Sahil Bloom champions 'old books'
Investor and author Sahil Bloom posted a wildly popular thread urging people to read older books as part of a steady routine, and the post received more than 18,000 likes and thousands of reposts (x.com). The virality shows a large audience still responds to reading advice framed as long‑term habit rather than trend chasing (x.com).
Sahil Bloom’s advice to “read old books” is spreading again, this time inside a short list of habits he says most people avoid. (substack.com) In a March 19 Substack note mirrored from his social posting, Bloom wrote: “Wake up early. Focus. Move your body. Eat real foods. Obsess over one thing. Read old books. Be present. Listen intently. Change your mind. Have difficult conversations.” The post showed 1,656 likes, 49 replies and 106 restacks on the Substack version captured by search. (substack.com) Bloom has been repeating the same line for months. An October 17 note carried a near-identical formula with “Read old books” in the middle and showed 3,339 likes, 74 replies and 261 restacks on Substack. (substack.com) The phrase fits the argument Bloom has been making across his writing: that durable routines beat novelty. On his website, he says his newsletter The Curiosity Chronicle reaches more than 800,000 readers each week with short ideas and longer essays about work, money and life. (sahilbloom.com) His book business has grown alongside that audience. Penguin Random House lists *The 5 Types of Wealth* as a 400-page book published on February 4, 2025, and calls it an “instant New York Times and USA Today bestseller.” (penguinrandomhouse.com) Bloom’s own site also pushes readers toward backlist reading, not just new releases. A “Favorite Books” page offers a free list of “the most impactful books” he has read across history, biography, self-help and fiction. (sahilbloom.com) He has tied the same reading advice to a broader case for plain, repeatable habits. In an August 31 note, Bloom called it an “underrated life hack” to be “boring in the right ways,” listing “Read old books” alongside going to bed early, saving money and avoiding drama. (substack.com) That message lands in a media environment built around constant newness, where feeds reward fresh posts and publishing calendars reward new titles. Bloom’s pitch points readers the other way: toward books that have already lasted long enough to stay in print and keep being recommended. (penguinrandomhouse.com) For now, the line keeps resurfacing because Bloom keeps reusing it in slightly different forms, and his audience keeps responding. The habit he is selling is not speed-reading the latest release, but returning to older ideas on purpose. (substack.com)
