Should Books be Treated Like Albums?

A different approach to reading

Lately, I've heard some people arguing that books should not be dealt with in a fixed way. That we don't necessarily need to start with the first page or read the whole thing. We can read a chapter that catches our attention and put the book down.

Since hearing that, I've been thinking about it a lot. I'm the kind of person who always starts a book by the beginning, so it initially seemed weird. However, I now think it can be an interesting approach. I like to associate it with the idea of treating the book as if it were a music album.

An album can be defined as a cohesive collection of songs made by an artist. Artists usually use a theme for each of their albums, keeping a consistent artwork style and having lyrics and tracks that make sense together. Some argue that albums should always be listened to in the particular order the artist decided, starting with the first track (just like the traditional way of reading books). That might have been common some decades ago, but most of us don't do that now. We might only like a few songs in the album, and we probably have those songs in a playlist that plays tracks in a random order. Streaming services have changed the way we play music. 

For example, I love the album Lonerism by Tame Impala. I sometimes listen to it in order, from Be Above It to Sun's Coming Up. But most of the time, I listen to any of the songs in the album through a playlist, and there are songs, such as Mind Mischief or Elephant, that I like better than others, like Sun's Coming Up, or She Just Won't Believe Me. If I want to listen to one of the tunes I like the most, I shouldn't feel obligated to go through the whole album. That'd be a waste of time.

Now, some of you might be thinking that books and albums are different, and the comparison I made is stupid. We re-listen to albums or songs more than we re-read books or chapters. I listened to a few songs +100 times in 2023, but I didn't read any chapter or passage this many times (not even close). It requires much less focus to listen than to read. So don't take this comparison too literally.

The point of this post is to make you think outside the box and change your paradigm. I will probably keep starting most books by the introduction, but I will be more open to skipping parts that don't interest me and coming back to those that caught my attention the most. You can think of it as creating a read-list to which we can add the passages and chapters we like the most. This approach can make reading books more freeing and enjoyable—less of a chore. We should read because we enjoy it, not because we are obligated to. I see anything that releases us from fixed, traditional practices as something positive that makes us more likely to pick up good habits—in this case, reading.

---

I hope you enjoyed this post! What do you think of these approach? If you liked what you read, consider subscribing! Please leave a comment or message me on X, Instagram, or Facebook, and we can chat! Thanks for reading!

See you later!