Some hacks aren’t for everyone. If the thought of damaging a book makes you faint, just scroll through this post and lie down until you’re ready to read some less scary life hacks. But if you’re not squeamish, let’s talk about why cutting books in half is a genius idea.
cutting books in half because of that one tweet
Writer and editor Alex Christofi (who, according to his bio, is writing a book on Dostoevsky, so I imagine he often has this problem) tweeted that he splits large books in half to make them easier to carry.
And you know what I say to that? Why not. This fits every definition of a hack. It solves a real problem, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks — I know this is up for debate, but hold on — and it helps you do something you want to do: read more. (And you’re literally hacking the book.)
If you think you’ll need the later parts of the book, there’s another hack, courtesy of science and nature author Jason Bittel: Start with the entire book and delete previously read sections as needed. He came up with this hack during nine-day backpacking trips, where space and weight are at a premium:
