Lessons from “The Reader’s Journey,” by Alex Wieckowski
“Books can be dangerous. The best ones should be labeled ‘This could change your life.’”
—Helen Exley
The way we read changes as we go through life, and reading changes the life we go through. “The Reader’s Journey” is here to help us with strategies—for both our rational and emotional selves—to build a fun, fruitful, and lifelong reading habit.
The author: Alex Wieckowski
Wieckowski shares his love of books on his website, alexandbooks.com, and with his 46,000 followers on Instagram. On The Reader’s Journey podcast, he interviews authors about creating and consuming the stories we love. And his story of how he used downtime after a serious bike accident to create his website is not to be missed.
The Reader’s Journey: Key lessons
In “The Reader’s Journey,” Wieckowski helps us sort through the how and why of a reading habit—the logical and emotional reasons we read. Useful strategies and anecdotes are delivered in a compact package, supported by many of the all-time best quotes about a life of reading.
Books are transformative
Books are transformative, but only if we take action on what we’ve learned. Alex shares how taking action shaped his social life and career:
When I wanted to make the jump from marketing to journalism, I read books on how to become a better writer. The result? I landed a job as a journalist for one of the most well-known newspapers in Brooklyn, got accepted into graduate school for journalism, and won a $6,000 scholarship for my writing.*
The action lesson is an important one, and as someone who has chosen reading over action too often, Wieckowski’s lesson resonates with me. We have the power to let our favorite books change our lives through action.
Reading is social
Reading is most valuable when share what we’re reading and learning with others. Wieckowski suggests we can join book clubs and attend author signings, for example, to connect with others around a love of books. Online, we can give and receive book recommendations, and share how books changed our thinking and our hearts.
Sharing what we’re reading helps a book’s lessons settle in more deeply in our consciousness, and gaining outside perspective creates adjustments and illuminations around what we read that we would otherwise miss.
The art of choosing
With so many books vying for our attention, choosing what to read next can feel overwhelming. Wieckowski has some strategies to help us.
The breadcrumb strategy is one method. When an author lights you up, check out their other work. Or research that author, and see if you can discover what books influenced them the most. For that matter, what’s stopping you from directly asking an author about their influences? Most authors are on Twitter. Everyone has email.
Wieckowski also wants us to remember that timing is everything. We should choose books that resonate with us where we are right now. To do this, Wieckowski offers two strategies for choosing what to read next:
1) The book tells a story on a topic you’re curious about
2) The book solves a problem you’re facing
Wieckowski cautions us against reading a book that will serve us “in the future,” as it’s far less likely to resonate and hold our attention.
Finally, Wieckowski reminds us that no one else is in charge of what we read. We left that behind in school:
New readers often feel that “their reading habits are poor, and it’s only a matter of time before the Book Police track them down,” writes [Anne] Bogel, “They’re carrying guilty reading secrets that make them feel as though they aren’t real readers.” But here’s the punchline**: There is no Book Police. You’re free to read anything you want.
Reading is personal. The more personal, the more powerful.
Reading is active
Wieckowski encourages us to think of reading like a conversation with the author. Challenge what the author is telling you. Take notes and make highlights, so your ideas and insights are preserved. Later, you may connect those thoughts with others from different books. This is how we foster creativity and form our own unique insights.
To read well is to create. We think critically, and then we engage with and challenge the ideas we read. We share ideas, and forge connections to other ideas. in the end, we change the way we—and others—see the world.
Active reading is a superpower.
Take The Reader’s Journey on your next trip
Creating a reading habit is a lifelong, evolving process. It is both personal and social, and works best with a balance of both. That’s the beauty of the reader’s journey, and Alex Wieckowski’s book of the same name can make your reading journey richer, more intentional, and more fun.
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