caro:
In 1988, I learned that I didn’t have to read books to ace tests. So I stopped reading books. I read a chunk of Sarah Lacy’s book and was satisfied that I am not missing anything. As someone who has written more books than I’ve read, I feel bad for people who read books.
This summer, consider actually making things.
I heart you, Charles, but I kind of disagree. Reading books as a pastime is wonderful, albeit not for everyone, and it troubles me that more than a handful of people in the “digital” space seem to look down on people who do so as backwards or antiquated. It can be really offensive sometimes.
On the other hand, and this is more along the lines of what I think Charles is referring to, I absolutely don’t buy into the trend of reading quasi-self-helpy business books and hoping to personally profit from the experience (not that Sarah Lacy’s book falls under that category, but you know what I mean). I do feel bad for anyone who thinks that reading The Long Tail will miraculously help them make their companies profitable. Huge seekrit: It won’t.
I read books for pleasure, rarely for business or learning a skill. I do find them good reference tools in some cases but I find more updated and intuitive information like that online.
I don’t know what I would do on a long flight, like the one i’m about to take, without a good book. I love reading biographies or books that cover a particular period of time, like Steal This Dream that covers Abbie Hoffman and the tail end of the beats. I’m not really into fiction, I like learning about recent history. 50’s through 90’s. I like reading about people who lived interesting lives.
With all the Malcolm Gladwell talk today, i’m considering picking up Tipping Point at the airport for the flight to Stockholm tonight. Any other suggestions?