← The Read Well Podcast
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Eddie Hood
So a few days ago, I went on a vacation with my family, and I'm in this cabin. We were actually on a cruise ship, and I'm sharing a room with my son. He's 10 years old now, 11. Turned 11 yesterday. And I look over at him, and instead of running around rampant on the cruise ship, he is sitting in his room reading a book. He's got his little table lamp on, and he is just enthralled in this story. One, made my heart proud as dad, as the host of the Read well podcast. And two, I thought, there's something strange with this kid because there are water slides on the boat and all sorts of crazy things. And of course, I got him out of the room and we went and had fun. But he really loves reading. And I started thinking, how did he get there? And then I thought about how I got to my own love of reading. And I've realized that a lot of us, I'm not saying this is you in particular, you might feel very differently, but a lot of us have started reading not for wonder, like we did as a kid, but instead we've been reading for advancement, or maybe to check off a box in our ego to say that I read a hard book, just to say that we did it right. So today I want to talk about how to recapture that wonder and read like my son in the cabin. Let's get into it. Welcome to this week's episode of the Read well Podcast. My name is Eddie Hood, and I'm your host, where I believe it's more important to read well than to be well read. So grab your favorite book, open up your notes, and let's get ready to learn something fascinating. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Readwell Podcast. My name is Eddie Hood, and today we're talking about how to relove or fall in love again with books, just like we did when we were kids. When I was a little boy, I had a best friend next door who was the book guy, and he helped influence me to become a reader. Now, one day he was very sick. I went over to visit him in his house, and his bedroom was in the basement. I remember going down the stairs in this basement. It was very dark basement, kind of old and creepy and what have you. But in the back corner of this basement, there was a lamp on a little tableside lamp, and that was the lamp to his bed. And when we went into the back room where his bedroom was, on the side table next to the bed was a stack of books. And he pointed out this stack to me. And I was just in awe because these weren't like picture books that most of the kids read. These were five, 600 page books. They were fantasy books. Back in the 80s, you know, we were reading like Sword of Shannara and stuff. That's what he had on his desk by Terry Brooks. And I just was so impressed by this kid. And I said, how do you read books like this? And he said, I don't know. I'm just so excited to see what happens. And that's what we want to foster today is that sense of wonder. And when you were a kid, you probably read for different reasons than you do now. So to start today and to make this episode a little more interactive, we. Whether you're listening on the podcast or you're watching on YouTube, if you can drop me a comment or leave me a note, what were the books that inspired you as a kid to really open up and begin loving the act of story? And I'll tell you what mine is. It is Treasure Island. I went to the library right after hanging out with my friend. Of course I got sort of Shannara because that's what he had. But I asked the librarian for other recommendations and she gave me one. She gave me a book called Treasure Island. Now I have really old copies of Treasure island here in my bookstore. My wife bought me these for an anniversary present several years ago. And I'm just so in love with them because they're old and they remind me of how important this story is. But my connection here. When I was a kid, I loved fishing and I used to go all of the time. I would fly fish before school, after school, and so on. I've told the story on the channel before, but I want to share it with you again because it's important. I lived for fishing, not for reading. I was that outdoor kid that read all of the fishing magazines. I knew where all of the fish were going to hide and all that stuff. I was obsessed. Well, after meeting with my friend and then going to the library, I came back with Treasure island and Sword of Shinar in my hand. And I liked Sword of Shinar. It was. It was quite good. But for some reason Treasure island just grabbed me. And we were going on a vacation, a fishing trip for my birthday that very weekend. And it was a four or five hour drive away. And I remember sitting in the back of that truck reading Treasure island. And I was stuck in that Admiral Ben bow and I was terrified of the old sea dog that came in and I could see the Giant chest of coins, the black spot in his hand. And the whole thing just came alive for me. And I understood in that moment the mystery and the excitement of the word pirate and what it meant to be on an adventure. Well, as I got older, I lost some of that wonder. I went to business school and I began reading business books. Those are all over here on my left hand side. And I loved business books, but I was reading them to learn something, to achieve some new level of success. And I started thinking too about this podcast and I love it so much and I love this community and I love you for being here with me and listening and sharing your thoughts. But I do want to make sure that we don't get so high minded, you know, hoity toity, that we only think about the quote unquote serious books, thereby feeling like the not so serious books aren't worth our time. Because they are. It's one thing to read a book because it inspires you. It's another thing to read it because you feel like you're supposed to. Like that's what a good reader would do, you know. And often we read the classics or the harder books like War and Peace or Anna Karenina, maybe for ego sometimes just to say that we did it, just to say, oh yeah, I've read Anna Karenina, absolutely. Then we can sound smart on social media, we can say something intelligent at the next party with our friends and all of that's fine, whatever. But there really is a sense of reading, of being in place that is just missed when we leave childhood and enter adulthood. So I want to inspire you and myself to go build a fort tonight, right, to put up lights, to have that moment in