How to read a book effectively
S-312.261
Area : General
Topic : Reading
Most of us get thrilled on getting a new book to read, but unfortunately, many of us do not know the effective methods of reading it, particularly, when it comes to a book of academic or professional genre with technical contents. Every book is different and every book is not read in the same manner. Experienced readers use their methods to get to the gut of the book. The following sections are my views of the methods that one may utilize to read a technical book in a most efficient manner (although most of these also true for other academic books).
1. Know the parts of the book: The primary requirement to read such a book is to know the Parts of a book. It is the first and the foremost thing that you should do, on getting a book on your hand. Understanding the parts of a book helps a reader use it more intelligently. It also enables him to credit accrue maximum benefit from the book within a short period of time. It is customary to divide the printed matter in a book into three broad sections: preliminaries, main text and subsidiaries. Out of the preliminaries, the Preface and the Table of contents are the two most important components of a book. This may sound odd but this is true.
2. Read the Preface: Readers, generally have an apathy towards reading these sections or a tendency of avoiding the preliminaries. However, it is highly recommended to read this section meticulously. The preface states the author\\u2019s intention for writing the book. At the same time, you also have some intention in your mind for reading this particular book. So, after reading the preface, you will be in a position to check if they both match, at least partly. If they do, then you have chosen the right book and if they don\\u2019t, you are lucky that you found it early, without wasting your time on it.
3. Understand the Content Structure: The next section in the preliminaries is the Table of Content. Also, don\\u2019t think the contents to be simply just a dumb list of the chapters. Use this to create a mental map of how the things are logically organised in the book. Then, as you go on reading the main text of the book, keep the information appropriately stored in these places that you have already created. Remember, more you keep the information in an organised way, easier it is, either to find them back or correlate them with others. This is just like the way we organize our study rooms or the computer engineers organize the data in the computer memory. Typically, good books always provide you with the rationale for the organization of the chapters presented in them.
4. Read the Main Text thoroughly-Focus on opening and terminating sections: The text is the main section that describes all the pedagogic contents of the book. Undoubtedly, you have to read this section, read with thorough details. This is because each sentence that the author has written, carry certain significance. In all the chapters and even in the section within them, the author generally introduces a concept at the beginning with an abstract and ends it with a summary for wrapping up. Use these flank sentences to grasp the important concepts that have been developed in each section and think about them beyond its text.
5. Jot down the major points as you read: It would be great if you could go on making a note of the main points you have read after each section in bullet form. Jot it down in your own handwriting, rather than typing it.
6. Recall portions of the book that you have read: It is also suggestive to recall these sections, using these notes, even when you are not reading the book. This makes a strong imprint of the subject in your mind.
7. Relate them to something practical: Another way to make things presented in the book much more perceptive, is to relate them to your life experiences or observations. Whenever, there is some important concept developed in the book, and you understand it, take a pause and think, whether you have come across similar things in your life. If you have an exercise to be done at the end of the chapters, do it readily after you finish the chapter rather than leaving them to be done at some other time.
8. Use the Bibliography: Finally, comes the Bibliography, which is the list of references, books, magazine articles, pamphlets, documents, old notes, tutorials, verified and authentic online contents and many of such sort, that the author has referred to in writing the book. Experienced readers know that every book has its own scope. No author can go beyond that even he wants to. But what he provides for his readers is the bibliography. Interested readers, can get the answers to their further queries using the details readily available in the references mentioned in the bibliography, without much effort.
Reading books effectively needs practise. So, what are you waiting for? Start reading the next book following the suggestions and feel the difference.