These are excerpts from the author’s book “Deep,” which contains eight of his small books published in the form of Wisdom Literature covering different aspects of life: Facing troublemakers, dealing with pain, personal financial issues, gastronomy, reading, criticizing, inspiring, and feeling always good to go.

Series 5: Reading.

When Will You Benefit from Reading a Book?

• You begin to benefit from the book while reading it when you feel the pleasure of reading, and perhaps even before that when you can’t wait to get a copy of it after hearing an encouraging comment about it. Deep pleasure is the highest value a book can give you even before start reading it.

• It is unlikely you will never get any benefits from reading a book. But assuming that it might have happened once, there’s no reason you shouldn’t get anything beneficial out of reading another book.

• You will feel the benefits of reading a book equal to how much you liked that book. So be sure to pick what you like. In the worst case, look for what might be attractive and enjoyable in the subject you find yourself reading anyway.

• You often read a book expecting to achieve a specific goal, but then benefit in one or more areas that are completely unexpected.

• You’ll get the most value out of a book when you don’t keep your expectations too narrow. Allow the book to inspire you without prior restrictions.

• Sometimes you go back to a book you read a long time ago and then wonder: Did I really read this book? Don’t be alarmed. It’s normal, and our memories often don’t keep everything ready to be retrieved. But the benefits of reading and all life’s deeper experiences remain in the subconscious in one form or another and amenable to inspiration.

• Benefiting from reading any book is not like the return on an investment that you expect during a specific period, making you a loser if it were delayed beyond that period. The returns on investment in reading books are extended and renewed throughout life.

• To disagree strongly with what you have read is one of the most prominent signs that you have benefited from the book, providing that such disagreement motivates you to think more deeply regarding the discussed ideas.

• Don’t be alarmed when you find that what you came out with after reading a book is different from what others who read the same book discovered. On the contrary, this is something of which to be proud. It is evidence that you read the book your own way.