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The amount of reading you'll need to do to help you reach your goal will vary based on what your goal is. To begin with, try to develop a general sense of how much reading you'll need to do. This will drive the rest of your planning.  For example, if your goal is to recognize edible plants in your area, one or two good books on the subject will probably be adequate. By contrast, if you are planning to start a new career as a botanist, you'll want to read as much as you can on botany.This would include all the best known books in the field. It would also include many articles from journals and other periodical publications. Some goals will require reading about many topics. For example, if your goal is to start a winery, you will obviously want to read some books about wine making. But, you'll also some books about running a small business. You will also want to read about laws in your area that govern the production and sale of alcoholic beverages. Not all reading material is created equal. Before you start reading, take some time to determine what the most important things to read will be. Do some research and find out what the most important books related to your goal are.  There are many ways to find books that relate to your goals. You can go to a bookstore and peruse the the shelves, or ask the staff for recommendations. Your local library may also be able to provide some suggestions. Many online booksellers also provide recommendations based on other books you've looked at. These can be helpful in determining which books to read, even if you don't buy them online. If you know someone who is already very familiar with your topic, get some recommendations from that person. If your main goals require a lot of timely information, you may also want to include periodicals such as magazines, and newspapers in your reading goals.  For example, if your goal is to master stock trading, you'll want to read current information on the ups and downs of various stocks. This could include the business section of each day's newspaper. It might also include any of the numerous magazines that deal with investment and finance. Again, you can go to you local bookstore or news vendor. You can also do some online searches using your topic and the words "magazines" or "journals" as search terms. For example: "wine making magazines." University libraries often maintain lists of academic journals in various fields of scholarship. For topics that require a lot of reading, it is a good idea to read content from a variety of perspectives. This is doubly true if your topic is one which inspires a lot of debate or includes many schools of thought.  A well-rounded understanding of the topics you are reading about is important for those who want to truly excel in their goals. This is especially true for complex or long-term goals. For example, imagine your goal is to become an economist. You'll quickly find that the neoclassical perspective on economics currently dominates the field. That doesn't mean you should focus your reading only on neoclassical economics, though. There are many other schools of thought in economics, including Keynesian, Marxist, and New Classical.
Decide how much to read. Research books to read. Choose periodicals to read. Aim for variety.