We tend to assume that reading is just… reading: you pick up a book and turn some pages. Then you put it down because you’re bored, you feel like it, you need more coffee, or you don’t feel like thinking anymore. In reality, reading isn’t always that easy. You settle in, you get serious about […]

When you open up your pile of readings before bed, you gets panicked. You glance at number of pages. Then you mentally subtract amount of time you’ll need to write notes in the margin. And then you remember that you’ve already missed your plan for the night. I’m pretty sure most of us underestimate just […]

There it is. It is on your desk. It comes with a silent warning: Read this. How long will it take? You have no idea. You can look at the page count (thirty?) but on its own that’s nothing. That might be four hours of intense synthesis or twenty minutes of light skimming. That isn’t […]

There are books you pick up with great expectations. Halfway through, you realize that even though your eyes keeps moving, your brain has wandered away and you’ve read the same paragraph three times. That’s not a failure of will. Generally, that’s bad planning. Reading is like running a mile on an empty stomach: most people […]