What was your beach read this summer?
Was it awesome? Good!

Didn’t have one? It’s not too late! You have slightly less than a month. Read a book!

Which book to choose…?
Any book.

Any book?
Yes. Any book.

Why?
Because it’s good for you. It will help your brain. It will help your attention span. It might even help your brutal case of Text Neck.

If you need more motivation, the future of modern liberal societies may hang in the balance. Just that. 
(If that article is too discouraging, you can read the same idea but from a more whimsical perspective).

Here comes a bit of bragging (don’t worry I’ll offer a withering self-critique in a few paragraphs).

I was recently at a restaurant in Italy. My daughter spent the entire meal engrossed in a book (a practice we let her do for long restaurant meals).

Unexpectedly, a Dutch gentleman having dinner at an adjacent table interjected and told her: 

    “You’re the best. The Best. That’s better than…” 

…and then he imitated the physical gesture of endless scrolling on his phone—face inches away from his imaginary device.

I’ll take a sliver of credit for the parenting, but not much. Kids are their own people.

What is the withering self-critique?
In the category of “Those in Glass Houses,” guess how long I’ve been trying to finish the current book I’m reading.

10 months. And I’m only on page 120.

To cut myself a little slack—it’s Moby Dick.
Though the prose is exquisite, the journey is a slog.

So I’m going to try to take my own medicine with this Good Talk and finish it by Jan 1, 2026.

Wish me luck. And then go to your favorite bookstore and “pick a book, any book.”

Here’s some suggestions in case you need inspiration!

• A colleague of mine, professor Adam Galinsky, wrote Inspire on leadership if you feel like self-improvement. 
• A friend of mine (and the author of the global smash The Nanny Diaries) Nicola Krauss wrote The Best We Could Hope For if you feel like a sandy beach read. 
• Another colleague, Ross Barkan, wrote Glass Century if you’re into historical fiction.
• An academic rock star wrote Thinking Fast and Slow on cognition and performance (and it’s roughly equivalent to Moby Dick in length; buckle up!) 
• A client of mine, Andrew Yang, wrote The War on Normal People almost a decade ago and foretold the AI automation revolution we’re now experiencing if you’re into strikingly prescient material
• And (shameless plug) If you want to improve your skill at speaking you can always check out this book.

Last week, I was a faculty member at the Cape Cod Writers Conference—a wonderful event where I taught a course to help writers speak about their work as well as they write. It was inspiring to meet so many dedicated, earnest, and talented people diligently working to bring valuable words into the world.

So read a book.
Your brain, attention span—and your neck—thank you in advance.

Cheers,
Michael Chad Hoeppner