A review by aweekinthelife
How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo

challenging reflective fast-paced

5.0

highly recommend, i think everyone should read this. might be the first book i buy on audio (all my other audio book reads have been from the library) and maybe also in print. 

my first Castillo but i want to go back to pick up her first book (and she has a new one coming out aug 2025!). love that on the audio, she reads through the whole annotated bibliography (also, makes sense, given the book's title + content). 

the book discusses various media and pop culture pieces in depth. it may be a little less relatable if you haven't seen/read the shows/books but i'm always out of the loop on pop culture references anyways so it didn't bother me. Castillo does a good job describing enough context that readers/listeners can still follow along and readily understand what she is talking about even if you've never seen the media piece. 

pairs well with: how to hide an empire (for historical context that impact so much of this book) 
reminds me of: trick mirror by jia tolentino