The First-Ever Book I Read in Reverse

Featured photo by Beyzaa Yurtkuran from Pexels

I’ve had this book since 2018. I bought it for literally a penny, exactly 20 pesos from a local thrift store near my university.

I started it back then eager to become a writer, but I never quite finished. I read it casually, hopping from chapter to chapter, only opening it when I was required to write— whenever it felt most convenient, and whenever I needed a little push. Unknowingly, eight years passed, and I still have the book. Still unfinished.

Last year, I finally picked it up again. This time without pressure from anyone to write anything. I wanted to finish it because it’s one of those books rich with sense. Now that I’m older, I can finally appreciate how its lessons apply not only to writing, but also to everyday life.

I didn’t want to get stuck on a page number again like I did in the past, so I changed my approach. I decided to read it backwards. I started from the last page and worked my way through the book in reverse.

It feels monumental finally reaching page 1 and finishing it, especially since it’s my first completed read this year! Some of the earlier pages were filled with multiple highlighters in yellow, purple, and orange, so it felt like meeting minds with my past selves. Each color represented a different version of me, from a different year, pausing at the same sentences with different outlooks.

Sharing some of my favorite excerpts from this book, read and loved by both my 19-year-old and 26-year-old selves:

"Beginner's mind is what we must come back to every time we sit down and write. There is no security, no assurance that because we wrote something good two months ago, we will do it again. Actually, every time we begin, we wonder how we ever did it before. Each time is a new journey with no maps." 
Chapter: Beginner's Mind, Pen and Paper

"A little apparent disorder is an indication of the fertility of the mind and someone that is actively creating. A perfect studio has always told me that the person is afraid of his own mind and is reflecting in his outward space an inward need for control. Creativity is just the opposite: it is a loss of control." 
Chapter: The Writing Studio

"Push yourself beyond when you think you are done with what you have to say. Go a little further. Sometimes when you think you are done, it is just the edge of beginning. Probably that's why we decide we're done. It's getting too scary. It is beyond the point when you think you are done that often something strong comes out." 
Chapter: Go Further

Reading it backwards made me realize that maybe the right approach isn’t always forward. And that endings, too, can be beginnings. ⭐️

How many books out there can you read in reverse and still have it make sense?