How many books should you read?

A Farnam Street interview:

Reading is something you seem to know quite a lot about, but in a recent post, you discussed that you are purposefully reading fewer books. What is your thinking around that decision?

I fell into a trap with reading. It almost became a personal challenge that you can easily get wrapped up in. In 2014, I was basically reading a book every few days. I think I ended the year with over 140 books read, but I must have started at least 300. I realized I was reading just to finish the book. That meant I wasn’t getting as much out of it as I should. I ended up wasting a lot of time using that approach and it also impacted what I read. You have these subtle pressures to read smaller books and to digest things in a really quick way. I wasn’t spending enough time synthesizing material with what I already knew and honing my understanding of an idea.

It's not about how many books you read but what you get out of the books you read. One great book, read thoroughly and understood deeply, can have a more profound impact on your life than reading 300 books without really understanding the ideas in depth and having them available for practical problem solving.

... Have you ever watched TV and somebody comes in on a commercial and says, “What are you watching,” and you're like, “I have no idea,” but you've been sitting there 20 minutes? Well, we can do that with books too. You'll start reading, and paragraphs will fly by, and then you'll have no idea what you were reading. It's fine if you're reading for entertainment, you might be able to catch up later, but if you're reading for understanding, that's something you want to avoid.