#247 | Special Edition: How I Curate ‘Books for Men' and What I Read More Broadly
Quick SUMMARY:
In this Special Edition episode, Douglas Vigliotti unveils his book selection and curation process, sharing insights into his reading habits, the methodology behind his recommendations, and the importance of a "consumption diet" for mental health. Douglas outlines three pillars for curating his reading list, shares his reading statistics from the last five years and current "to be read" list, and encourages listener feedback and suggestions for future Special Edition episodes.
Listen to the episode:
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TOPICS COVERED IN the EPISODE:
Introduction to the Episode (00:09) - Douglas introduces the special edition episode about his book selection and curation process.
Encouragement for Listener Engagement (00:40) - He invites listeners to share questions and suggestions for improving the podcast.
Promotion of New Book (01:26) - Douglas discusses his new book, "Aristotle for Novelists," and its relevance to storytelling.
Importance of Curation (02:35) - He emphasizes the significance of being intentional about what one consumes in literature and media.
Reading Deficit Concept (02:35) - Douglas explains the idea of a perpetual reading deficit and its implications for readers.
Consumption Diet (02:35) - He introduces the concept of a "consumption diet," stressing the importance of quality input.
Intimacy of Reading (03:47) - Douglas highlights the unique intimacy of reading compared to other media forms.
Methodology Behind Recommendations (05:03) - He asserts that he only recommends books he has read in their entirety.
Curating Reading Choices (06:10) - Douglas outlines his three pillars for curating reading material: interest, adjacency, and relationships.
Interest as a Pillar of Curation (06:10) - He discusses how personal interests guide his reading choices.
Adjacent Interests (08:30) - Douglas explains how books related to his interests help expand his knowledge and understanding.
Relationships in Book Selection (09:52) - He talks about the importance of trusting recommendations from others and authors.
Statistics on Reading Habits (12:05) - Douglas shares his reading statistics for 2023 and previous years, including books read and DNFs.
Current To Be Read List (15:16) - He concludes with details about his current "to be read" list and its significance.
Closing Remarks (16:27) - Douglas encourages listener feedback and promotes his new book and social media.
READ THE TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome back to “Books for Men”, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. So this week will be another special edition episode, and I will be talking about how I select what I read and how I curate books for men. This came about via a question from my brother, and I thought it would make a really good episode because it gives you a little bit more context. I do want to encourage any listeners who have questions or suggestions. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me because one. They will help me create a better podcast for you. And also they might end up as special edition episodes. I'm always looking for ideas, and sometimes it's hard to gather Feedback and suggestions, so please reach out. I'd love to hear them. Having said that, before I jump in, I did want to take just a moment to remind you about my new book that is out, “Aristotle for Novelists: 14 Timeless Principles on the Art of Story”. If you are looking to tell a story of any kind, whether it's on the page, on the screen in your life, we're all trying to tell a story in some fashion, and I think this book will be right up your alley.
01:26 - If you are interested in learning more, then all you have to do is visit the website AristotleforNovelists.com. All right, so now let's turn back to the reason why we are here today, which is for me to share how I curate what I read. And I think this episode will provide a lot of context on your host, me, and ultimately, I think it will just aid your listening experience and just have a better understanding of me. So let me start with the obvious. I read a lot, and I read broadly, as you might expect, but it's important to note that there will never be a time when there won't be more books I haven't read than I have, and I think that's the same for every human being. I can't say the same for AI, but that's a whole other topic for another day. This whole idea of always being in, I hate using the word, but a reading deficit. So being more books to read than you're capable of is just a simple truth, right? So, between that and another idea that I've sort of been stuck on for quite some time now, I refer to it as a consumption diet.
02:35 - In fact, it's more or less what I wrote my first novel about, “Tom Collins”, the same book that is about a guy who unknowingly sleeps with his boss's wife. That novel. But anyway, this idea of a consumption diet is so important because garbage in, garbage out. And actually, the epilogue of that book, I share a quote from Tom Waits, and it says: “Anything you absorb, you will ultimately secrete. It's inevitable. Most of us are original paintings, and it's a mystery as to what is learned and what is borrowed, what is stolen and what is born. What you came in with and what you found while you were here.” So, between this idea that you're only going to read a limited number of books in your life, and there is great importance as to what you consume, because what you put in the machine is what you will get out of the machine. I think it makes curation a super important task in someone's life, and books definitely fall under that, but it goes far beyond books, right? This is the movies and the social media, and music, and podcasts, and everything.
