Tanmay Vora is Country Head and Director (R&D) for Basware’s India operations. Hehas written two books on quality leadership and has contributed in several other eBooks and books including a full chapter in The ASTD Management Development Handbook .

How Tanmay Vora chooses what to read

They say you only learn through experience and as a blogger who loves reading/reviewing books, I have read books across the spectrum of worst to best. Along the process I have learned that I love reading books written in spirit of a good conversation and not in spirit of preaching. I think that knowing what kind of books you really like reading is the first step to choose books you will invest your time in.

To ensure that I don’t pick up anything, I always keep a wish list of books I want to read on Amazon. Having a reading backlog is as important for me as keeping a task list. Before a book goes into my wish list, I do my research. I look out for books that I have heard about from my friends and fellow bloggers. I read the preview on Amazon, table of contents, blurbs in the book, reviews on other blogs and also extracts from Goodreads.

When I visit physical book store, I go by the feel I get when I pick the book. I have experienced that good books call you out, invite you to pick them up and preview. Just some sort of resonance that has never failed me.

After doing all this, I still make mistakes, which is fine. I don’t read every book I pick up.

Now it’s your turn

How do you choose what books to spend your time and money on?