When reading inspiration strikes, don't let it go
Reading books is a salve for the screen-driven, burnout-prone, cortisol-spiked world in which we find ourselves. That's the good news.
The bad news is that our always-on work culture and always-scrolling social feeds can make it challenging to find the space to slow down, get comfy, crack open a spine, and immerse yourself in a new world.
We are awash in information, flying at us from all angles all day, every day.
And this includes book recommendations too! You might hear an author on NPR in the morning and think, "I should really read that book" - or maybe your favorite podcast spotlights a recommendation that sets off your "want to read" radar. In fact, a recent podcast (about the business of podcasts... meta!) from a16z (a storied Silicon Valley VC firm) discussed how podcasts are becoming a huge driver of book recommendations.
With Italic Type, the next time your ears perk up at the sound of a new book, you'll be able to easily capture the title in your "queue" list, label it for some more context, and make sure you never lose your ideas for what to read next.
How to tap reading inspiration — and track what spurs it
Here's my own user story, for how I experienced this very scenario recently.
I was listening to a recent Ezra Klein podcast, coincidentally about the very topic of millennial burnout and 24/7 connected work. At the end of every episode, Ezra always has his guests recommend books. Derek Thompson, his journalist guest, author "Workism Is Making Americans Miserable" in The Atlantic, gave the following recommendation:
"My book is A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, because I wanted to name a book where I experienced a period of the purest leisurely joy. I remember being so rapturously happy with how good it was. Just the right amount of challenging + verbose. The right amount of smart. It was the perfect leisurely flow, the perfect reading experience. A perfect example of disappearing into leisure and leaving the working world behind."
OK, SOLD!
But I don't just want to think about reading it. I really want to make sure it's something that stays on my radar.
With the Italic Type app I can make sure I close the loop: I can add it to my queue of books I want to read, add a label for context so I know why I put it in there, and I can even order the book (we'll have affiliates with all the main sources, most importantly IndieBound, where you can order books online from your favorite local indie bookstores!)
"A Visit From the Goon Squad" is really, unbelievably good (thank you Derek Thompson, Ezra Klein, Jennifer Egan, my dad for instilling a love of books in me, Mrs. Davis my middle school librarian etc..)
And the bottom line to my fellow readers is this: when you get a flash of reading inspiration, hold on to it! Follow it through. Capture what you're interested in reading, and use your phone as an instrument for more book reading, and less stuff that doesn't matter and drives us crazy.
Sign up to be a part of the Italic Type pilot prototype, launching this summer.
