How I Became a Better Reader & Writer
I was surprised by how many blog posts I wrote about the book There is No Ethan by Anna Akbari. Up until that point I was writing one or two posts about each book I read. For There is No Ethan, I ended up writing seven. I thought it was merely about the content of the book, however, with my most recent book How To Be An Artist by Jerry Saltz, I have written five posts.
I think the content of these books makes it easy for me to write my thoughts about them, but something else is going on as well. My reading and writing are improving. I am able to pick books apart more than I was able to do at the beginning of this book reading challenge. Before, I was a passive reader; now I am an active reader.
This came with practice.
You Can Practice Being Original
When I first started this Book Reading Challenge, I would find the books interesting but not have so much to say. Or, my original thoughts would often be point-form notes that I took that could not make up the content for a cohesive blog post. I am much better at picking out the parts of these books that I want to talk more about.
This is a great thing. I get a lot more from these books when I am able to organize my thoughts on them in blog posts. However, this will lead to practical challenges as well.
I am attempting to read 52 books in 2025 for self-improvement and am documenting this experience in blog posts. Although I have made great progress, I am a little behind schedule and will become more so if I write five+ posts about each book. The content matters more to me than the timing though. As long as I am getting something from writing so many blog posts I will continue to do so. It just means I will be posting a lot… I was worried about not having enough content to sustain a blog and now I can’t shut up.
Messy Bun Book Lover
(Originally posted on May 4, 2025)
The books mentioned above can be found here:
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