Hey Reader,

Ever feel like you're reading wrong? Like you're not highlighting enough, not taking the right kind of notes, or not retaining enough?

Maybe you’ve watched one too many videos on how to optimize your reading, and now you’re low-key convinced you need a second brain just to track your thoughts.

Yeah. Let’s shut that down.

There is no right way to read.

And yet, the internet is full of advice that insists otherwise. The perfect note-taking system. The best way to absorb information. The correct method for getting the most out of books. But the more rigid the structure, the faster it kills the joy of reading.

Lately, I’ve been breaking all the so-called rules. Reading multiple books at once. Taking voice notes instead of writing. Highlighting randomly—or not at all. And weirdly? I feel more engaged with what I’m reading than when I tried to follow a system.

We’re often told that “serious” reading is about knowing more—retaining facts, gathering insights, and all that. Blah blah blah. This can be true, but not always.

I’ve learned over the past couple of years that one of the most overlooked gifts reading gives us is in the not knowing.

Great stories teach us to sit with uncertainty, to enjoy or tolerate the unexpected.

​Read Yourself Happy by Daisy Buchanan puts it perfectly. (Thanks for the recommendation, Jennifer! 🙏🏻)

Buchanan writes:

We don’t read novels to extract perfect knowledge—we read them because they let us live in uncertainty, experience surprises, and follow twists we could never predict.

I’m certain that as often as not, the best way to read isn’t to control the process—but to let go and see where the story takes us.

Reading doesn’t have to be productive to be valuable. Sometimes the best part of reading is about being with a book and the characters. Experiencing the scenery and the era. Letting the unexpected wash over you, taking you somewhere new to sit with you in the moments you need them most?

So here’s your permission slip:

You don’t need to extract something from every book. The act of reading itself? It’s enough.

You don’t need a note-taking strategy. You don’t need to finish every book. You don’t need to track, optimize, or justify your reading. Just read however makes you happiest.

What's a reading "rule" you wish you could break? Hit reply and tell me. 😎

Meantime, read something today that makes you smile, Reader!

—Tracy

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