{"id":17066,"date":"2025-02-25T06:23:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T14:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/?p=17066"},"modified":"2025-11-13T14:00:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T22:00:57","slug":"reflections-on-a-month-for-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/25\/reflections-on-a-month-for-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on a Month for Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m wrapping up this month\u2019s focus, reading, in my year-long <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/myprojects\/foundations-project\/\">Foundations<\/a> project. Normally, I split my final posts into one covering the books I read during the month and one discussing my personal experience and habit changes in the month\u2019s focus area. However, since this month was *about* reading, I decided to merge the two.<\/p>\n<p>Those interested in my previous months\u2019 efforts can see them here:<\/p>\n<p>1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Fitness: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/01\/foundations-fitness-day-1\/\">Start<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/31\/fitness-month-end-update\/\">End<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/22\/what-i-learned-about-getting-in-shape-after-reading-13-books-this-month\/\">Books<\/a><br \/>2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Productivity: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2024\/11\/06\/productivity-opening-update\/\">Start<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2024\/11\/29\/productivity-end\/\">End<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2024\/11\/19\/10-important-books-productivity\/\">Books<\/a><br \/>3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Money: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/03\/money-day-one\/\">Start<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/31\/money-month-end\/\">End<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/17\/10-books-money\/\">Books<\/a><br \/>4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Food: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/06\/food-opening-update\/\">Start<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/04\/food-month-end-update\/\">End<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/13\/what-i-learned-and-unlearned-reading-10-books-on-nutrition\/\">Books<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Today, I\u2019ll start with personal reflections, then move onto my reading for the month.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reflections on Reading<\/h2>\n<p>As evidenced by my previous months\u2019 book lists, I already read a lot of books. This is largely an occupational side-effect, but my reading volume isn\u2019t something that concerns me.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Foundations Conversation Month 5 Update - Reading\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S3WZCQmljhc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Instead, my goals for the month were twofold:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>To read, however briefly, right before bed<\/strong>. I felt like this habit would facilitate sleeping well, in addition to injecting another regular reading slot into my life.<\/li>\n<li><strong>To expand the breadth of books I read<\/strong>. I wanted to spend more time reading literature, history and topics not directly related to my writing. (Though I admit such breadth will probably not be sustained outside of this initial month.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>For both goals, I was successful:<\/p>\n<p>I managed to read every night before falling asleep, although on nights spent with company, my wife and I went to bed later, and I kept this reading brief. I will strive to continue this habit, especially when I approach the month when my project focuses on sleep itself. Books beat screens for improving sleep quality.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of breadth, I was also successful. In particular, I focused on two books I have wanted to read that kept getting pushed out of my queue by more \u201cimportant\u201d books:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"667\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/811iBn28JdL._SL1500_-667x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17070\" style=\"width:107px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/811iBn28JdL._SL1500_-667x1024.jpg 667w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/811iBn28JdL._SL1500_-195x300.jpg 195w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/811iBn28JdL._SL1500_-768x1179.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/811iBn28JdL._SL1500_.jpg 977w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 667px) 100vw, 667px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/619AGDYz4vL._SL1000_.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17071\" style=\"width:164px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/619AGDYz4vL._SL1000_.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/619AGDYz4vL._SL1000_-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/619AGDYz4vL._SL1000_-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/619AGDYz4vL._SL1000_-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/619AGDYz4vL._SL1000_-120x120.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><em>The Count of Monte Cristo<\/em>.<\/strong> This is my all-time favorite novel. I\u2019ve read it at least three times, and last summer I started listening to it as an audiobook in French. Given this month\u2019s focus, I restarted where I left off and have nearly reach the end.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Journey to the West<\/em>.<\/strong> This Chinese classic has been sitting on my shelf since my first trip to China, but the Chinese text was too difficult for me. I\u2019ve surrendered a couple times when attempting to read it in the original Chinese, only making it through a few pages at a time. Now, I\u2019ve decided to read it in English first, following Anthony Yu\u2019s unabridged translation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Both books are excellent, but they\u2019re hardly quick reads. The unabridged audiobook for <em>Monte Cristo<\/em> is nearly 50 hours long, and Yu\u2019s translation runs nearly 2000 pages. Thus, in an ironic twist, the month focused on reading is probably the one in which I finished the fewest total books!<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reading about Reading: Notes on Five Books<\/h2>\n<p>In addition to my literary excursions, I read five books about reading for this month\u2019s research, two of which were re-reads. This is a lot less than I normally read for <a href=\"https:\/\/join.ingeniumcourses.com\/foundations\/\">Foundations<\/a> each month. Part of this was owing to the amount of time I took to read longer books that were off-topic, as mentioned earlier. But a bigger part was simply that I have already read a ton of books on this topic as part of researching <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/getbetter\/\">my latest book<\/a>, so I didn\u2019t feel compelled to research the topic as aggressively as I do the subjects that are new to me.