Reading Rules

There are some gems are in Ryan Holiday's 2026 reading rules: 

• You should always be carrying a book.

• If you’re not reading with a pen, you’re not really reading.

• Books are not precious things. It should look like you’ve read the book. Mark it up. Fold pages. Beat them up. Books are not precious things.

• Forget the news, the best way to understand what’s happening in the world is by reading books.

• Don’t be a book snob. I find myself sometimes reluctant to read the latest super popular book. That snobbishness never serves me well. More often than not, when I get around to those bestsellers I kick myself — they were bestsellers for a reason! They’re great!

• If a book sucks, stop reading it. The best readers actually quit a lot of books. You turn off a TV show if it’s boring. 

• The rule for quitting books is one hundred pages minus your age. Meaning: as you age, you have to endure crappy books less and less. I give books a little more time than my 95 year old grandmother does.

• Good writers (and good books) are not hard to read.

• A long book must justify itself. 

• “What’s a book that changed your life?” is a question that will change your life. Ask people you admire for book recommendations. Emerson’s line was, “If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.”

• Look for wisdom, not facts. We’re not reading to just find random pieces of information. What’s the point of that? We’re reading to accumulate a mass of true wisdom — that you can turn to and apply in your actual life.

• When you find an author you love, read ALL the books they’ve written.

• If you see a book you want, buy it. Don’t worry about the price. Reading is not a luxury. It’s not something you splurge on. It’s a necessity. 

• Our aim as a reader is to understand WHY something happened, the what is secondary.