Broyhill Library

The Broyhill Book Club was born in 2015 with the simple idea that less time in front of the screens meant more time for independent thought and deep work. I set out with a goal of reading one book per week in an attempt to shift my lifestyle away from online diversions and optimize return on time invested. As it turns out, substituting television for an Amazon Kindle has extraordinary implications for mindfulness and clarity of thought. All good investors appreciate the need to read extensively, but few recognize the benefit of reading broadly. The temptation to click on every email notification or enticing “breaking news” story too often leads us down a never-ending Google rabbit hole. The art of focus is lost in the 21stcentury. Instead, we spend the majority of our time in front of the screens erratically chasing the latest headlines rather than adopting a more attentive and comprehensive approach to learning. The Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca described a well-ordered mind as one able to remain in a single place and linger among a limited number of master thinkers. “So you should always read standard authors, and when you crave a change, fall back upon those whom you’ve read before...and after you have runover many thoughts, select one to be thoroughly digested that day.”