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1-Minute Summary of What I Learned<\/h2>\n<p>First, some quick takeaways from this month\u2019s research:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Reading relies on brain mechanisms that evolved to do different jobs<\/strong>, that are recycled to be applied to the evolutionarily-recent task of reading.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Despite differences in scripts, reading in Chinese, English and Italian all use basically the same brain circuitry<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reading speed is mechanically and psychologically limited<\/strong>. Speed reading doesn\u2019t work, and the upper limit on reading (without skimming or skipping stuff) is probably around 500 words per minute for most people.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Knowledge is the biggest driver of comprehension and memory<\/strong>. The more you know the more you\u2019ll remember from what you read. Ultimately this, not speed, is probably the biggest factor separating people who easily read dozens of books in a month and those who find one or two to be arduous.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reading is a virtuous cycle<\/strong>. In keeping with my fourth point, if you read more, you know more, which makes further reading easier and more enjoyable. Reading well comes from reading lots.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Notes on Five Books<\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Reading-Mind-Cognitive-Approach-Understanding\/dp\/1119301378\">The Reading Mind<\/a> by Daniel Willingham<\/h3>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"679\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/81VSttzZKhL._SL1500_-679x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17072\" style=\"width:150px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/81VSttzZKhL._SL1500_-679x1024.jpg 679w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/81VSttzZKhL._SL1500_-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/81VSttzZKhL._SL1500_-768x1159.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/81VSttzZKhL._SL1500_.jpg 994w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 679px) 100vw, 679px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>I first read this when it came out. Now, having done a lot more background research on reading, I can appreciate just how good a job Willingham does in covering the basic cognitive science of reading.<\/p>\n<p>Willingham carefully articulates the current standard model for how reading works, from moving your eyes, to decoding letters on the page, to the dual routes of sounding out words while accessing irregular ones through a mental lexicon, assembling words into propositions, determining what a book says and, finally, what it actually means. Along the way, he dispels many myths and misconceptions about this process held by educators and readers alike.<\/p>\n<p>My favorite part of this book was Willingham\u2019s discussion of how limited our field of vision is\u2014and how unaware we are of this. Researchers using eye-tracking software transformed a page of text to replace every character outside a narrow range of vision with the letter \u201cX\u201d, quickly updating the display every time a person\u2019s eye moved. Not only did this change have no effect on reading speed\u2014subjects didn\u2019t even realize there was anything strange about the text!<\/p>\n<p>Truly, the things most familiar to us contain some of the greatest surprises.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/How-Read-Book-Classic-Intelligent\/dp\/0671212095\/\">How to Read a Book<\/a> by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren<\/h3>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"659\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/91Z6ApocmwL._SL1500_-659x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17073\" style=\"width:150px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/91Z6ApocmwL._SL1500_-659x1024.jpg 659w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/91Z6ApocmwL._SL1500_-193x300.jpg 193w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/91Z6ApocmwL._SL1500_-768x1193.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/91Z6ApocmwL._SL1500_.jpg 966w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 659px) 100vw, 659px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>This classic has long been recommended to me, but it never made its way out of my book queue. I figured this month was as good a time as any to actually finish it.<\/p>\n<p>The book is well-argued. It articulates a demanding form of \u201canalytical\u201d reading to be applied to the close reading of particular books. The authors argue from the point of view of a reader determining, solely from his or her own efforts and without relying on external commentary, what a book means.<\/p>\n<p>On the one hand, it\u2019s hard to fault much of the advice given in the book, which I found beneficial. And it certainly helped me reflect on my own research process which mirrors the \u201csyntopical\u201d reading they discuss near the end.<\/p>\n<p>And yet, through my research over the past few years, I\u2019ve become more inclined to believe in the \u201cknowledge-centric\u201d view of reading competency rather than the \u201cskills-based\u201d view, especially in light of educational evidence that excessive reliance on skills training has pretty sharp diminishing returns and that what students generally need most is more knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>\u2028Still, I think Adler and Van Doren\u2019s book is a classic for a reason, and it outlines a useful strategy for tackling books that might otherwise seem too daunting even to consider.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/How-Read-Paper-Evidence-based-Healthcare\/dp\/111948474X\/\">How to Read a Paper<\/a> by Trisha Greenhalgh<\/h3>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"663\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/61C33r6WoKL._SL1500_-663x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17074\" style=\"width:150px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/61C33r6WoKL._SL1500_-663x1024.jpg 663w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/61C33r6WoKL._SL1500_-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/61C33r6WoKL._SL1500_-768x1186.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/61C33r6WoKL._SL1500_.jpg 971w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 663px) 100vw, 663px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>I first read this when embarking on my research project for my first book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/ultralearning\/\">Ultralearning<\/a>. While aimed at medical practitioners, the advice in this book is useful to anyone who wants to make sense of, or apply recommendations from, quantitative research.