Read for Your Life: 11 Ways to Better Yourself Through Books

by Pat Williams

Pat Williams reminds us that reading can transform our lives. But for that to happen we have to turn off the TV and pick up the book. Books give us information, remind us we're human, and above all challenge our imagination. Pat Williams encourages people not to take this gift for granted.
Have you ever thought, 'I need to read more,' but not known how or where to start? You can start right here! Read for Your Life reignites your love affair with books and shows you how to prioritize reading--no matter how busy you think you are. It's not just about filling that hard-to-find 'downtime.' Books improve your life in every imaginable way and can give you a mental workout guaranteed to keep your brain fit, alert, and active your whole lifetime.
>Author Pat Williams is on a mission to help us all fully access and enjoy the power of reading. If Pat--a father of nineteen children, a four-marathon-a-year runner, and the senior vice president of the Orlando Magic--can make time for it, anyone can. With anecdotes and interviews from today's greatest icons in business, academia, and sports--including Alex Rodriguez, Grant Hill, Oprah Winfrey, Rick Warren, and Rudy Giuliani-- Read for Your Life shows you how you can:

· Minimize distractions and maximize your reading time

· Develop a personalized program for reading more often

· Discover the many ways that reading can improve your mental well-being, your outlook on life, and your level of success in your career

· Rediscover and reconnect with the real you by reading regularly

The lifetime gift of literacy is inside this book. Unleash it!

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Books About Books

311 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

About the author

Patrick Livingston Murphy Williams was an American sports executive, who served as senior vice president of the Orlando Magic. Williams began his career as a minor league baseball player, and later joined the front office of his team. In the late 1960s he moved into basketball, with his biggest achievements being the 1983 title of the Philadelphia 76'ers and being a partner in the creation of the Orlando Magic.

Reviews

[Peter Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful words to understand why reading is so important and how to read better and more effectively

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to decide what I think about this book. At times I found it very repetitive and not that well laid out. At times it was simply stating the obvious. Yet I came away from reading it more determined to make reading more and more a part of my life, and, more importantly, to encourage others to do the same -- which was really the point of this book. Filled with dozens of inspirational quotes, reading suggestions, and speed reading tips. Lots of quotes from academics and some surprising statistics (95% of Americans have never entered a bookstore!). When I picked up the book, I thought (and he mentioned this in the preface) that it was an odd book, in that those who would read it don't need to be convinced of the importance of reading (preaching to the choir) and those who would need to hear it's message wouldn't be inclined to read it. All in all, it was a worthwhile book, and in some ways life-changing. As a Christian, I really liked how he was able to incorporate opinions from people of faith without coming across as preachy!

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been meaning to read this book ever since I first heard about it back in high school when I was involved with Student Leadership University (Williams mentions this organization in the book). I'd consider myself somewhat of a bibliophile, so you should know that from the get go I was really looking forward to reading this book.

First off, let me point out what worked well for this book. Never before have I read a book that has encouraged me and motivated me to have a genuine desire to make reading a bigger part of my life. His strongest arguments are when he points out how we waste our minds and potential when we devote more time to watching reality TV shows, movies, and endless Internet browsing than we do to reading great books. For the most part, I agree with his principle that you should only choose a book that you think you will enjoy reading. I would add that you should only read a book if it will also benefit you. Readers should never feel obligated to read a book simply because it has won awards or someone in their life has recommended it. It must be relevant to their lives in a significant way. I found the advise on speed-reading helpful, but I haven't spent enough time yet testing it out to see if it is really effective in the long run. There are a myriad of inspirational quotes spread throughout this 300 page book.

This leads to my criticism. A 300 page book is by no means exceptionally lengthy, but it certainly felt like a tedious endeavor as I trudged through page after page of the same old concept. To put it lightly, the author was beating a dead horse when he decided to make this book longer than 150 pages. I'm also not a big fan of his writing style (it reads as if a motivational speaker's words were put to paper). At times he came across as slightly pompous and proud. Never before have I been so ferociously compelled to read, read, read, and read. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. I will say that I did like the challenge he gave readers- to put aside one hour every day, for the rest of their life, and devote that hour to reading.

