#PKMChat 2021-01-20 How to read a book efficiently

I prepared this topic based on my dilemma that I start too many books and end up finishing few. To nourish my research I based my prep on 2 books and a few articles How to Read a book – The classic guide to intelligent reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren An excellent book which describes multiple levels of reading up to syntopical reading which seems like my style. It was first printed in 1940 and had 10 editions. We can say it’s a classic, a reference from pre computer, pre note taking app era. How to take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens This is not a book about reading but the goal is the same: read and make the most of it. The path proposed in his books is by thinking on notes: collecting notes directly from reading, rewriting them and collecting them into smart notes. Pre note taking apps ear. Would had it be written differently, it seems not. Chapter 10 “read for understanding” is spot on the topic. It starts strong: read with a pen in hand. Both books are for students and the discipline is literature or social sciences. Not really my cup of tea. “How to Read a book” Anne-Laure from nesslabs wrote a post, short (hum, 2000 words) and easy to read as usual.

How to read a book

Anne-Laure support the idea to build a map of the book as we explore it. She echoes Adler’s book and multi level approach. I started a discussion on nesslabs on this topic of reading books in a very strategic and opportunistic way. https://community.nesslabs.com/c/learning/my-view-on-books-and-reading Farnam Street (a very reputed blog on reading and writing) also wrote on Adler’s book. Not very analytical though.

How to Read a Book: The Ultimate Guide by Mortimer Adler

#PKMChat has already been around reading book. We held a chat in 2015 on this topic, with an accent on learning.

#PKMChat 2015-01-28 Learning from a book

PKMChat being about Personal Knowledge Management encompass Knowledge lifecycle in general. Our first chat was about learning, acquiring Knowledge. Our second is about sharing it. Weeks after weeks we will switch from one end of the lifecycle to another while exploring all the channels that could be used: social, formal, writing, videos. Feel free to suggest topics by tweeting to @pkmchat.

TBC