--- title: How to Choose What to Read description: The simple ideas behind understanding what and why we read. canonical: https://time.com/4091114/choose-what-to-read/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-03T05:01:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:50:49.692Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How to Choose What to Read og:description: The simple ideas behind understanding what and why we read og:url: https://time.com/4091114/choose-what-to-read/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2d80125819bc858/69886e84524fc0bcdddf53af/open-book-glasses-table.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 7534 og:image:height: 4238 og:image:alt: open-book-glasses-table og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Choose What to Read twitter:description: The simple ideas behind understanding what and why we read twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2d80125819bc858/69886e84524fc0bcdddf53af/open-book-glasses-table.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Choose What to Read > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Dec 3, 2015 5:01 AM UTC  Open book and glasses Open book and glasses Getty Images by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Dec 3, 2015 5:01 AM UTC [I read a lot](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/reading/). More and more, I’ve been thinking about what I read and asking myself if I’m making the most use of that time? Is there a way to improve return on investment? What Should I Read? I’m not looking to optimize it to the Nth degree but it would be nice to come up with a simple map to help me know where I can find the most value per unit of work. I think I’ve found it by combining two very simple ideas. ### Understand Deeply The first is getting back to basics, a concept from [_Five Elements of Effective Thinking_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691156662/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0691156662&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20): --- > “” --- The most useful knowledge is a broad-based multidisciplinary education of all of the world’s great basic ideas. From there, you could specialize. And a broad understanding is built not on ideas that are recent but rather on ideas that have lasted, and will last. “The more basic knowledge you have … the less new knowledge you have to get.” — **Charlie Munger** The depth at which we master the basics is an indicator of how well we understand everything (after that). Deep work on simple ideas increases understanding and helps us build true virtuosity. If we are to have a chance of understanding complex problems, we need to master the basics. The slightest wind blows over a house without a foundation. ### The Lindy Effect The second idea is Nassim Taleb’s concept of the Lindy Effect. Taleb was building on something developed by Benoit Mandelbrot. In [_Antifragile_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400067820/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fsp%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1400067820&linkCode=as2&tag=farnamstreet-20), he writes: --- > “” --- The nonperishable is anything that does not have organic or avoidable expiration dates. While produce and humans have a mathematical life expectancy that decreases with each day, some things increase life expectancy with each day. --- > “” --- When I see a toddler walking down the street holding the hands of their grandparents, I can reasonably assert that the toddler will survive the elder. With something nonperishable that is not the case. --- > “” --- This is where Taleb asserts “So the longer a technology lives, the longer it can be expected to live.” Not all things age with years. --- > “” --- This is where Taylor Pearson [helped me](http://frontierlivin.com/the-cat-furniture-problem/) put something together that I was just too stupid to do myself. He connects reading to the Lindy effect. Whereas before my heuristic was simply older is better, now I know older is exponentially better. More importantly I have an idea why. Pearson writes: --- > “” --- **So let’s combine these ideas.** [Knowledge has a half-life](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2012/12/the-half-life-of-facts/). The most useful knowledge is a broad-based multidisciplinary education of the basics. These ideas are ones that have lasted, and thus will last, for a long time. And by last, I mean mathematical expectation; I know what will happen in general but not each individual case. In the words of Charlie Munger, “take a simple idea and take it seriously.” **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/08/what-should-i-read-two-ideas-to-help-guide-us/)**_._** **Join over 60,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4091114/choose-what-to-read/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4091114/choose-what-to-read/"},"headline":"How to Choose What to Read","datePublished":"2015-12-03T05:01:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:50:49.692Z","description":"The simple ideas behind understanding what and why we read.","url":"https://time.com/4091114/choose-what-to-read/","keywords":["Culture","Books","reading"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2d80125819bc858/69886e84524fc0bcdddf53af/open-book-glasses-table.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2d80125819bc858/69886e84524fc0bcdddf53af/open-book-glasses-table.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"open-book-glasses-table","caption":"open-book-glasses-table","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/culture/","name":"Culture"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4091114/choose-what-to-read/","name":"How to Choose What to Read"}}]}] ```