chetan shenoy

Day 6 – Reading

16 Nov 2021

This is day 6 of my effort to write (almost) everyday for the next 30 days.

You can't replace reading with other sources of information like videos, because you need to read in order to write well, and you need to write in order to think well.
Paul Graham on Twitter

Growing up, I would avoid reading books. I was a slow reader and even slower with my comprehension. Because my mind would wander, I would end up reading the same paragraph over and over. It wasn't until after college that I figured out how to concentrate and immerse myself into a story.

I'm still not a consistent reader though. When starting UrbanStems, I made the excuse that my time was best spent building or fixing a problem. After leaving at the end of 2018, I realized how short-sighted I was to consume myself with work. I missed reading good books.

Now, I tend to go through waves of fiction and non-fiction books. I've picked up reading again since the pandemic has kept us at home. Here's the list of completed books:

Currently, I'm reading over dozen books. Here they are:

I'm more interested in the business/investing world at the moment. I have a few sci-fi and other fiction books lined up to balance out the heavy non-fiction. Business books can seem dry but many of the books I've listed are written so well. I'm impressed with the way some authors are able to weave concepts and simplify ideas so that the reader is engaged and informed. I'm reminded of one of my favorite quotes associated with Warren Buffett: "simple but not easy". That's my goal with all things in life.