A Reading Manifesto

Some rules and guidelines after spotting patterns, gaps, and disappointments in my reading list: Read physical books; do not read online articles. Physical books allow for longer engagement with an idea and do not have a comments section you can immediately refer to to see what others think about a topic, giving you no chance to ponder on your own. Do not trust quotes by anyone on book covers. Most of the time they are exaggerated, hyperbolic. Read more books in Hindi. Read more books in Marathi. Read more translated books. Read more Indian books. Read books published before the pandemic, before BookTok, before ChatGPT as much as possible. Any book with a list of tropes or “BookTok bestseller/sensation” can be ignored. Don’t read books that are similar to what you’ve read before. Alternate between reading fiction and non-fiction. Don’t read with a pencil in hand (although you can keep it close by). If something is important enough, you will get up to take one out and underline stuff.…