ON READING
Dear Friend, I have received, with great joy your letter on your desire to become a voracious reader. Because we are talking about reading here, I will make this letter intentionally long.
Your ability to read to the end will determine if at all the letter you sent to me was a serious one. And I am not promising that it will be a funny read, reading is a serious matter and we should treat it as such- we should make it serious.
One reason, as I have noticed, that reading is hard for many folks is because it is indeed a very productive activity! Do you know any productive activity that is easy? I guess there is none. Although of course, it gets to a stage where a productive activity becomes a hobby.
I have highlighted my key points in bullets, I will be the first to assure you that these are not the ultimate guides to becoming a reader, they are simply key traits I have noticed over the years;
DO NOT READ WHAT DOES NOT INTEREST:
You know there is too much pressure in this world, everyone and everything wants to influence you, including even the books you read. Do not fall prey, read only the books that interest you. For many new readers, they often set rules that they must read a book to the end, and as they read through, they find out that the book is not what they expected, it becomes hard to complete such book to the end. In such cases, do not be ashamed to drop that book and pick another one. Make it a duty to begin reading books that interest you, don’t be ashamed to walk away from boring books. Indeed, there are boring books.
START WITH SMALL BOOKS: I began reading by reading newspapers. Yes, those small few pages’ documents. I read them. I’ve seen new readers who gallivant around with big books such as the complete collections of Williams Shakespeare. Buddy, there is no special award for reading big books. Especially in Nigeria, there is no award for reading at all. So please, calm down, start by reading “Chike and the river” it’s not a crime. There are many small books that are very dangerous, e.g The Minister by W.W Staley, The Lean Startup by Eric Ries and The Problem With Nigeria by Chinua Achebe. After all, the best writers are the ones who express their complete thoughts in few words.
FIND A TRIBE: There are many positive things we can do with peer pressure. Can you think for a moment… how many stupid things have you done before simply because you were in a group? That’s peer pressure! Now, here’s a chance for you to turn it into something that could profit you. Find a group of readers, or find friends who are readers. There are not so many such groups but I know Book Troverts. It’s my first recommendation for you. They have a Facebook Group as well as a WhatsApp Group. Join them! You can never walk alone, and the more you meet people like you, the more you become a better you! You can grow together!
TALK ABOUT THE BOOKS YOU’VE READ: You see; part of learning is sharing! Share what you know. If there is no one to listen to what you think about what you are reading, write it down. I have a 160-page document here, it’s all excerpts from Ravi Zacharias books. They are my thoughts about all the major ideas I picked while reading his works. There is an old blue book here with me, it’s a compilation of my thoughts during secondary school days. There are countless screenshots on my phone, they are excerpts from the eBooks I have read. Even this that I am doing is basically sharing my reading experience. Talk to someone or to something about what you think about what you’ve read. The more you share, the more you expand. This is the importance of Book-Troverts , it gives you the chance to do just that!
START READING: You must be intentional about reading, make efforts to read. The habit of reading is not an anointing that can be inherited or sent forth, it is an attitude that must be cultivated. Set a time to read, set a goal to read. Start with a page per day, or a chapter per day or a book per day (Laughing). Any way set a good goal and strive to achieve it. Don’t worry that you’re not proficient or very fast at first and don’t be intimidated by the number of books others read, focus on yours the number that you can read.
If you read a single page every day, you would have read 365 pages in a year, that’s a good number for anyone! If its newspapers you read, that’s 365 papers in a year. If it’s a chapter per year, that’s 365 chapters in a year.
On reading list…. I will recommend you read books that interest you, read magazines or any such materials. Read Think Big or The Big Picture by Ben Carson. Read The Last Days At Forcados. Just read anything that interest you for now, be bold to start, we will pick up from there.
Or find books about your heroes and heroines. Use Google, read their biographies.
Or read stuffs on things that interest you on the web.
For instance, have you ever wondered if indeed Nigeria was beaten by India 99:0 and then a player scored a penalty kick that saved Nigeria and led to the banning of India from international football?
Or have you ever wondered why we have our calendars named the way they are?
Or do you know the history of the Greek gods, Zeus, Appolyon, Hercules etc?
Or are you wondering who is Dr. Oby Ezekwesili? Apart from knowing that Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook, what else do you know about him?
Or do you know the richest man in the world currently? Or the richest person of all times? Just use Google to search for them on the internet.
Well, in case you find out none of this helps you, I wouldn’t be surprised, I’m not the Apostle of Reading so I have no 10 Commandments for it, in fact if this doesn’t work for you, it will reenact one of my long-held beliefs- that the best way anyone can progress in such things is to do it their own way! However, there is no harm in trying any of this, is there?
Lastly, I’m deeply interested in your growth and development, I want all of us to grow together.
My utmost desire is to see you rise, and keep rising and never stop!
I am your friend, now your book friend too.
