“Should you read more books or read better books?” At first glance, this may seem like a simple either-or question. But beneath the surface lies a more profound inquiry: Given our limited time and energy, how should we craft a reading strategy that truly serves our personal growth?
In reality, “reading more” and “reading better” are not opposing forces—they are two dimensions that must be balanced differently at various stages of life. Only by understanding their relationship and aligning our reading habits with our current needs and developmental stage can we transform reading into a powerful tool for expanding knowledge, refining character, and solving real-world problems.
1. Without Reading Widely, You Can’t Recognize What’s Truly “Good”
To judge whether a book is “good,” you first need a large enough base of reading experience. Many people overlook this fundamental threshold—without broad exposure, it’s nearly impossible to develop true discernment.
In the early stages of reading, especially before you’ve formed a solid sense of logic, taste, and critical thinking, it’s easy to mistake flashy or shallow books for treasures while ignoring the more profound, nuanced classics.
It’s like someone who’s never tasted fine cuisine might think fast food is gourmet. Or someone who’s never explored music in depth might treat a catchy jingle as a masterpiece. Only through volume and variety can we develop the judgment to distinguish a quick read from a timeless one.
Personally, I started reading at age five—comic books, picture books, martial arts fiction, popular science, folklore, and random volumes of wildly varying quality. This eclectic “wide reading” laid the groundwork for my ability to later identify and appreciate literature worth reading deeply.
2. Reading Strategies Should Evolve with Life Stages
Life can be divided into several major stages: childhood and adolescence, college, early career, midlife, and later years. At each phase, reading serves different purposes. The balance between “more” and “better” shifts accordingly.
1. Childhood & Adolescence: Focus on Good Books to Build Interest and Values
In early childhood, the priority is not reading a lot but developing a love for reading and establishing a habit. A carefully selected shelf of high-quality picture books and children’s literature can profoundly shape a child’s cognitive, emotional, and aesthetic development.
By middle and high school, time becomes limited due to academic pressure. This is when carefully chosen classics that influence thinking and worldview are far more valuable than piles of shallow reading. A single book like Sophie’s World might outshine ten motivational essays; The Kite Runner might offer more emotional depth than ten teen drama novels.
2. College: Read Widely to Expand Horizons and Break Cognitive Limits
University is a golden period for reading: you have time, independence, and emerging critical thinking skills. Most importantly, this is when you lay the foundation for a broad and inclusive worldview.
The goal is not just knowledge accumulation, but exposure—philosophy, sociology, psychology, science, economics, arts, religion. Don’t just read what your major or your hobbies dictate. Explore fields outside your comfort zone. This helps eliminate blind spots and broaden intellectual territory.
Read Guns, Germs, and Steel for a sweeping look at civilization; The Silent Majority for insight into individual consciousness. Tackle Plato’s Republic, even if it’s hard. Try One Hundred Years of Solitude or Norwegian Wood, even if you don’t “get” them. The goal is not mastery—it’s awareness and openness.
3. Early Career: Read with Purpose to Solve Practical Problems
When you step into the workforce, priorities shift. Time is tighter. Real-world challenges arise:
- How to communicate effectively?
- How to manage time or people?
- How to invest or budget?
- How to deal with relationships and emotions?
Now, reading must be goal-oriented. Choose books that help you develop specific skills or solve current issues—manuals, professional guides, biographies, and self-help grounded in experience.
That said, don’t completely abandon deep reading. Thoughtful philosophical or psychological works can anchor you during difficult times. But overall, be pragmatic: a book that helps you solve a problem now may be more useful than a timeless classic that doesn’t apply.
4. Midlife: Dive Deeper into Systems and Specializations
By midlife, careers often stabilize and routines become predictable. This is the perfect time for structured, intentional reading.
Focus on your profession—read industry classics, understand trends, build expertise. Or choose a topic like AI, parenting, or history and pursue it systematically over years.
Also, it’s time to reconnect with truly great books—timeless works like Meditations, Being and Time, Les Misérables, Man’s Search for Meaning. These books don’t just inform you—they transform how you think, decide, and relate to the world.
5. Later Life: Balance Breadth and Depth, Stay Mentally Agile
In older age, a major risk is mental rigidity. Here, reading is not just a hobby, but a safeguard against cognitive decline and closed-mindedness.
You still need “good books” to nourish your inner world, but also make an effort to read things you normally wouldn’t—bestsellers, pop culture, new ideas—to stay connected with the times and challenge your comfort zone.
3. The Ultimate Goal of Reading: To Understand Yourself and the World
Whether you read widely or deeply, the end goal is the same: not to show off, accumulate trivia, or meet quotas—but to enrich the quality of your life.
- Read widely to gain perspective;
- Read deeply to gain wisdom.
Reading is not just input—it’s transformation. It shapes who you are, how you think, and how you connect to others and the world.
4. : It’s Not Either/Or—It’s Strategic Balance
The answer isn’t to choose one over the other.
You can’t only read “good books” from the start, nor should you read mindlessly forever. At different stages of life, adjust the ratio with intention:
- In childhood: plant the seeds with great stories.
- In youth: cast a wide net to explore the world.
- In midlife: dive deep and build expertise.
- In old age: keep your mind open and curious.
As one saying goes: “We read not to escape life, but so that life does not escape us.”
May your reading journey—at every age—lead you to think more clearly, feel more deeply, and live more fully.