5 Reasons to “Do” the Book Instead of Just Reading It (+ 5 Book Picks)
{Nonfiction November Week 2}

Week 2 of Nonfiction November is about Choosing Nonfiction. Here are a couple questions I often ask when I decide on a nonfiction book:

• Can I do something with this book besides just read it?
• How can I experience this for myself, too?

(Disclaimer: I also love novels! But I read them for escape, for fun, and for entertainment. If it turns out to prompt action, too, well, that’s just bonus.)

5 Reasons to Do a Book Instead of Just Reading It

Here are 5 reasons why I find doing a book to be beneficial—and a book suggestion for each.

1. YOU UNDERSTAND BETTER WHEN YOU PRACTICE.

Reading about something is one thing. Doing it is another. To get better at basketball, for example, you don’t just read about plays and strategies; you pick up a ball and play.

“Doing” a book works the same way to me. Answer the journal prompts. Try the exercises. Experience the game, when possible.

My book club recently finished Priya Parker’s book, The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters.

But instead of only reading it, we are trying to individually experiment with Parker’s ideas in our own gatherings. It’s been interesting to try new strategies in how we meet with others.

2. YOU DISCOVER BLIND SPOTS.

My friend showed me how to do something. It looked easy. Until I tried it myself. Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know until you actually try it yourself.

Here’s a book that is perfect for this if you want to discover your blind spots: Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World by Scott Shigeoka.

While reading about curiosity is one form of practicing curiosity, it’s more beneficial if you take the material outside the book to see where you can improve.

Shigeoka suggests practical tips, like acknowledge small bids for attention, take a “brave pause,” or ask yourself key questions before taking action.

While we want to learn from others’ mistakes, the strongest lessons still come when we experience our own.

3. DOING MAKES IT STICK.

We retain what we do longer than what we simply read. Books that get us out of our heads and into our bodies make knowledge stick around better.

This book did it for me: Democracy in Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives by Sami Sage and Emily Amick.

Some of its practical suggestions include:

• Audit your news consumption
• Create a civic calendar
• Show up at local events
• Join a nonprofit
• Call your representatives
• Celebrate small wins

At the book’s prompting, I finally downloaded the Five Calls app for calling Congress, and now I use it to keep up with my calls to representatives instead of starting every time from scratch.

4. DOING BUILDS CONFIDENCE.

This summer when I realized I was on my phone too often, I read this book for strategies: How to Break Up with Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life by Catherine Price.

In it, she instructs the reader to actually pull out their phone and do things like this:

• Set a digital Sabbath
• Assign a bedtime and wake-up time for your phone
• Establish no-phone zones in your home
• Unsubscribe instead of just delete unwanted emails

These are all actions I can do (well, some of the time anyway?), thus building my confidence (a little) that I can control my phone instead of my phone controlling me. This one is still a work in progress for me….

5. DOING TURNS KNOWLEDGE INTO WISDOM.

After watching the encouraging reels by James ‘Fish’ Gill on Instagram, I grabbed a copy of his book about relationships: How to Fall in Love with Humanity: 16 Life-Changing Practices for Radical Compassion. And I’m so glad I did.

His insightful advice can improve relationships—but only if they’re practiced.

Here are some examples from his book, things you may already know but good reminders to practice them:

• Share your experience, not your analysis
• Listen to understand, not just to respond
• Ask questions with curiosity, not assumption
• Witness both the yearnings and the pains of others

Learning is rarely one-and-done. It takes time and repetition to go from head-knowledge to heart-wisdom. 

The Takeaway

Books aren’t only for your thinking—they’re also for your living.

The best nonfiction doesn’t just inform. It challenges you to act.

So read a book, then do it, and watch for the changes that follow.

Which book have you read recently that you could put into practice? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Read more about reading:

• 5 Ways to Get More From Reading Nonfiction Books
  Don’t just read a book. Do the book. See 5 ways to get more from reading nonfiction books.
• Read What Matters Most
  Explore 5 inspiring nonfiction books on productivity and aging to help you use your time wisely, live intentionally, and read what matters most to you.
• Can a Book Make You Do Something?
  It’s easy to read and forget. But instead, what if we read and do? Can a book inspire you to do something?

Find more posts on choosing nonfiction books at Frances’s blog, Volatile Rune, for week 2 of Nonfiction November.

• ← On the Blog – October 2025
• November Book Roundup: 8 Worthwhile Reads from Memoir to Mystery →