Author: Steve Leveen

Publisher: Levenger Press

ISBN: 1929154178

The following review was contributed by:  NORM GOLDMAN:  Editor of Bookpleasures &CLICK TO VIEW  Norm Goldman's Reviews

     

It is amazing how many individuals are unaware as to how to reap maximum profits from the books they read. They may even be prolific readers, however, how much of what they read do they actually retain and perhaps put to good use?

Steve Leveen, author of The Little Guide To You Well-Read Life: How to get more books in your life and more life from your books, admits that he was not one of the precocious children who began reading serious books at a young age. In fact, like so many of us, if we were not required to read a particular book for high school or college, we would never have opened them, or if we did, we would fake our way via reading Cliffs Notes or Cole’s Notes.

Written in clear and precise language, this little gem of a book that divides itself into 5 chapters provides an excellent guide and window into the world of reading, or as most aptly stated,  “the sweetness of book enlightenment.”

To begin with, we are informed of the mechanics of how to go about choosing our books, without being overwhelmed by the enormous choice available, and without feeling obliged to immediately read all of our choices.

Once we do have a book in our hands, we are advised to take a pro-active approach by entering into a dialogue between the author and ourselves. This will ultimately lead to a more comprehensive retention of what we read, leading to greater satisfaction from the book’s contents.

One entire chapter is devoted to the recent popularity of audio books, and the rebuttal of the notion that many readers view audio books suspiciously today as not falling into the category of real reading. For the author, it is reading with your ears rather than your eyes, and it was the result of discovering audio books, that Leveen became a re-born reader.

Leveen devotes his closing chapters to reading groups and their benefits in sharing what you have read with others. As a book reviewer for Bookpleasures.com as well as other Internet sites, I can personally vouch for the effectiveness of sharing my analysis of a particular book with others. It has also, as is the case with book clubs, permitted me to find treasures that ordinarily I would not have found.

There is a great deal of wisdom to ponder about in this book, notwithstanding that the book is only 116 pages.