Frank Bruni wrote a thoughtful resolution article in the New York Times titled For 2014, Tweet Less, Read More.  I’m not wasting my time tweeting (I waste it in other ways!) but I do want to read some missed classics (Anna Karenina), study countries through literature (France), and refresh my art history knowledge with well chosen books (I’m a fan of DK books and want to read Art That Changed the World).

Bruni writes about the fevered pitch of public discourse and the lack of online etiquette.  How does this relate to reading?  Well, Bruni suggests that more reading encourages an understanding of broader viewpoints.  It allows for deliberation and “forces a pause.”  How welcome that would be to our current aggressive and ineffective political shouting matches!

I can’t fix the rude rants in public forums.  But I can read to my increase my knowledge – both for perspective and to grasp the facts accurately.  As we’ve all heard before, the best conversationalists truly listen.  So I’m going to “listen” to a broader range of books this year.  What’s on your bedside table?