Reading Less, Reading Slower, Reading Better

Now that God has graciously granted me a full-time job, I have far less time to read. This is somewhat of a problem because I'm a relatively slow reader anyway. In light of this, I may now end up only reading one book every couple of months.

This forced reading slow down has caused me to think about how I read, what I read, and why I read. My tendency in the past has been to read fairly quickly through numerous books.  I think seminary had something to do with this.  I find myself "finishing" a book after a few days, but at the same time I don't have a deep sense of what the author was trying to communicate. That sort of defeats the purpose.

I'm beginning philosophical change to my reading habits. My goals are to read less, read slower, and read better. The reading less part has already started. Instead of trying to read quickly to catch up to some sort of arbitrary, self-imposed reading schedule, I now plan to read slower than in the past.  I hope that the slow down will cause me to read better.  By this, I mean improved retention and critical thinking.

In addition, I'm going to try to be more selective in what  I read.  I have had a tendency to rush to Amazon.com to order the newest copy of whatever is popular among Reformed evangelicals.  No more of that.  I'm instead going to wait, see what people are saying, and then make a purchase if it seems wise to do so.  On a related note, I'm going to branch out by reading a wider variety of authors (even some Arminians!)

I hope my reading improves.  If you are in a similar boat to me, I encourage you to slow down and read better as well.