While this book often came across as being a self-help book (I loathe that genre so greatly), it surprisingly challenged and motivated me. While I found it extremely repetitive and drawn out, I did come away with a greater appreciation for books, a stronger desire for reading, and several great concepts to chew on for the future. I'd recommend this for educators, business workers, leaders, high school students, college students, and just about anyone who has a desire to learn and influence others with books and learning.

[Christine Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a good book. I wish that this was required reading for schools. For everyone in the school - administrators, students, teachers. I wish there were a way to require parents to read this, and then maybe more parents would be motivated to read to their children. It's such a privilege, to be able to read, and it's something that our culture is losing. I really appreciated the stories, quotes, and perspectives offered in this and feel it could relate to so many and reach so many. If you haven't read it, whether you're a reader or not, you should pick this book up.

[Dad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was Nothing New

Not quite sure about the audience this book was intended for. The same thing could have been written in a 10 page pamphlet not a long and boring book. The same material was covered over and over and over again. Had the read of cross between " The four arguments for the abolishment of TV" and "How to read a book." If you are a reader you already know the information in this book. If you aren't you wouldn't pick it up anyway. I'd borrow it from someone or find it at a library and not waist money on it if you feel you need to read it.

[Cindi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written by a jock for jocks. This was basically a collection of quotes and stories about books and reading from/about athletes and conservative Christians that just became repetitious. Not for the serious reader- in other words, most people on Goodreads. It was okay, but the only thing I got out of it was an overview of some speed-reading techniques and some ideas on how to plan and structure my reading time a little more - something I'd been working toward anyway.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book about the necessity to teach our kids to enjoy reading and how it can impact their lives as well as our own. I appreciated the messages here.

[Matthew Croswhite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life-changing. Not in a, "I know myself so much better now" way. More like, "Wow. Ok. Challenge issued, received, and accepted!"

[Rachel B · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

The message in this book is a good one, but somewhat repetitive. I think this book could have been cut in half, page-wise, and been more dynamic for it.

I did like that Williams incorporated his Christian faith into the book naturally, referencing God and including thoughts from Christian authors, without being overly preachy.

There were also many quotes about reading, which I always love.

[Carlos Manalo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is good to read to handle your procrastination in reading books!!

[Tram Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty repetitive and none of the tips are revolutionary. As much as I love Pat Williams' booka, this one is a pass.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Motivational speaker and NBA sports executive Pat Williams focuses on the many great reasons to incorporate reading into your life.

I'm gonna stoop to snobbery in this review - be warned. I think this book could have been half as long and much better-written. It's basically a collection of quotations strung together by a web of exhortations. Williams often quotes literacy research from hard-hitting sources such as PARADE Magazine and Oprah Winfrey.

This book was definitely cobbled together by an energetic lifestyle guru, with many self-mentions and more than a few name-checks of famous people. But hey, if he convinces anyone to read more, we all win, right? If you're a sucker for John Maxwell books you'll see a pattern here: both writers love to hammer home points that really can't be argued against, all the while quoting smarter and more original people. (Which, okay, so do I.)

I fully agree with the premise that education and literacy are essential to living the good life (I work in a prison library, and see first-hand the link between a lack of education and incarceration), but I am skeptical at those who regard mere reading as an innately virtuous activity. After all, people read dreck like Fifty Shades of Grey and The Illuminati Formula Used to Create an Undetectable Mind Controlled Slave as well as Great Expectations and Moby-Dick . James Patterson (whose copious output a coworker of mine believes is assembled by a thousand monkeys in a warehouse, pounding away at typewriters) is immensely popular in prison. I doubt, however, that even his most attentive reader will come away much improved, aside from being diverted for a few hours.