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a danger in becoming halfway educated on a topic and, as someone who is halfway educated about many things, I\u2019m well aware of the risks. It\u2019s all too easy to see a study cited or read a single book and feel like that\u2019s the end of the story on a contentious topic. It rarely is.<\/p>\n<p>Still, I think we live in a media ecosystem which increasingly requires us to understand scientific work in order to evaluate claims in health, education, politics and beyond. In short, we\u2019re all unavoidably doing the kind of amateur research that often backfires into overconfidence in shoddy opinions.<\/p>\n<p>From this perspective, I think Greenhalgh\u2019s book should be mandatory reading for everyone. She outlines the right way to think about published research. As Richard Feynman once remarked, \u201cThe first principle is that you must not fool yourself\u2014and you are the easiest person to fool.\u201d Knowing how to read a paper cannot substitute for years of study, but perhaps it can help you avoid fooling yourself.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Reading-Brain-New-Science-Read\/dp\/0143118056\/\">Reading in the Brain<\/a> by Stanislas Dehaene<\/h3>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"668\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/714ZJg2HzTL._SL1500_-668x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17076\" style=\"width:157px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/714ZJg2HzTL._SL1500_-668x1024.jpg 668w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/714ZJg2HzTL._SL1500_-196x300.jpg 196w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/714ZJg2HzTL._SL1500_-768x1178.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/714ZJg2HzTL._SL1500_.jpg 978w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 668px) 100vw, 668px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>A good complement to Willingham\u2019s <em>The Reading Mind<\/em>, this book, authored by one of the leading neuroscientists in his field, covers the neuroscientific perspective on reading.<\/p>\n<p>It was from this book I learned the surprising fact that nearly all readers, in all languages, read in nearly the same way. I found this surprising because of my time spent learning Chinese, which has a script that seems utterly unrelated to the alphabetic code we use in most European languages.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Why-Read-Mark-Edmundson\/dp\/1582346089\/\">Why Read?<\/a> by Mark Edmundson<\/h3>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"681\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/71mFMDjoDEL._SL1500_-681x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17075\" style=\"width:150px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/71mFMDjoDEL._SL1500_-681x1024.jpg 681w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/71mFMDjoDEL._SL1500_-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/71mFMDjoDEL._SL1500_-768x1154.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/71mFMDjoDEL._SL1500_.jpg 998w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 681px) 100vw, 681px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>A stirring apologia for the humanities, <em>Why Read?<\/em> provides perhaps the best rationale I\u2019ve heard for reading more (and better) fiction.<\/p>\n<p>Edmundson is critical of critics, those literary types that tackle a great book with excessive theorizing, close reading, psychoanalysis and other forms of dissection that, to him, serve to show off the analytical skills of the reader rather than the purpose of great literature. And what is the point of reading great literature? To be changed by it. To have the themes and descriptions give you tools for deciding how to live. This sort of explanation would have caused me to raise my eyebrows not too long ago. Wouldn\u2019t it be easier to read philosophy, which directly tackles such questions, rather than an entertaining work that merely reaches them obliquely? The idea that someone could read <em>The Iliad<\/em> and derive from it a way of life borders upon the absurd. (The epic, you shall recall, begins with Achilles\u2019 temper tantrum over the forfeiture of his war-won sex slave.)<\/p>\n<p>Yet, I think Edmundson did a good job arguing his point. Stories are felt in ways that arguments are not. Reading <em>The Count of Monte Cristo<\/em> in my youth did more to shape my feelings about the idea of committing to a long and patient plan than any rational analysis about such an approach did.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, while I think direct instruction and books that plainly tackle one\u2019s questions are the best way to answer them, I think good literature and philosophy can help you ask better questions of your life in the first place. For that, they deserve a place in your library for more than mere entertainment.<\/p>\n<p>_ _ _<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s it for this month. Next month, my focus is shifting to Outreach, the first foundation for maintaining and building connections with more people. I\u2019ll share some thoughts on that in the next update!<\/p>\n<p>_ _ _<\/p>\n<p>P.S. &#8211; Quick Update on Fitness<\/p>\n<p>I decided to redo my original fitness test from ~5 months ago. Some progress:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>1.5 mile run test. Original: 11 minutes. Now: 9 minutes, 20 seconds. (Estimated VO2 max: 47.4 \u2192 55.3 mL\/kg*min.)<\/li>\n<li>Consecutive pull-ups. Original: 3. Now: 10.<\/li>\n<li>Consecutive push-ups. Original: 24. Now: 49.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m wrapping up this month\u2019s focus, reading, in my year-long Foundations project. Normally, I split my final posts into one covering the books I read during the month and one discussing my personal experience and habit changes in the month\u2019s focus area. However, since this month was *about* reading, I decided to merge the two. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-personal-development","7":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Reflections on a Month for Reading - Scott H Young<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/25\/reflections-on-a-month-for-reading\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reflections on a Month for Reading - Scott H Young\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m wrapping up this month\u2019s focus, reading, in my year-long Foundations project. Normally, I split my final posts into one covering the books I read during the month and one discussing my personal experience and habit changes in the month\u2019s focus area. However, since this month was *about* reading, I decided to merge the two. 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