Bookstores and Reading Anxiety

In this section, the speaker talks about their anxiety related to bookstores and reading. They discuss the overwhelming number of books available and the feeling of not having enough time to read.

The Allure of Bookstores

• The speaker discusses their frustration with bookstores that sell new books without any history or previous owners.

• They suggest that the cover art and colorful spines of books contribute to their allure.

• The speaker compares bookstores to art galleries with stories attached.

Reading Anxiety

• The speaker discusses how powerful merchandise can be in a bookstore, citing examples of books that have started wars or invoked fatwas.

• They express frustration at not having enough time to read due to other forms of media competing for attention.

• The speaker describes their anxiety as a "reading version of FOMO."

• They mention feeling overwhelmed by staff picks sections and award stickers, leading them to buy more books than they can realistically read.

Goals for Improvement

• The speaker outlines two goals: finding the most beautiful bookstore in Western Europe and South America, and figuring out how to read more books.

• They express concern about their content diet being "out of whack" and wanting to know more before they die.

Tim Urban on Reading Habits

In this section, Tim Urban helps the speaker gain perspective on their reading habits by calculating how many books they can realistically read in a lifetime based on current habits.

Current Reading Habits

• Tim asks the speaker how much they read, and they admit to only reading one book per year for pleasure.

• The speaker clarifies that this does not include work-related or self-help books.

Calculating Reading Potential

• Tim calculates that the speaker has 55 years left to live based on their oldest grandparents' lifespan.

• He uses a shelf of books to illustrate how many books the speaker can realistically read in their lifetime.

• Tim times the speaker reading a passage from Lolita to calculate their reading speed.

• He calculates that if the speaker reads for just 30 minutes per day, they could read 945 more books before they die.

Conclusion

In this section, the speaker reflects on what they've learned about their reading habits and sets goals for improvement.

Reflection

• The speaker expresses regret at not having read more books in their life so far.

• They acknowledge that small changes in daily habits can lead to significant improvements over time.

Goals for Improvement

• The speaker sets a goal of reading for at least 30 minutes per day to increase their reading potential.

• They express a desire to be able to recommend favorite books like others do.

English Reading Habits and Cook & Book

In this section, the speaker talks about how easy it is to read a thousand books and the power of habits. The speaker also visits Cook & Book in Brussels, which is a bookstore spread across nine different libraries.

Reading Habits

• The speaker suggests listening to an audiobook while doing daily tasks like brushing teeth or making breakfast.

• Thirty minutes of reading every day can help you read a lot of books in a year.

• If you read for two hours every Saturday, you've already done four sevenths of your week.

• It's inspiring to realize how easy it is to read a thousand books even at a slow reading rate.

• Having the right habit makes reading easier, while not having the right habit leads to inconsistency.

Cook & Book

• Cook & Book is located on the outskirts of Brussels and spread across eight buildings with nine different libraries.

• The bookstore has different sections such as literature, English bookstore, travel, fine arts, comics and graphic novels, music, home and garden room, cookbook room and children's bookstore.

• The size of Cook & Book is compared to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory but for bookstores.

English Driving Experiment and Dominican Church

In this section, the speaker talks about his driving experience in Europe. He also visits Dominican Church in Maastricht that has been used for various purposes over time.

Driving Experiment

• The speaker rents a car to drive from Brussels to Maastricht which should take about an hour and a half.

• The speaker struggles with driving on the wrong side of the road.

Dominican Church

• The Dominican Church in Maastricht has been empty for almost 200 years but has been used for various purposes such as Christmas markets, carnival celebrations, and storing Napoleon's horse and carriages.

• The church also housed the local guillotine in the 19th century.

Eric Barker's Habits for Reading More Books

In this section, Eric Barker talks about his habits for reading more books and how he manages to read so much despite having a busy schedule.

Reading Habits

• Eric reads one to three books in order to write one post on his blog.

• He does a ton of research including reading multiple books and journals and conducting long interviews for each post.

• He redirects his urge to check social media towards the Kindle app on his phone.

• He gives himself only three checks a day unless there is an important email coming in.

• Eric reads most of his books on the Kindle app on his iPad.

Building Habits

• Charles Duhigg says habits emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort. When an action becomes a habit, it migrates to the basal ganglia and frees up space in the prefrontal cortex for other more important decisions.

• BJ Fogg at Stanford recommends using minimum viable effort when building habits. Start with something so simple that you can't not do it, like flossing one tooth or reading one page.

• The difference between someone who reads 55 books versus 1000 books in their lifetime isn't really much; it's just that one has the right habit and the other doesn't have the right habit.

Miscellaneous Insights

• Eric reads multiple books at once, especially when starting out, as a way of building the habit.

Building a Reading Habit

In this section, Eric discusses the importance of building a reading habit and shares tips on how to do so.

Falling in Love with Reading

• Allow yourself to fall in love with reading.

• Date a lot of books at the beginning before you really make a connection with one.

• Once you find a book that you enjoy, throw yourself in full bore.

Making Reading a Habit

• The most important thing is to keep reading and build that reading habit.

• If a book turns into a slog, put it aside and take the next one.

• Focus on how excited you are to read your current book and read it at every free moment you have.

• Use friends to hold you accountable for forming the habit.

Livraria Lello Bookstore

In this section, Eric visits Livraria Lello bookstore in Porto, Portugal and talks about its history and significance.

Livraria Lello Bookstore

• The bookstore requires visitors to buy a ticket for four euros which can be used against any book purchase.

• It is always crowded with people visiting from all over the world.