your house with all the lights off, maybe light a candle, open up your favorite book, one that you're reading without an agenda, one where you're not worried about the page count, one where you're not worried about what it says of you or how it reflects on your identity, how it will grow your business, what it will do for your relationships. Your just a book that gets you genuinely, truly excited. Now I'm going to share with you the books that I've been reading recently, leaning into that sort of sense of wonder. And I'm loving them. It's a, it's a series of books and I've only read the first one, but so far so good. And then I'm going to give you a quick community update on my bookstore. I've just partnered with one of my most favorite companies ever and their products are just so cool. I can't wait to share them with you. So, first, the book recommendation. I have gotten myself into the Southern Reach series by Jeff Vandermeer. And the first book here is called Annihilation. Now, this is either going to be for you or not for you. This is a very strange sort of narrative. The idea is this, that there's this almost like wildlife preserves on the earth that is almost alien, and that it has just random weird things happening. And they keep sending explorers in to try and figure out what's going on in this preserve. And the explorers are either dying there, or they're coming back insane, or their memories are wiped, or who knows what. And it is the strangest, weirdest novel I have ever read. But for some reason, it's. It's just gripping and it is just a really fun exercise in reading to start up that sense of wonder. And the covers are absolutely beautiful. I don't know if all of the editions look like this, but there are pictures of, like, really strange animals that you might see in Area X. And Area X is the place that is the preserve, right? So it's called the Southern Reach series. And the explorers go to Area X and all sorts of crazy things happen. Be prepared. You likely won't. I'm really enjoying it. I'm looking forward to reading the next two books called Authority and Acceptance, and I will return a report on those after. Now, I also want to point out that when we're doing our reading to foster that sense of wonder, what can you do to turn it into a fun ritual? With for some reason gotten into the habit of feeling like reading is this task, this thing that you have to do. You know, you got to get 15 minutes in of reading every day so that you're successful, effective, yada, yada, yada. But when you were a kid, you made like a hot cup of cocoa. That was your ritual. You maybe had a specific blanket that you sat with. You definitely weren't worried about time. Anyway, I think you get the point. But maybe as you sit down today or tonight to read your book, just ask yourself why you're reading and ask yourself maybe how you might benefit from just throwing a little more wonder into the experience. Now, many of you know I own a bookstore called edgewaterbookstore.com and I have what I feel are the reading books and the materials that inspire me the most. I just wanted a place to put it all and curate it so that anybody who wants to share in these things can also get access to them. And a few months ago, I bought a product for myself that I have really loved. It's a company called Lockbee. So Lockby sells journals and journal covers and tool rolls and notebooks and all sorts of stuff. And I don't want you to get confused. I make my own notebooks at Edgewater that are specific to taking book notes, but those are tiny little sort of field notes that can be used to capture your ideas for a specific book. I still use other journals, larger format journals, for everyday thinking, for everyday reading, for everyday thought process. And I was looking for something that would really fit my style and help me get. I like the idea of everyday carry stuff, right? Things that I can comfortably carry with me every day that are rugged, can be tossed in the car and just look good. So I've got several different products on the Edgewater bookstore right now. And if you go there, you'll see in the Focus section, this is the folio, the notebook folio. It's really cool. It's got a place up here to hold your pen and it's got several pockets. But it's got a way for you to hold up to four different lock me notebooks in it, which is amazing because you can have a notebook for work, you can have one for your creative endeavors, you can have one for your to do lists and so on. Right. But I really like that concept. It just holds my notebooks, keeps my business cards and my pen, and I just carry it with me everywhere so that I don't lose my thoughts. Another product that I have on Edgewater is their tool roll. So this might look a little silly, but I love this thing. It goes in my backpack or in my sort of messenger bag and it carries all of the little tools that I use to mark up books or to work around the house or to have just in an emergency. Again, this is everyday carry kind of stuff. But I felt like it fit the aesthetic of Edgewater and the purpose of being a thoughtful person on the go. So it has a little clasp and you just unhook the hook on the back and then it opens up and it holds all of your tools. It's got a pocket here. So I keep my, my tabs and my pens and what have you. But then I've got a little flashlight, a nail clipper, some markers and some cables and things. And it's just nice to have everything I need wherever I am at. So go check it out. Edgewaterbookstore.com Go to the Focus section in the navigation and you'll see all of the things that I have there. Hey, if you found this week's episode helpful and you are interested in inspiring more wonder in your reading experience, please just take a moment to do all of the like and subscribe stuff and share the video. I'm trying to grow the community here and trying to find more readers like you who are interested in getting the most from their books. All right, till next week. As always, remember to read slowly, take notes, and apply the ideas. I'll see you all next time. If you'd like to take your reading to the next level, then head on over to thereadwellpodcast.com there you'll find daily posts on how to read well. You'll also get access to all of my book notes and tools for becoming a better reader. And as always, don't forget to read slowly, take notes, and apply the ideas. Thank you for listening to the Read well podcast.