In the spirit of erudition,
Lengdung Tungchamma.
Your ability to read to the end will determine if at all the letter you sent to me was a serious one. And I am not promising that it will be a funny read, reading is a serious matter and we should treat it as such- we should make it serious.
One reason, as I have noticed, that reading is hard for many folks is because it is indeed a very productive activity! Do you know any productive activity that is easy? I guess there is none. Although of course, it gets to a stage where a productive activity becomes a hobby.
I have highlighted my key points in bullets, I will be the first to assure you that these are not the ultimate guides to becoming a reader, they are simply key traits I have noticed over the years;
DO NOT READ WHAT DOES NOT INTEREST:
You know there is too much pressure in this world, everyone and everything wants to influence you, including even the books you read. Do not fall prey, read only the books that interest you. For many new readers, they often set rules that they must read a book to the end, and as they read through, they find out that the book is not what they expected, it becomes hard to complete such book to the end. In such cases, do not be ashamed to drop that book and pick another one. Make it a duty to begin reading books that interest you, don’t be ashamed to walk away from boring books. Indeed, there are boring books.
START WITH SMALL BOOKS: I began reading by reading newspapers. Yes, those small few pages’ documents. I read them. I’ve seen new readers who gallivant around with big books such as the complete collections of Williams Shakespeare. Buddy, there is no special award for reading big books. Especially in Nigeria, there is no award for reading at all. So please, calm down, start by reading “Chike and the river” it’s not a crime. There are many small books that are very dangerous, e.g The Minister by W.W Staley, The Lean Startup by Eric Ries and The Problem With Nigeria by Chinua Achebe. After all, the best writers are the ones who express their complete thoughts in few words.
FIND A TRIBE: There are many positive things we can do with peer pressure. Can you think for a moment… how many stupid things have you done before simply because you were in a group? That’s peer pressure! Now, here’s a chance for you to turn it into something that could profit you. Find a group of readers, or find friends who are readers. There are not so many such groups but I know Book Troverts. It’s my first recommendation for you. They have a Facebook Group as well as a WhatsApp Group. Join them! You can never walk alone, and the more you meet people like you, the more you become a better you! You can grow together!
TALK ABOUT THE BOOKS YOU’VE READ: You see; part of learning is sharing! Share what you know. If there is no one to listen to what you think about what you are reading, write it down. I have a 160-page document here, it’s all excerpts from Ravi Zacharias books. They are my thoughts about all the major ideas I picked while reading his works. There is an old blue book here with me, it’s a compilation of my thoughts during secondary school days. There are countless screenshots on my phone, they are excerpts from the eBooks I have read. Even this that I am doing is basically sharing my reading experience. Talk to someone or to something about what you think about what you’ve read. The more you share, the more you expand. This is the importance of Book-Troverts , it gives you the chance to do just that!
START READING: You must be intentional about reading, make efforts to read. The habit of reading is not an anointing that can be inherited or sent forth, it is an attitude that must be cultivated. Set a time to read, set a goal to read. Start with a page per day, or a chapter per day or a book per day (Laughing). Any way set a good goal and strive to achieve it. Don’t worry that you’re not proficient or very fast at first and don’t be intimidated by the number of books others read, focus on yours the number that you can read.
If you read a single page every day, you would have read 365 pages in a year, that’s a good number for anyone! If its newspapers you read, that’s 365 papers in a year. If it’s a chapter per year, that’s 365 chapters in a year.
On reading list…. I will recommend you read books that interest you, read magazines or any such materials. Read Think Big or The Big Picture by Ben Carson. Read The Last Days At Forcados. Just read anything that interest you for now, be bold to start, we will pick up from there.
Or find books about your heroes and heroines. Use Google, read their biographies.
Or read stuffs on things that interest you on the web.
For instance, have you ever wondered if indeed Nigeria was beaten by India 99:0 and then a player scored a penalty kick that saved Nigeria and led to the banning of India from international football?
Or have you ever wondered why we have our calendars named the way they are?
Or do you know the history of the Greek gods, Zeus, Appolyon, Hercules etc?
Or are you wondering who is Dr. Oby Ezekwesili? Apart from knowing that Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook, what else do you know about him?
Or do you know the richest man in the world currently? Or the richest person of all times? Just use Google to search for them on the internet.
Well, in case you find out none of this helps you, I wouldn’t be surprised, I’m not the Apostle of Reading so I have no 10 Commandments for it, in fact if this doesn’t work for you, it will reenact one of my long-held beliefs- that the best way anyone can progress in such things is to do it their own way! However, there is no harm in trying any of this, is there?
Lastly, I’m deeply interested in your growth and development, I want all of us to grow together.
My utmost desire is to see you rise, and keep rising and never stop!
I am your friend, now your book friend too.
In the spirit of erudition,
Lengdung Tungchamma.
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