• J.K. Rowling was inspired by many details of the bookstore while writing Harry Potter books.

• The staircase in the bookstore was described as "moving smoothly upward like an escalator" in Harry Potter books.

World's Fastest Reader

In this section, Howard Berg shares his strategies for speed reading.

Speed Reading Techniques

• Howard Berg is known as the world's fastest reader who can read around 80 pages per minute.

• To start speeding up, take your hand and go one line at a time from left to right margin with your eyes following your hand.

• Follow the hand as fast as you can comprehend and just doing that one change will bump up reading speed by 10 to 20 percent.

• Howard emphasizes improving comprehension over speed.

Learning with Your Senses

In this section, Jim Kwik explains how to learn using your senses and not just the traditional way of learning.

Using Your Senses to Learn

• When reading, try to see movies in your mind. This will help you remember what you read.

• Use your senses when learning new information. For example, when learning about Paul Revere, smell and taste salt to experience being near Boston Harbor.

• Experience what you are learning by feeling it. For example, feel the saddle pressing against you when learning about Paul Revere's ride.

• Engage all parts of your brain by experiencing what you are learning. This will help you remember the information better.

Reading Faster

In this section, Jim Kwik explains how to read faster by engaging different parts of your brain.

Reading Faster

• Stress and confusion can activate the part of your brain that makes movies. This can help you read faster and understand what you're reading better.

• By engaging different parts of your brain while reading, such as visualizing a movie in your mind, you can increase your reading speed by 10-20%.

Beautiful Bookstores in Portugal

In this section, Jim Kwik visits bookstores in Portugal and learns about their unique features.

Ler Devagar Bookstore

• The Ler Devagar bookstore is known for its beauty and uniqueness.

• Jim Kwik visits the bookstore and flies a drone inside with the help of Manuel, a 17-year-old who had the best drone footage of Lisbon on YouTube.

• Ler Devagar means "read slowly" in Portuguese.

Other Bookstores in Portugal

• Lello in Porto, Akivo in Lyria, Fonta Lettras in Evora, and all bookshops in Obidos are other notable bookstores to visit.

• Obidos is a whole bookstore town with 14 bookshops and only 62 inhabitants.

Searching for Beautiful Bookstores

In this section, Jim Kwik rushes to see as many bookstores as possible before they close.

Visiting Bookstores

• Jim Kwik visits several unique bookstores, including one located inside a church and another that sells fresh produce.

• Despite seeing so much, there was not enough time to see everything.

The Most Amazing Hotel

In this section, the speaker expresses his admiration for a hotel he has seen.

The Speaker's Impression of the Hotel

• The speaker describes the hotel as "the most amazing hotel" he has ever seen.

• He explains that he cannot film anymore because all his other cameras' batteries are dead.

• He attributes this to having been shooting all day.

Meeting Dr. Ruth J. Simmons

In this section, the speaker meets with Dr. Ruth J. Simmons and discusses reading and reflection.

Dr. Ruth J. Simmons' Background

• The speaker introduces Dr. Ruth J. Simmons as a total baller who was born into a sharecropper family in Texas.

• She became the first African American woman to head an Ivy League university when she became president of Brown in 2001.

• She is also a world-class scholar in comparative literature and still teaches many courses on the topic to this day.

Reading Widely vs Prescriptive Lists

• The speaker asks Dr. Simmons what books they should be reading in their limited time.

• Dr. Simmons believes that reading widely matters more than anything else, not somebody's prescriptive list of things to read.

• She does not believe there is a prescriptive list of books that one must read.

Reflection and Busyness

• Dr. Simmons encourages students to sit on the green with a book and reflect rather than being busy all the time.

• She believes that busyness does not make our lives meaningful and that it is the interior life that makes the greatest difference to us in the end.

Reading as Forced Meditation

• Dr. Simmons believes that reading can enable reflection if one is not disciplined enough to meditate otherwise.

• She encourages students to slow down when they read and reflect, comparing it to forced meditation.

The Most Beautiful Bookstore in the World

In this section, the speaker visits El Teatro Grand Splendid, which was once a tango theater and movie theater before becoming a bookstore.

History of El Teatro Grand Splendid

• The speaker explains that El Teatro Grand Splendid started as a tango theater in 1919 and then became a movie theater in 1929.

• It eventually became a bookstore in 2000.

The Magic of Bookstores

In this section, the speaker talks about the experience of being in a bookstore and how it can transport you to another world.

Being in a Bookstore

• Some bookstores have even been churches.

• A place to get in touch with your higher-self.

• And nourish your soul.

• Being in a bookstore makes you feel infinite like you can touch the magic.

Reflection on Reading

• Reflecting on reading helps reduce anxiety.

• Reading is an amazing thing that transports us to another space where we forget everything happening outside.

• The speaker has seen almost all the most beautiful bookstores in Europe, North America, and South America.

Building a Habit of Reading

• To get to that quiet place inside yourself where you're reflecting, build a habit out of reading.

• Just 30 minutes a day or three hours a week is enough time to read.

• With all the ways you can read now, there's almost no excuse not to read.

Conclusion

In this section, the speaker reflects on what this journey was really about and encourages people to enjoy reading as much as possible.

Meaning of Life

• Forced meditation is probably a good thing and the best part about it is that it should be fun.

• Reading should be enjoyable, unlike going to the gym.

• The meaning of life is scattered in thousands and thousands of books, art, and music.

Encouragement to Read

• The speaker reflects on what this journey was really about.

• The speaker asks how the listener is doing with "Infinite Jest".

• The speaker encourages people to read as much as possible.