Literary snobbery aside, reading is great. Read more. Read always. Read everything! (Even read - no, I can never in good conscience recommend James Patterson. Read the cereal box instead.)

Between quotations, Williams offers a few practical suggestions: advising everyone to carry a book wherever you go is smart. Sadly, the eleven ways get buried beneath the repetition. I'll skip a rigorous literary analysis in favor of stealing a few good words from the text.

So Quotable:

"What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books." - Thomas Carlyle

"Language is the soul of intellect, and reading is the essential process by which that intellect is cultivated beyond the commonplace experiences of everyday life...Reading is a means of thinking with another person's mind; it forces you to stretch your own." - Charles Scribner, Jr.

"People don't realize how a man's whole life can be changed by one book." - Malcolm X

"It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish." - S. I. Hayakawa

"In my contact with people I find that, as a rule, it is only the little narrow people who live for themselves, who never read good books, who do not travel, who never open up their souls in a way to permit them to come into contact with other souls - with the great outside world." - Booker T. Washington

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book at Borders with my husband, mainly because he proposed, "I'll let you get your book if I can get mine..." It wasn't the best written book (the author was very redundant), but it was encouraging. Pat Williams challenges people whenever he speaks (he's well-known in the sports arena) to commit to a goal of reading from a book at least one hour ever day for the rest of their lives. He said even if your read an average 250 word-per-minute, you'd complete a 200 page book each week. He himself has employed speed-reading techniques, reads 3 to 5 hours a day, has about a dozen books going at any given time, and has a goal of completing a book every single day! The things I took away the most from the book were that a little bit every day really adds up and that through books I can access the minds of the greatest thinkers on each subject. Also, I appreciated the point that we never have to feel alone in this world because, no matter what we may be going through, someone, somewhere, has gone through the same thing and has written a book about it!

[Makeda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. Pat Williams offered great information and tips on reading. One of the things that I liked most about this book was the quotes that were included. I feel like this is a great add to my library because it if full of resources on reading. He also adds practical tips for maintaining a life of reading. More than he encourages us to read, he motivates us to become a life long learner if we are not already one.

Overall, I think that everyone should sit down to read this book. There is a challenge to read one hour a day, everyday for the rest of our lives. If we do this the opportunities for growth and learning are endless. One hour day, one book a week, and at least 50 books per year. That's really exciting. I've never thought of it that way.

Great book!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a member of Goodreads I am aware that many people love to read and talk about what they read. Pat William, however, in his book, Read for Your Life has written a book for people who can’t read, won’t read, or figure that they are too busy to read. Those are the majority of the U. S. Population. Pat Williams has written a great book for those who are dragging their feel? They ask why should I read? They also ask why should we be concerned with literacy training or early childhood education to instill a love of reading, or why should we read to our young children? Pat gives us 11 great reasons to be interested in reading, yes even to become a passionate supporter of reading. Read Pat Williams book and you will become motivated, yes like Pat we might become passionate readers.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is a bit boring and wouldn't have attracted me but I received an autographed copy in the mail. Besides, a book for adults who don't like to read, isn't a book adults would naturally pick up and read. However, inside is a delightful collection of quotes, inspirational stories, sound advice, and practical ideas.
I shouldn't have judged this book by its cover (my bad) because it's truly a treasure and one I'll refer to again and again.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you need to get your batteries recharged when it comes to your reading life...this is a good book. The author's enthusiasm is infectious. You find yourself saying, "if this guy can read this many books, I can do the same or better."

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Encouraging and motivational mind candy aimed at those who don't like to read much. Contains some good quotes on the subject of reading.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great thoughts about getting people to read.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

It left me motivated to become a reader, so it accomplished its purpose. This is a great book to give as a gift that can change a person's life.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book,and it inspired me to become an avid reader. I am going to try to read an hour a day.

[Cát Tường · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dont waste time on this book.