5K Q&A | Favorite Books, Language + More

Today, I’m answering all of the wonderful and thoughtful questions you all left for me. Many of these provoked longwinded answers from me that hopefully pique your own curiosity and I’d be happy to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Once again, I’m grateful for each and every one of you. This channel has been a profound opportunity to learn and grow not only as a reader, but as an individual too. I look forward to seeing where the channel goes from here.
Timecodes:
0:00 - Intro
0:53 - How I Fell In Love With Reading
4:40 - How Reading Has Shaped My Life
6:50 - How Much I Read Daily
7:11 - How I Remember What I Read
8:41 - My Favorite Genres
9:52 - Books That Impacted Me The Most
12:21 - Reading Books Fast vs. Slowly
15:07 - Reading an Author’s Best Book First?
18:24 - What Philosophy I Most Associate With
20:32 - What It Means To Live a ‘Good Life’
22:20 - More Philosophy Content
24:00 - Philosophical Fantasy Books
25:09 - Favorite Books So Far
26:16 - What Writer Would I Resurrect
28:54 - A Little About Me / My Job
30:55 - Did I Go To College?
31:28 - The Value Of Reading/Books
34:30 - My Other Hobbies & Interests
37:02 - Do I Speak/Read In Other Languages?
38:15 - Why Language Is Interesting To Me
42:03 - Favorite Time Of Day To Read & Why
43:00 - My Annotating Method For Philosophy
45:48 - Do I Read Non-Fiction?
46:28 - Reading Ayn Rand
49:00 - Some TBR & Recent Reads
53:03 - Brief Bookshelf Tour
My Instagram: / brockcovington
My Goodreads: / brock-c
My Substack: brockcovington.substack.com
#bookrecommendations #booktube

[@MadiCovington]

my favorite youtuber!! 🥰

[@TheActiveMind1]

❤❤

[@123456789tube100]

I think it would be amazing to be able to read books in another language

[@ToReadersItMayConcern]

I know what goes in, mentally, to these longform videos, and you absolutely nailed it! This was insightful the whole way through. Hugely impressive and inspiring.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Thanks Ruben! It means a lot!

[@leo785587]

You’re so accomplished man, very inspirational

[@RJRobertson-fd8xy]

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question. Like you, I have been reading "with intention" for only the last couple of years. I started while recovering from an illness as I needed to occupy my mind with more challenging matter (about the same time I found your new channel). Reading and your uploads really resonated with me and now they are an integral part of my revamped life! Thanks for being a part of my healing process...so, please don't stop, you never quite know who you are impacting.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Thank you for this message. I hope you are well on your way with recovery and I'm grateful that my videos can provide any solace or enjoyment in hard times!

[@SheriMaple]

I discovered your channel a week ago, and decided to watch more of your videos. I enjoy watching people that have a passion for reading with curiosity of understanding the human condition and world. I’m becoming a fan of Archipelago Books, and bought a few books from the publisher. There are some gems from independent publishers. Especially reading authors outside of the United States.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Thank you for the kind words! I ended up getting their subscription so I'm looking forward to reading more of the international works they publish

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

Some really fascinating responses here. Very impressed with your personal background; a real go-getter. ;) Great content! :) Ironically, I actually just finished reading The Fountainhead myself. I actually could recommend reading that; pretty great book honestly.

[@hatethenewyou]

You're responses were both interesting and very insightful. Enjoyed hearing more about not only your reading habits but your personal life aswel

[@kurtgroner3360]

I took a class in Russian lit in translation, started with Fathers and Sons by Turgenev and moved on from there. I would like to learn Russian as well. Right now I am focusing on learning German.

[@astrouei]

awesome video

[@hephaestusfortarier249]

Idk if you have read The history of western philosophy by Bertrand Russell but I bought it recently and haven’t been able to put it down. It’s really good for anyone that enjoys philosophy, it’s also concise and broken down simply in chronological order of time/western thought. Great video

[@noahlovesvideogames4281]

I loved this video and have been following your channel for several months! Speaking of coffee… I work at Onyx coffee lab and have been privileged to try SO many specialty/single origin coffees it is insane

[@TheActiveMind1]

Oh man, I'm jealous! Onyx is the best!

[@lenazoenagymihaly4]

I couldn't decide between two fantastic writers whom I'd like to resurrect so I'm gonna write down both of them: one of them is Albert Camus, a French-Nigerian existentialist writer and philosopher whose ideas I deeply resonate with. I highly recommend 'The stranger' and 'The plague' by him. The other one is Hermann Hesse whose works I recently discovered and fell in love with. His use of symbolism, philosophical ideas and religious themes are so fascinating to read and I can't really get enough of it. I recommend Steppenwolf and Demian by him so much!

[@TheActiveMind1]

Those a great choices!

[@aleksandrshapovalenko4263]

You probably wanted to write, that Camus was a French-Algerian writer.

[@ireadbooks3475]

To answer the question at 26:33, I think I would resurrect Cormac McCarthy. McCarthy's prose is the most eloquent and striking I've ever read, and his stories dig deep into the depths of the human soul -- sometimes becoming obscene and terrible. My current favorite Author is Haruki Murakami -- an author I think you should definitely read (Norwegian Wood is my favorite novel by him). Back to McCarthy: I've yet to read all of his works, but I feel like there's so much that's left unsaid about the world in total. Cormac centralized a lot of his writing around the western world, and, specifically, the south-west, where the dust and the wind erodes the fingers of old writers. If McCarthy had spent more time writing about urban areas, or even trying an international novel, I would be overjoyed. But maybe it's better he stuck to those dusty stories he wrote so well. RIP

[@123456789tube100]

It is crazy how much you know abuot philosophy, most people on youtube who talk about philosophy are just academics and it kinda makes people scared of philosophy as most people who read are just employed by a university.

[@TheActiveMind1]

Hopefully this encourages you to study philosophy on your own! It can be intimidating but there are so many resources online and the books aren’t as unapproachable as people assume. It’s very worthwhile!

[@Manfred-nj8vz]

Very nice video! Since you like Dostoevsky's BK so much as well as Bulgakov's M & M, have you ever tried to read Nikos Kazantzakis? If not yet, I recommend Christ Recrucified and The Last Temptation. I would love to see your reaction to them.

[@TheActiveMind1]

I'll check those books out! Thank you!

[@Manfred-nj8vz]

@@TheActiveMind1 Great! I'm sure you won't regret it.

[@tonybennett4159]

Even though Zorba the Greek is Kazantzakis' best known book, I prefer both Christ Recrucified and Freedom or Death.

[@Manfred-nj8vz]

@@tonybennett4159 That's nice to hear. But don't forget The Last Temptation and The Fratricides as well. And last but not least there also is his epic poem «The Odyssey, a modern sequel», an epic poem of 33.333 verses that he considered his best work. I know that you read big and challenging books, so maybe that could be something for you. It's also very interesting to have a look at the wonderful relationship Kazantzakis had with his translator Kimon Friar.

[@aleksandrshapovalenko4263]

Great video! Good luck with your learning of Russian language!

[@TheActiveMind1]

Спасибо!

[@aleksandrshapovalenko4263]

​@TheActiveMind1 There's a book "Learning to read Russian" by Vasilenko and Lamm. Maybe you should give it a try.

[@ocin7917]

How are you learning Russian? In a physical class or online?

[@TheActiveMind1]

Online course but I’m leveraging a few resources. I’ll make a video on it in the coming months 👍🏼

[@felixarquer7732]

"Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiss nichts von seiner eigenen." (Goethe)