There is only one way to read, which is to browse in libraries and bookshops, picking up books that attract you, reading only those, dropping them when they bore you, skipping the parts that drag – and never, never reading anything because you feel you ought, or because it is part of a trend or a movement. Remember that the book which bores you when you are twenty or thirty will open doors for you when you are forty or fifty-and vice versa. Don’t read a book out of its right time for you.

September 24, 2026

There is only one way to read, which is to browse in libraries and bookshops, picking up books that attract you, reading only those, dropping them when they bore you, skipping the parts that drag – and never, never reading anything because you feel you ought, or because it is part of a trend or a movement. Remember that the book which bores you when you are twenty or thirty will open doors for you when you are forty or fifty-and vice versa. Don’t read a book out of its right time for you.
— Doris Lessing

Reflection

If you're living a full life (at home, at work, in the spaces between), your book list is probably long and only growing. I often have dozens of titles either unfinished or untouched sitting on my desk (not to mention the Audible queue and Amazon wish list). If anything on your list is there out of guilt, obligation, or trend-chasing, drop it. Reading should spark something in you, not drain you. The right book, at the right time, can change your life. The wrong one, read at the wrong time, will only clutter your mind. The only real rule is to never stop reading.

Looking forward,
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