Reading in the middle of the day...

I was recently in a discussion with my sister about our reading habits. She was once an avid reader, a good student, and a girl always with a book in her hand. She is still well-read, literate, and intelligent, but her reading "habit" has dwindled. Reading a book often requires the pressure of book club peers and a hard deadline. Often, she told me, her reading is done late at night when she can't sleep.

"Reading in the middle of the day feels odd, like I should be doing something else," she explained, echoing a sentiment that I often have. Unless there is rain, frigid temperatures, injury or illness I often find that reading in the middle of the day feels like I am wasting time.

It may be true. Reading may be just a distraction from more important things. If there are fires to attend to we should be putting them out. What strikes me, however, is how much value I place on reading yet how little time I dedicate to it and often value it less than my laundry.

Great things come from men and women quietly working. The things we build come from the plans we make from the ideas we have. Inspiration comes from our education and experiences. Reading a book is both an education and an experience.

How many of our great men and women have benefited from the time they spent during the day reading, then thinking, ideating, and working through challenges presented by their reading? It's a rhethorical question, I believe. The answer, of course, is ALL of them.

A book may be the most concentrated form of critical knowledge about a subject. It is the condensation and curation of a vast amount of information into something our minds can consume in small bites, one chapter at a time. This is true of history, science, politics, religion, and even literature. An author puts hours, days, weeks, months or years into the book that we may read in one sitting. From everything the author knows or studied or thought about, he or she puts the best stuff into the book we buy, borrow from a friend, or check out from the library. When we read a good book we expose ourselves to the most important stuff a smart person thinks we should know. Who doesn't want that? 

Reading in the middle of the day need not be a waste of time. Dedicate some time working through a book during your peak hours on a regular basis and see where it takes you.

-TB 10/2026