That may seem like a humble brag that I stopped counting because I lost track. It’s not.
I haven’t read too many books this year. I think I’ve completed one and read about four others. The reason why I’ve stopped counting number of books is because it’s a terrible metric for me to judge what I’m learning. I read every weekday, at least two hours a day, but it’s not always in books. I read blog posts, longer articles on blockchain and societal dynamics, daily fintech pieces and posts by friends when the title sounds interesting. I’ve also been working on “Human Action” which is a dry, 1,000 page book on economics. Does that count as only one book?
I understand the desire to read as many books as possible. You learn a ton from reading other people’s ideas. The only problem is, there’s a bias that comes with every book. You’re reading a singular viewpoint for hours on end. I prefer my method because I hop around from interesting piece to interesting piece, trying to determine the author’s biases and taking bits and pieces to help create my worldview.
I love books and I will continually read books as much as I can find time. But finding time to read the never-ending supply of blog posts out there is far more valuable to me. I learned so much today from reading two 10-minute posts on blockchain economics and authoritarian systems. They don’t count towards any book goal that I’m aware of but I gleaned valuable insight.
Books are great, reading is more valuable.