When Super Bowl LIII commences Sunday evening, millions of viewers will tune in to watch the New England Patriots play the Los Angeles Rams. For most fans, it is an opportunity not only to watch a great game, but to throw a party, take in the half-time show, and laugh at some ads. I’m going [ Read More ]
When Super Bowl LII commences at 6:30 p.m. this evening (Sunday, February 4, 2018), millions of viewers will tune in to watch the New England Patriots play the Philadelphia Eagles. For some fans, it is an opportunity to pull for the “underdog” Falcons against the “Evil Empire” Patriots. For others, it is a chance to [ Read More ]
Recently, I wrote a post on 5 Tips for Determining Which Books to Read (and Not to Read). As a follow up to that post, and in answer to a number of questions I received, here are four tips on how to get the most from your (non-fiction) reading:
Make a plan (even if you are not, by nature, a planner).
There may be some folks out there who became seriously informed readers by wandering aimlessly through bookstores in order to buy random books that they would later read whenever they found time. But there wouldn’t be many of those folks; if there are any, you could probably count them on the one hand of a bad woodshop teacher.
So, make a list of books that are important to read in each of your various categories of interest. If you have difficulty finding the right books to read in each category, spend some time researching. Ask an expert to give you a short list of favorites. Visit your library. Cruise the local Barnes & Noble. Surf the net. In addition, answer a few other questions: How many books would you like to read per month? How much time can you devote per day or per week? What time of the day is best for you? I know, I know, you are probably thinking: “Ashford is an even bigger dork than we’d imagined.” But I’d like to serve advance notice: we haven’t even arrived at the nerdiest parts of this post. [ Read More ]