no fail readings

In No Fail Meetings, Michael Hyatt writes that, "a good meeting should impact your calendar at least three times":

• Before: preparation (for the meeting)
• During: the meeting itself
• After: the followup meeting

Substitute meeting for reading.

To approach a book without knowing the author and work you are to spend copious amounts of time with is not only foolish, but inefficient. In meetings, we know our client's work history, preferences, and intentions to a degree.

Substitute client for author.

During a meeting, we take notes, ask questions we prepared, and ponder future implications of the discussion.

After a meeting, we review highlights and action items, see if we need to return to what was discussed, and determine what, if any, change is needed.

***Note: After reading some incredible, medieval sci-fi in Pierce Brown's Red Rising saga, I would recommend to no one that they prepare themselves in any way but emotionally for this kind of reading. This does not apply to most fiction.***

I would proffer that the due diligence we put into meetings is also applicable to the time we invest into books. Authors spend years preparing their work to have something to say to us- why shouldn't we listen closely?