A sure-shot way for me to lose interest in reading is when it gets monotonous. Reading gets monotonous if I read book after book without extracting new ideas from it, when book after book feels stale. Pursuit of unknown-unknowns is key, and this comes from reading a variety of books.

Plus, I love making connections between two ideas taken from two very different contexts. Here are two examples: Management and Team Building principles from Italy Talgam’s Ignorant Maestro (which is about Symphony conducting) and Suzanne Clothiers Bones Would Rain From The Sky (which is on dog training)!

I get majority of reading recommendations from the books that I am already reading. When an idea I am reading stands out, I look at the footnotes to see what paper or book the author is referencing. If the idea looks rich, I add the source book to my reading list.

Getting to the source material an important activity — A book is an author’s interpretation of the source idea. Interpretations are selected by authors to forward their own thesis. It reflects the author’s worldview and their biases — and these are valuable. It is the photograph of a slice of cake from a specific angle.

But also of value to me is the original idea in the source material — I don’t know what that might spark in my own thoughts. This is like getting to the whole cake so you get to decide what it tastes like.

Now, source material has its limits. It keeps me within the same echo chamber of the idea. It is important for me to get out of the echo chamber.

This is why I have challenged myself to get reading recommendations from novel sources this year. Here are how I plan to do them:

Ask friends what they are reading — I have three new recommendations from friends and acquaintances so far
Stroll around a library and pick up books that sound good
Stroll around a used book store — this will require some traveling since good used book stores are on the decline. I discovered Phillip Pullman’s excellent “His Dark Materials” trilogy browsing down cluttered aisles of a used book store
Join a book club — this is harder than it seems. I crave face-to-face discussions. This is nearly impossible given the small town I live in and the unstoppable pandemic. I’ll settle for Zoom.