Dear College Students,
As you complete final exams and prepare to move off campus, summer often represents a chance to recover from a brutal gauntlet of deadlines, sleepless nights, and painful stress. Unscheduled days of blissful freedom await you. Or do they? While it is tempting to think of summer only in terms of vacation time, that’s not always the case. You deserve a break, of course, but whether you are traveling, working, or taking additional classes during the summer, you still benefit from the freedom to plan your own schedule. Think of it as a dress rehearsal for your life after graduation. My message to you is this: take advantage of whatever free time you have this summer to read books, lots of them.
Why on earth should anyone think about doing more work over the summer? Because, dear reader, you are worth it. Never again will you have the same opportunity to transform your personal skill set and knowledge base as you do now. Over the course of the next three months (from mid-May to mid-August), I encourage you to develop a new habit (or strengthen an existing habit) of reading.
Those who read succeed
The number one skill for lifelong learning, skill development, and personal growth is reading. Digital distractions and related challenges have demonstrably shortened our attention spans and trained us to consume content in short bursts of algorithmic-driven content online. The habit of reading long-form content, both novels and non-fiction, has declined. That’s why I’m grateful that you are still reading this blog post right now. You’re taking the time to consider this issue and you obviously care about your future.
Numerous forces are battling for your attention right now. You must, therefore, be a wise gatekeeper. Your mind is a precious jewel: protect it, cultivate it, and keep it healthy. What you feed your mind matters. Germans refer to this practice as Bildung, or the lifelong process of self-cultivation. In the world of artificial intelligence, it’s known as “pre-training.” It’s why you’re in school, in the first place.
Ask yourself: When was the last time you read a book on your own that wasn’t required for a class? There is a difference between reading for information, reading for entertainment, and reading for a class. Books are like people: some you click with and some you don’t, but all of them have something to teach you.
Strategies for building a reading habit
If you have trouble concentrating while reading, you’re not alone. Reading is like a conversation where compatibility and understanding are key. Sometimes we have to make an effort to get to know the author’s point of view and communication style. There’s a helpful book called, How to Read a Book by the philosopher Mortimer Adler, who describes the process like this:
“The reader or listener is much more like the catcher in a game of baseball. Catching the ball is just as much an activity as pitching or hitting it. […] the art of reading is the skill of catching every sort of communication as well as possible.” (pp. 5-6)
Adler’s classic guide to reading is included in the list of recommended books below and a good summary of his advice is available online. James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits (recommended below), has some good advice on how to build a reading habit.
Here are a few more ideas:
- Sign up for an account with your local public library and borrow some e-books and audiobooks using the free Libby app on your smartphone.
- Check out books from your university library over the summer, including e-books.
- Download the free Kindle app on your smartphone. There are lots of free Kindle books available, and for purchased content, Kindle versions are usually cheaper than print versions of most books. Added bonus: download the dictionary inside the Kindle app and instantly look up definitions for unfamiliar words.
- Over 75,000 free e-books are available online at Project Gutenberg, including most classic literature.
- Create what used to be known as a “commonplace book” in the notes app on your phone or in a paper notebook to jot down notes while you read. Capture favorite quotes, as well as words and ideas you want to look up and explore further.
Book Recommendations: Music
Fleming, Renee. The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer. Penguin, 2005.
Levitin, Daniel J. This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession. Dutton, 2006.
Morris, Edmund. Beethoven: The Universal Composer. Harper Perennial, 2010.
Want more recommendations? Here’s an excellent list from Baylor University’s School of Music focusing on health and wellness for musicians.
Book Recommendations: Personal Development
Aliche, Tiffany. Get Good with Money: Ten Simple Steps to Becoming Financially Whole. Rodale, 2021.
Brooks, Arthur C. The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness. Portfolio, 2026.
Mollick, Ethan. Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI. Portfolio, 2024.
Where to begin
If you’re not sure where to start, I highly recommend the first four chapters of Susan Wise Bauer’s The Well Educated Mind (** listed above). She provides excellent advice on how to develop good reading skills with actionable steps that are more up to date than Adler and Van Doren’s classic, How to Read a Book. For example, here is a summary of her top five principles for scheduling time to read (found on pages 22-23):
- Morning is better than evening.
- Start short (half an hour).
- Don’t schedule yourself for study every day of the week. Aim for four days a week.
- Never check your email right before you begin reading.
- Guard your reading time.
Bauer also recommends a broader, more inclusive list of literature than Adler and Van Doren with works listed chronologically in six different categories: 1) the novel, 2) autobiography and memoir, 3) history, 4) drama, 5) poetry, and 6) science and the cosmos. She provides synopses of each book on the reading list along with recommended editions. Browsing through the bulk of Bauer’s book discussing over 180 different titles provides a valuable survey of human thought all on its own.
Do you have any favorite books that have inspired you? Send me a comment and let me know. Just use the link under the title at the top of the page. I’d love to hear from you. In the meantime, happy reading!