I enjoy reading, it truly expands my knowledge base and introduces me to so many great new ideas. In turn, I enjoy sharing them and talking with others about them. But recently I’ve struggled to find time to read. As mentioned before, I manage my time pretty closely; I fill every hour of my schedule. Unfortunately, work and school take up nearly all of my time lately. When can I find time to read?

I’m not the fastest reader, nor am I the slowest. But reading does take a serious investment of time. Luckily I can read while at the gym on a bike but I realize once I sit down to read I can’t do anything else. That time is entirely devoted to reading. Whereas, if I’m watching TV I can eat, skim email, or even work out.

So, I figure I need to couple the content and density of a book with the convenience and entertainment of television. Gasp, I just stumbled upon the formula for a documentary. Look at the success Michael Moore enjoyed. The History and Discovery Channels are largely dedicated to entertainment and education via documentaries. How many of the documentaries from this list have you seen? I’m sure most of you have see a number of them…

So why can’t I start producing bookumentaries? I’d love to sit down and talk with the authors and the smart individuals who put together these amazing books. I’d enjoy helping them reach a broader audience. Like I said, I enjoy sharing and discussing these ideas with people but many face the same challenge as I do: there isn’t as much time to dedicate to reading as we’d like.

Is there something keeping authors from doing this in the first place? Is it simply easier to sit down and write than produce the content in a visual manner? Is this something that would detract from the content? I don’t think so. I must say that, when done well, a documentary can take a lot of material and make it flow together seamlessly. Go watch the new Discovery Atlas series; they’re amazing.

What do you think? Do you read a lot? Would you rather watch an hour documentary on something like The Tipping Point or The Starfish and the Spider or spend a few hours to read the book? This is something I’d really like to do and I’d like to think out-loud about it a bit more…