This is year two of my conscious effort to increase time spent reading and thinking while decreasing time in front of the screens. It’s also year two of answering a lot of questions about why and how I read so many books. In today’s information-on-demand world, isn’t it more efficient, timely and productive to focus on instantaneously disseminated news, blogs, or tweets? We don’t think so.

Learning requires effectively storing and organizing information for the long-term. It’s about connecting different dots from different fields to reach different conclusions So why store things that may not be relevant for long? Has anyone ever scrolled back a week on Twitter? A book, by its very nature, ensures that its content has at least matured beyond the viral “flash-in-the-pan” stage. These are the sorts of ideas we prefer to remain central to our learning process at Broyhill. So next time you open up your web browser or grab for that urgent report printed on your desk, ask yourself if what you are reading will be relevant in a week or a month or a year? Then put it down, and pick up some of the timeless wisdom shared here.

Click on the image below to peruse the 2016 Broyhill Book Club.

One of the distinct joys of books is sharing what I’ve learned with friends. Clients of Broyhill are welcome to choose one book for their own library – it’s our way of saying “thank you” for giving us the motivation to come into the office every morning smarter than the previous day.

[us_separator size=”small”] Chris Pavese blogs at The View from the Blue Ridge. [us_separator size=”small”]