At some point, while reading business books, you get a certain disconnection from the info. I don’t mean the pile of  “really interesting books” you started and might someday/never finish – this is about those that are relevant enough to finish quickly. No matter how riveting, at some point, the info seems too… contextual, no?

That’s because it is! Without context, there is no logic to the book and no interest in finishing it. Period. Having just received my Chapters delivery, I thought I’d share with you my new approach to maximizing reading – which I copied from wine-tasting.  No, seriously.

Behold, the three books that arrived today:

  • The Long Tail (revised) – Chris Anderson
  • The Culture Code – Clotaire Rapaille
  • The Copywriter’s Handbook – Robert W. Bly

Just like wine tasting, you gain more by comparing. In this case, I have two books which are about marketing patterns, and one which is more geared towards marketing communications. I will probably read The Long Tail first, then The Culture Code. I expect several things to overlap, some to conflict and some to complement each other. I will be able to compare the ideas from both books, within a similar frame of mind – to bounce one’s ideas and concepts against the other’s. These books, to me, are similar.

I will follow up with The Copywriter’s Handbook, a skill-based (or skill-development?) book. Logically, I should be able to adapt the ideas I liked from the first two books into skills, which I will hopefully improve by reading the third.

In wine tasting, your best bet is always taking 3 or 4 wines, with at least two that are VERY similar (like two different Pomerol wines, from Bordeaux) and adding one that has similarities, yet is different (like a Médoc, from elsewhere in Bordeaux). You will often enjoy going back and forth, and the dominant features of each will become very obvious when compared with something different, then something similar. You’ll probably better understand the characteristics of both Pomerol and Médoc wines. Feel free to invite me top these things, by the way ;-)

I’ll let you know how this experiment goes.