Who on Earth would bother to read the dictionary? Well, you are reading an article about someone who did and has read several dictionaries from cover to cover, and I must say has learned a lot along the way. And just in case you think I am crazy, did you know Bill Gates read the entire encyclopedia? Do you think Bill Gates is crazy? What is it that people who read reference books gain? Hmm, well, I think you ought to find out that answer to that yourself.

In fact, I am going to recommend that you read the dictionary, no, not the unabridged Oxford version that is one foot square and ten inches high, yes, I have one of those. It does have just about every word you’ll ever read except for the create-a-word blogging bandits vocabulary. Rather, I am going to recommend that you read a smaller version with adequate print. My choice is the;

“Webster’s Dictionary” with over 50,000 entries for home, school and office. Edited by John Gage Allee, Ph.D. 1978.

Why do I recommend an older version? Well it does not have all the new buzz words or recent words that you already know, so you are do not have any silly distractions. It’s only 446 pages and that is not much bigger than a long novel. Yes the print is smaller than a novel, so maybe its equivalent to a 892 page book, but you can handle that, you are a grown up now. And even if you read only one letter per day you will finish in a month without breaking a sweat and your mind will have more time to soak it up too. Go for it.