Bella Vida by Letty

Benefits of Reading With a Purpose

As an avid reader I devour articles, magazines and books on a daily basis. I guess that’s why I’ve never made any formal reading goals. It’s something I already do, but seeing others create reading goals for the new year made me want to take my reading to another level which is reading with the purpose to acquire and use information.

Reading to Learn

Writing better will always be a goal of mine. The first two books I’m reading this year are about writing. I’m re-reading Syd Field’s, Foundations of Screenwriting. It helps me to look at the plot of the story I’m working on and strengthen it.

The second book I’m reading is Writing Irresistible Kidlit by Mary Kole. If you are writing for young adults or middle grade I highly recommend it. This is one of the best books on writing I’ve read.

Reading to Acquire New Information

There are things I want to learn like how to best handle my finances, business and marketing. I’ll be reading books on these topics and I’ll share them here and on Goodreads. Please share your recommendations in the comments.

Reading for fun

I also like to read for pure entertainment especially fiction. Next on my to read list is one I picked up at the Miami Book Fair. It’s a book of short stories called: The Vintage Book of Latin American Stories. There are some classics stories in there like Jorge Luis Borges, The Aleph but also many other great gems I hope to discover.

Some of my favorite books are:

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
Wild Women: Contemporary Short Stories by Women Celebrating Women by Sue Thomas
The Dragon Tattoo Series by Stieg Larsson
The Norton Anthology of Latino Literature by Ilan Stavans
The House on the Lagoon by Rosario Ferre
Puerto Rican Obituary by Pedro Pietri
The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles

10 Benefits of Reading

Mental Stimulation

Improve Memory

Acquire Vocabulary

Boosts Analytical Thinking

Improves Empathy

Improve Writing Skills

Increase Emotional Intelligence

Expands Your World View

Makes You Look Sexy

Entertainment

If you’re on Goodreads you can check out what I read in 2013.

Your turn, tell me what you’re reading?

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“Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live.” Gustave Flaubert

“We read to know that we are not alone.” William Nicholson

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” Benjamin Franklin

“Think before you speak. Read before you think.” Fran Lebowitz

“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.” Mortimer J. Adler

Update: I found an old Vine video with some books from my shelf.