I just finished reading The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life by Steve Leveen, and I have to say it’s a nice little volume.  It will probably take most readers less than three hours to get through, but despite its brevity, it is full of inspiration and useful advice for getting the most out of your books and your reading ritual.

I offer here some of the points that I found most interesting and useful.

• Choose books deliberately (Keep a “list of candidates”)

• Don’t feel guilty about not finishing books that you aren’t enjoying

• Take notes on books, non-fiction especially (write in the margins or in a notebook)

• Read books that relate to your current life circumstance, situation, or even location

• Keep an annotated bibliography of books you read for future reference

• Be open to audiobooks – 1 per month could mean 12 extra books read per year!

How do you get the most out of your books?