[CTQ Smartcast] What should go in your book-reading diet?

Avnish Anand is the co-founder of CaratLane, and one of the most voracious readers that we have come across. Some of the best business book recommendations that we have received have come from him.

That itself makes him a special person to talk to - a book loving entrepreneur who loves going down rabbit holes (or rather hyperloops) of discovery. But moreover, Avnish is a great person to dissect what reading non-fiction is all about, because he loves sharing what he reads and always seems to be on a quiet journey to add more to the tribe - people who love to read and talk about what they read.

Here are some things we cover, followed by some great tips he had to offer.

01:12 Why do you read what you read / How to pick books
06:06 Critical number of books to read to start forming connections
07:10 Getting started with reading
12:26 Applying reading directly in real life
14: 30 Reading multiple books at the same time
18:50 Opportunity Cost of picking the right book
21:09 A Rule (suggestion) for price of books you buy
22:23 Quiz Question 1
23: 29 Kindle vs Paper
24: 52 Taking notes while reading and what to do with them
28:08 Note-taking Apps and Tools
28: 30 Do Indian entrepreneurs read enough
33: 47 Three books every entrepreneur should read
38: 18 Other alternatives to learning
41:19 Western vs Indian business books
44:22 Quiz Question 2
46:10 Writing for sharing or consolidating your learning
40:29 Enabling people to talk about what they are reading

Avnish’s book-reading tips

Don't piegon-hole yourself into categories only which you read
If you haven't finished a book, it just means you haven't found a book that suits your interests
The depth of analysis you only get in a book
Rule: Stop reading a book if it is not giving you anything
When you publicly write about what you have read, you meet people who are interested in the same subject.
People don't write about what they read, because of the fear of "looking bad".
The real challenge is to share something that is not popularly accepted.
You can develop a culture of reading in your company. Encourage people to speak about what they read and also write about what they read. Organisations can do this internally, and slowly give them the push and then the encouragement to make this a habit.