Which of these elite reader habits do you already practice—and which one feels hardest to adopt right now?

If you had to pick one change to make this month (rereading, fixed daily time, reading against yourself, or building a core canon), which would it be—and why?

I’m especially curious: do you reread, or are you still chasing new books?

It’s shocking to me when I encounter people who refuse to re-read. “I’ve already read it” … as if the reason we read is to complete an activity. There is no way you can read Crime and Punishment or Moby Dick once and fully grasp its significance.

I watch because I read a lot, and I like to hear from other people who do the same. It is rare today.

I am leading a bookish life, now, but I'm alone in it. I would be so much happier if I had even just one real life bookish buddy to enjoy the life with. Like sports buddies or something, but books instead!

Very underrated channel! Thank you sir!

I want a lot of reviews also because I respect your taste, but you are really doing well with describing the shape and color of reading itself. It’s an exciting time to remember the human shape of what we’ve lost and what we can still become.

One of my reading heroes is Theodore Roosevelt.  Read widely and constantly.  Read Anna Karenina out loud to the men who stole his boat in the Dakotas while taking them to the territorial marshal.  Had a personal travel library of his favorite books.  He wrote book reviews and wrote a bunch of books of his own.

Great video with some really good suggestions. I cut down on scrolling and social media about 2 years ago and now I read more than ever before. Sometimes we don't realize how much time we waste during the day and that could be spent reading.

I reread favorites, even YA books I read. THE CROW AND THE CASTLE, FARENHEIT 451,       LADY CHATTERLYS LOVER, THE METAMORPHOSIS  BY OVID AND THE GALLIC WARS.

Your videos and attitude toward different mediums for reading have inspired me to read again. This time I hope I remain one lol

Your tip on adopting the identity of being a reader really helped

Also I prefer reading on E ink devices
It’s just more comfortable for me to hold and I can modify the font if I need to

By not being an elitist for physical books you have opened the door for me to join you and other book lovers - that’s not to say I don’t love physical books either - I do

If you could build a list of what you consider must read I would definitely appreciate that

You could even build multiple lists for different categories

The one thing I miss most about living in Denton, TX, is Recycled Books. My wife and I lived across town and would often take evening walks over to Recycled Books. We didn’t always buy something. But we loved browsing. Great memories!

I’ve gotten a lot out of Adler’s “how to read a book” which has many of the insights you provided.

this was fabulous thank you Randy

Randy Ray! Thank you for showing that it really only takes a little bit to add up over time. I am starting to get back into it and I haven't let that new year's resolution flat line yet. I am using my library as a way to keep me accountable. No extensions on rentals and use those deadlines as a challenge to finish them before they are due. Although having a library card is nice because you don't have to pay for books, owning all the books you read just feels different. Keep it up and hope you get to back in the world 👍I love being able to read outdoors on a nice day.

How fascinating! You are so good at this. I might have been convinced to start re-reading.

Which of these elite reader habits do you already practice—and which one feels hardest to adopt right now?

If you had to pick one change to make this month (rereading, fixed daily time, reading against yourself, or building a core canon), which would it be—and why?

I’m especially curious: do you reread, or are you still chasing new books?

I only realized that I was an "elite reader" when my father died and at his memorial service people talked about how exceptional he was as a reader and I realized that I read basically the same way except that my father read more widely than I did. (Although even then, people told me I read more widely than almost anyone they knew. My father just read more widely still.) But since it's been my dream since a kid to be a writer, I still didn't really think of myself as being primarily a reader until I read Borges, who observed in the introduction to his personal library that he was uncertain how he would be remembered as a writer, but he is certain that he is a skilled and grateful reader.

This is an interesting topic that I don't think I've seen anyone raise, I think because people who are elite readers tend not to think much of it because of the affinity bias, while people who want to "get better at reading" often seem to have an adversarial relationship with books. When you are talking about things elite readers have in common, I would say that all of them apply to me with two exceptions. One is is that I don't read literally every day, but I think it is still accurate to say that reading is my default and I probably read for multiple hours a day at least 300 days out of the year. Days that I am not reading it is because something has gone either extremely wrong or extremely right. But the other one that I want to push back against more is that I don't consider being a reader my identity, for two reasons.

First off, it was just the fact that I try to avoid adopting a fixed as opposed to a fluid view of anything: if I can describe myself in terms of things I do as opposed to things I am, I always try to describe myself in terms of what I do. And at least to my mind, when I think of people identifying as "readers," I think of people who used to read as teenagers and are frustrated that they don't read anymore, and I think that tends to breed negative attitudes towards reading in general. For example: I feel like the only people I encounter who dislike The Alchemist are people who identify as "readers" and are frustrated that it doesn't take the things that they consider important in novels (characterization and/or worldbuilding) seriously enough and "wasted" their limited bandwidth for reading.

The other reason I have tended not to treat reading as part of my identity is that there is sort of an idea of "bookishness" which I try to avoid: there is always a goal with my reading even if I can't articulate it, I'm always trying to "use" books I have read even if just to play with them, and I try to use books as a window onto the world rather than an escape from it.

fantastic!

This is great, Randy! 👏🏻  I'm a huge rereader and in general, I prefer backlist books. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Really enjoyable and fascinating video, Randy. Thanks.