Read for Your Life: 11 Ways to Better Yourself Through Books

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Pat Williams reminds us that reading can transform our lives. But for that to happen we have to turn off the TV and pick up the book. Books give us information, remind us we're human, and above all challenge our imagination. Pat Williams encourages people not to take this gift for granted.
Have you ever thought, 'I need to read more,' but not known how or where to start? You can start right here! Read for Your Life reignites your love affair with books and shows you how to prioritize reading--no matter how busy you think you are. It's not just about filling that hard-to-find 'downtime.' Books improve your life in every imaginable way and can give you a mental workout guaranteed to keep your brain fit, alert, and active your whole lifetime.
>Author Pat Williams is on a mission to help us all fully access and enjoy the power of reading. If Pat--a father of nineteen children, a four-marathon-a-year runner, and the senior vice president of the Orlando Magic--can make time for it, anyone can. With anecdotes and interviews from today's greatest icons in business, academia, and sports--including Alex Rodriguez, Grant Hill, Oprah Winfrey, Rick Warren, and Rudy Giuliani-- Read for Your Life shows you how you can:

· Minimize distractions and maximize your reading time

· Develop a personalized program for reading more often

· Discover the many ways that reading can improve your mental well-being, your outlook on life, and your level of success in your career

· Rediscover and reconnect with the real you by reading regularly

The lifetime gift of literacy is inside this book. Unleash it!

311 pages, Paperback

First published June 1,2007

About the author

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Patrick Livingston Murphy Williams was an American sports executive, who served as senior vice president of the Orlando Magic. Williams began his career as a minor league baseball player, and later joined the front office of his team. In the late 1960s he moved into basketball, with his biggest achievements being the 1983 title of the Philadelphia 76'ers and being a partner in the creation of the Orlando Magic.


Community Reviews

Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 22 votes)
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22 reviews All reviews
April 17,2025
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This was such a good book. I wish that this was required reading for schools. For everyone in the school - administrators, students, teachers. I wish there were a way to require parents to read this, and then maybe more parents would be motivated to read to their children. It's such a privilege, to be able to read, and it's something that our culture is losing. I really appreciated the stories, quotes, and perspectives offered in this and feel it could relate to so many and reach so many. If you haven't read it, whether you're a reader or not, you should pick this book up.
April 17,2025
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Excellent book about the necessity to teach our kids to enjoy reading and how it can impact their lives as well as our own. I appreciated the messages here.
April 17,2025
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It's hard to decide what I think about this book. At times I found it very repetitive and not that well laid out. At times it was simply stating the obvious. Yet I came away from reading it more determined to make reading more and more a part of my life, and, more importantly, to encourage others to do the same -- which was really the point of this book. Filled with dozens of inspirational quotes, reading suggestions, and speed reading tips. Lots of quotes from academics and some surprising statistics (95% of Americans have never entered a bookstore!). When I picked up the book, I thought (and he mentioned this in the preface) that it was an odd book, in that those who would read it don't need to be convinced of the importance of reading (preaching to the choir) and those who would need to hear it's message wouldn't be inclined to read it. All in all, it was a worthwhile book, and in some ways life-changing. As a Christian, I really liked how he was able to incorporate opinions from people of faith without coming across as preachy!
April 17,2025
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Written by a jock for jocks. This was basically a collection of quotes and stories about books and reading from/about athletes and conservative Christians that just became repetitious. Not for the serious reader- in other words, most people on Goodreads. It was okay, but the only thing I got out of it was an overview of some speed-reading techniques and some ideas on how to plan and structure my reading time a little more - something I'd been working toward anyway.
April 17,2025
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2.5 stars

The message in this book is a good one, but somewhat repetitive. I think this book could have been cut in half, page-wise, and been more dynamic for it.

I did like that Williams incorporated his Christian faith into the book naturally, referencing God and including thoughts from Christian authors, without being overly preachy.

There were also many quotes about reading, which I always love.
April 17,2025
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Pretty repetitive and none of the tips are revolutionary. As much as I love Pat Williams' booka, this one is a pass.
April 17,2025
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Powerful words to understand why reading is so important and how to read better and more effectively
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