03:47 - What you take in is really, really important. And honestly, overall, if I could suggest one thing that I think will improve your mental health, it's being super cognizant of what you consume, not allowing mindless consumption to dominate your consumption habits. And I think that if you're listening to this podcast, you're here intentionally. And that is like the first step of that, which is being intentional about what you listen to, what you read, and what you watch. But I really can't recommend it enough. I should note quickly that I mentioned a lot of other forms of media, like songs or movies, and you've heard me say this before, but books are a very different medium for a lot of reasons, and I can link the special edition episodes where I talk about that specifically in the show notes. But reading in general is very intimate, and it takes a lot more time. And because of this, when you suggest reads to people and that's what I am doing on “Books for Men”, you have to sort of take it seriously and have a methodology for that, because you're asking for someone to spend a lot of time in a very intimate way with something.
05:03 - And so with that, you should know, and I get this question, which is so strange to me. Do you really read all of the books that you share on the podcast? And the answer to that is 100% yes. I have never shared a book on this podcast that I've never read before, and I will never share a book on this podcast that I haven't read in its entirety, page to page, and probably more analytically than the average person, just based on how I like to read things. But it's really important that I note that, because I would never ask you to spend so much time in such an intimate way with something, having not really thought about and considered why I think you should read it, and I hope that comes through. But I understand that you're probably not going to read every book that I suggest on this podcast. And the point is not to have you really read every book that's on this podcast. It's to share a wide enough variety that something you hear on the podcast can be added to your to-be-read list, and be part of how you curate what you read.
06:10 - On that note, now let me turn to how I curate what I read, and then I will also give you some of my reading statistics for this year, in the previous years, and what my to-be-read list currently looks like right now. So for starters, I usually curate books in a pretty specific way, I would say. And it's around three pillars. The first being interest, which to me is far and away the number one reason why I read what I read. There are things that I am interested in temporarily, whether it's because I am working on something or just because I have an interest in the subject matter. Like pizza is a good example of this, I read about 3 or 4 books on pizza making because I am writing a novel that incorporates pizza making, and I want it to have that base level of knowledge. And so I was really interested in it. So I read a lot of books around that. Eastern philosophy is another good example of that, as something that has been recent.
07:11 - Over the last year, two years, I've read probably 6 to 10 books, ranging from spirituality to Buddhism to different philosophical works in the form of martial arts or anything of that nature, things that aid that interest. Some of them have ended up on this podcast because of it. And then, of course, there's just the general interests like literature, writing, creativity, storytelling that's always ongoing because it relates to my life pretty directly. And the literature piece is very broad, and it's why a lot of classics end up on my reading list, because I'm always looking to build out that foundation of my interest and go deeper with it, and have a vaster understanding of the subject that I am interested in. This leads me into what I would say the second pillar of my curation method is, and that is anything that is adjacent to that interest. So if it adds to what I am currently infatuated with, or my more general interests than it could end up on my reading list. And that again, is constantly evolving and growing out like a giant spiderweb.
08:30 - A good example of this is my sister-in-law, who gave me a book for Christmas called “In the Margins”. It's Elena Ferrante's essay book on writing and creativity, which led me to “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas”, a book that ended up on this podcast because she writes about it in one of her essays. So, for me, not only to understand Elena Ferrante better and, in the margins, better, reading “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas” adds to that, and it also then expands knowledge outward and links to other interests that I have in Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway. And it backfills all of the previous works that I've read on those great artists. So that's a good example of how interest leads to what I would call adjacent to that interest, and then links everything together. And I'm always looking at how I could add books that do that based on the things that I am interested in. It widens the lens and helps me make connections across disciplines and across subject matters that I perhaps wouldn't have been able to by just reading one book about one person.
09:52 - It's really linking different points of view and worldviews and experiences, and it helps my understanding. The third pillar in my curation method is relationships. So this is the X factor. And when I say relationships, I mean relationships to both the people who are suggesting or referring books to me and my relationship to the authors of those books, so do I trust the reviewer or the person giving me the book recommendation, or do I trust the author? And so this comes in the form of I read this author somewhere along the line, and now I want to read more of them. So I'm always backfilling my TBR to be read list with authors that I know, like, and trust. Or I really enjoy reading. Or maybe I want to reread something that I read a long time ago. I mean, authors that I've done this with are Hemingway, Way. Elmore Leonard, Hunter Thompson, Cormac McCarthy, Richard Price, Haruki Murakami, Fuminori Nakamura, and you might recognize some of the names because a lot have ended up on this podcast.
