How to read
From charlesreid1
Framework for how to read books
Presented from the perspective of, "I wish I read more. How do you read?"
- Don't set a goal to finish books - books are there to entertain you, communicate with you, put ideas in your head. If you don't finish a book, it isn't a crime against the author. The crime would be taking a book you don't like and shoving it down your own throat in some kind of forced-reading equivalent of a Bataan death march.
- Don't stick through books you don't like - reading isn't a chore, reading is a pleasure (see above). (100 page rule)
- Read both fiction and non-fiction
- Read both fiction and non-fiction simultaneously - keeps you from getting bored, forces your brain to draw interesting parallels it wouldn't otherwise
Reading classics
- The more you read, the easier it gets. So choose wisely, start your classics reading with something you like/are interested in, and go from there. That will lower the energy barrier involved in reading classics.
- Prepare for your read. Understand why you're reading what your'e reading (why you chose it and why it's a classic). Understand what happens in the novel/book and why it's significant.
- Support your read. Throughout your read, read chapter summaries, read along with an audiobook version of the book (e.g., from Librivox), read commentaries, read or re-read with annotated version.
- If you don't appreciate, on your own, what you're reading, that doesn't mean you shouldn't (or can't) appreciate it. A professor may be able to tell you why a particular work of art is beautiful. If you can't do that, it's okay - that' their job, not yours. You don't need to be able to author a textbook on mathematics in order to digest said textbook. Understanding mathematics well enough to author a textbook on mathematics is the author's job - not yours. They've already done all the hard work. Your job is the easy one: sit back and appreciate it all.