Re: Five Ws of Reading
21 Oct 2026 #booksI found in Newsonat by Mark Rogers his 5 Ws of Reading. So here are mine.
WHO - An author you would love to have a ‘one to one’ with?
That’s definitely James Altucher. I’ve binge-read almost all his books.
I found Choose Yourself when I was on my way out of burnout and it inspired me to adopt a daily healthy practice—that idea alone changed my life. Although I’ve stalking James a lot, that probably I’d have to come up with good questions.
WHAT - What genre do you most gravitate to?
I try to balance between non-fiction and fiction. But these days, I’m more into non-fiction books, especially about physical and mental health, and well-being in general. In the last quarter, I’ve read a fortress about it: Emotional Intelligence, Brain Wash, Sleep.
WHERE - Where do you prefer to read?
As a hack to read more books, I leave books on my kitchen table. So I found myself reading after breakfast as part of my morning routine.
WHEN - What time of day do you prefer to read?
I balance between non-fiction in the morning, when my energy is at its peak, and fiction before going to bed to unplug.
WHY - Why is your favourite book your favourite book?
I don’t have A favorite books. To answer this, I’d have to do it per categories:
- For personal development, I’d go with Choose Yourself, the raw failure stories and the idea of taking care as a first step to choose oneself.
- For finance, I’d go with The Richest Man in Babylon. It’s the format itself: a fables instead of a boring list of facts and recommendations.
A book that took me into a fascinating world
I read mostly non-fiction, not too many fascinating worlds, apart from our own worlds/heads. But I have on my reading list The Lord of the Rings.
A book that made me cry
It’s not a popular one, but I co-wrote with my sister a book to honor our mom’s memory: Nuestros Recuerdos in Spanish. She wrote a good-bye letter to my mom I can’t read. Every time I do it, I can’t help by cry.
A book that was thoughtful and profound
Ecclesiastes from the Bible. OMG! It reads like the memories of an eccentric millionaire. Someone who wasted his entire life amassing wisdom and fortune, just to find out it was pointless. Of course, with lots of drops of wisdom on every page.
A “comfort” book, read and re-read many times
Recently, I re-read Love in Times of Cholera. I read it back in school, but I didn’t enjoy it as much. Probably one of favorites by Gabriel García Márquez. I should have added it to my answer about favorite books.
Bonus - How do you go about selecting what you will read next?
I don’t have a clear strategy. I like to follow my curiosity or goals. These days, I’m interested in sleep, so that’s what I’m reading about in next months… and I like to write in the blank page of a book a list of all books mention inside it… and Ryan Holiday’s YouTube channel.
From time to time, I pack my best ideas into short and actionable books. If you’re curious, you can find them here.