11:00 - Obviously, if I really like them, they will. The other big thing within relationships is: do I know the author personally? So sometimes I'll know an author. Personally, they'll reach out, give me their book. In that case, they have ended up on the show. However, everything that I mentioned before does hold true in that I have to really one enjoy the book and have an angle and something unique that I want to say about the book in order to share it on the podcast. Unfortunately, I can't share everything that I read on this podcast, and so I have to be selective on what I share and how much of something I share, because variation is important to me, and also things that build on top of each other. So similar to how I read for myself. I'm always looking to do that for you and help grow that web of knowledge and build on something iteratively. A lot of times, you'll even hear me make reference of other episodes in the podcast and how they relate.
12:05 - Although I am recommending books to you, there is still a point of view that is associated with that. And I think if you are a regular listener, you've probably gathered that by now. All right, now to wrap this episode up, I will share some of my reading statistics. You're probably wondering how many books I read, how often I read all of that. So far this year, I've read 17 books cover to cover, nine of which have been novels so similar to what I share on Books for Men. I go back and forth between fiction and non-fiction, and I really do focus on that with my reading. Sometimes, of course, I'll go on a stretch where I read more than one of a genre in a row, but I really try to vary it because I do think that it builds a better base, and it actually improves my understanding of what I've read overall. I should say that I've put down probably another 5 to 6 books this year, which means I started them but didn't finish them.
13:06 - So, a DNF is what people usually call that. I'm happy with that ratio because it means my initial judgment is pretty good. And all the books that I put down, they're not ones that I necessarily don't like. More times than not, it's me saying, This feels like something that I've read before, and I don't feel compelled to finish it. Or, of course, it just could be bad, and I don't like it. I should mention that I'm a little behind the eight ball this year, because “Anna Karenina” took me an entire month to read, so it set me back a little bit, and I usually try to vary in length as well. So if I read a long book, I'll back that with a couple of short books. So that's kind of where I'm at right now. I'm always looking at variation that's really, really important to how I read. So, some of my other statistics. So in 2020, I read 66 books, and in 2021, I read 55 books. In 2022, I read 71 books.
14:05 - And I started tracking DNFs at that point. And so I put down seven, which is pretty good, actually. And then in 2023, I read 65 books and did not finish 11 in that year. I also started reading Shakespeare and “The Bible” as an ongoing process. And if I'm being totally honest, I haven't done a great job keeping up with that. So maybe it's something that I should just take time and read, although that will severely impact my reading schedule if I do that. But both of those works are extremely important as foundational components to many of the interests that I shared with you earlier in 2024. I read 61 books and did not finish 11. I should mention that when I say I did not finish these do not include when I pick up a book specifically just to see how an author writes or something of that nature. I don't consider those books that I attempted to read. I just consider them books that I picked up to see how that author does what they're doing. And I will close this episode by saying that right now, my TBR red list is nine books long.
15:16 - That's usually where it's at most of the time. I work through it pretty quickly. These are not books that I wish to buy and read one day. They are books that I've already bought and are waiting to be read. This is what makes when people suggest a book, especially if you're asking me to read something well outside of my interests and I don't know you, it makes it difficult for me to add it in. Not to say that I won't, but the likelihood just goes down because I have so many other books that fit the algorithm of how I am reading, and I don't think that that's different from a lot of people, but it's just important to remember that again, something I led this episode with a book takes time and it's very intimate. So suggestions are great and they're always welcome, but it's always important to remember what you're asking somebody to do when you suggest they read a book. All right. So that's all I've got. I hope you enjoyed this episode provided a lot more context on what I read, why I read it, and why I suggest it to you if it didn't, and you still have questions.
16:27 - As I led this off with, I want to encourage you to reach out to me directly. And of course, if you are a regular listener, please remember to click subscribe on this podcast and rate. It takes two seconds to do either, and both of those things are the best way that we can get this podcast in front of more eyeballs and ears and inspire more men to read. As I mentioned a few times in this episode, I would love for you to reach out to me with any questions, suggestions, or feedback on this podcast, the podcast more broadly, or anything at all. And you could do that in two ways, either on Instagram @DouglasVigliotti. It's the only social media that I have and via my website DouglasVigliotti.com. Remember, I do have a new book out, and it's called “Aristotle for Novelists,” and you can find more information about that at AristotleforNovelists.com. All of these links will be in the show notes. And last but not least, I want to thank you so much for listening and remind you that if you want more information on this podcast specifically, which includes signing up for the monthly newsletter, then all you have to do is head over to the website BooksforMen.org.
