding the right app can be a real challenge. Challenger Comics Viewer is probably the best solution available on Android.

Conclusion

You should always be on the lookout for ideas and suggestions for new books. It is this diversity that creates opportunity. Keep a list of reading ideas or, even better, build as large and varied an anti library as possible. Only a very small portion of the books you read will be worth several weeks of your time, reading them carefully and analyzing them for their full benefits. Don’t read stupidly. Read intelligently and with purpose. That’s what makes the difference. Over time, you will refine your recommendation sources and improve your selection filters: you will find more and more good books and waste less and less time reading uninteresting words.

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