If you’re unfamiliar with the term tsundoku, here’s Wikipedia’s take:
“Tsundoku (Japanese: 積ん読) refers to the phenomenon of acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in one’s home without reading them.”
It’s ‘done the rounds,’ as they say, but I’ve come across enough people who don’t know it that I felt it worth sharing.
For me, there is power in tsundoku.
It’s almost a form of positioning. It defines what’s coming next for you, your growth, your business, and your work.
It’s a statement about who you are and where you stand.
It speaks to your values.
Rather than being at the whim of what’s suggested to you, what’s hot right now, what’s available in the departures lounge, or – heaven forfend – the supermarket checkout, you have your own curated “try this next” section.
I currently have five fiction and four non-fiction books on deck for my personal reading. Plus another five for business.
At my present rate, that’s pretty much a full year sorted.
(Though I have plans to change that metric.)
So, if you’ve got your own growing stack of books and ever feel guilty or bad about it, now you don’t have to. There’s a name for what you’re doing, and you’re actually participating in a powerful, 100+ year-old tradition.
There’s safety in numbers.
Under books,
James
P.S. What are you reading now or next? I’d love to know if you want to share.
P.P.S. Here’s my list (if you’re interested):
Personal – Fiction
Snow Crash – Neal Stephenson (ongoing)
I Am a Cat – Sōseki Natsume (for my Japanese bookclub)
Killing Commendatore – Haruki Murakami
The City & The City – China Miéville
Touch Anywhere to Begin – Mark Anthony Jarman (my friend!)
Personal – Non-Fiction
The Master and His Emissary (The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World) – Iain McGilchrist
The Flowering Wand (Rewilding the Sacred Masculine) – Sophie Strand
Big Magic (Creative Living Beyond Fear) – Elizabeth Gilbert (a kind of re-read)
Kissa by Kissa – Craig Mod
Business
SYSTEMology – David Jenyns
The Ultimate Marketing Engine – John Jantsch
Effortless – Greg McKeown
The Positioning Manual for Indie Consultants – Philip Morgan
Building a Second Brain – Tiago Forte
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