17 Dec 2025 · 0 min
This short podcast episode (Optimize +1) presents Brian Johnson reflecting on Twyla Tharp’s approach to reading. He endorses her concept of 'archaeological' or transactional reading — actively annotating and transforming books into personal tools — and frames it as his own reading method and a practical tip for listeners.
You're listening to Optimize with Brian Johnson. More wisdom in less time.
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. In our last plus one, we talked about Twyla Tharp's thoughts on reading and thinking. Recall her comment that if I stopped reading, I'd stop thinking. It's that simple. Amen to that. Today, I'd like to talk about how she reads. I really like her perspective because it's pretty much exactly how I read. And, well, people are always asking me how I read a book. So let's go with this wisdom as a perfect proxy to my process. Twilight tells us Again, I quote when I'm reading archaeologically, I'm not reading for pleasure. I read the way I scratch for an idea, digging down deep so I can get something out of it and use it in my work. I read transactionally. How can I use this? It's not enough for me to read a book. I have to own it. I scribble in the margins. I circle sentences I like and connect them with arrows to other useful sentences. I draw stars and exclamation points on every good page to the point where the book is almost unreadable. By writing all over the pages, I transform the author's work into into my book and mine alone. That's today's plus one. Here's a nice, bold pen for your archaeological reading digging.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Optimize with Brian Johnson. To find out more, go to Optimize Me.
