How to read a lot of books in a short time

We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn. -- Peter F. Drucker

As part of my self-planned Master's Degree in Personal Productivity I've been reading non-fiction rather voraciously [1]. For example, I usually have 3-5 books going per week, with replacements arriving regularly [2]. The topics cover productivity, personal growth, consulting, networking, and creativity. However, a significant problem I've encountered is a certain "tyranny" of reading for education (rather than for entertainment), and it has threatened to turn the process into a form of aversion therapy.

Naturally, because my goal is to learn, the reading involves work. But the question is: How can one read efficiently, capture relevant ideas in a usable way, and keep the process sustainable and enjoyable? The rest of my post summarizes the best solutions I've found, but the most useful technique comes from Jason Womack [3], and synthesizes nicely the most common ideas. In a nutshell, he says he reads the book four times:

1. Table of contents, glossary, index.
2. Anything in bold, titles, and subtitles.
3. First line of every paragraph.
4. Entire book

Here's the twist: Steps 1-3 should only take about 10 minutes. To capture relevant information he uses a note-taking scheme involving putting dots in margins, and cross-referencing them in an index in the book's front. When done, he transfers them to a text file.

After adopting his system with a slight variation (I dictate my notes into an inexpensive cassette tape recorder, then transcribe them into my system [4]), I've found it works great. I can very quickly scan a book, decide if it's worth reading in depth (steps 3 and 4), and which sections are likely to be most relevant to my goals. My only other point is to note that I seem to need a balance between non-fiction and fiction. (My current ratio of non-fiction to fiction is about 5:1, but should probably be more like 3:1.)

I'd love to hear your suggestions and tricks!


Related methods

Following are related articles, each with its own twist. The common point, though, is to efficiently find ideas that are relevant to your goals, usually via some sort of skimming. The big change for me (some slight embarrassment here) was the realization that I didn't have to read the entire book word-for-word!

In How to read a business book, Brendon Connelly suggests marking up (tagging) interesting passages with a master index at the back of the book. He also contributes tips on where to read, pens to use, etc.

The classic How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life (by Alan Lakein), suggests reading books like newspapers. The main points:

• Put a new book into your inbox every day, and take the old one out, even if unread.
• Then read the 'headlines' on jacket (most significant points).
• Then glance through it quickly, noting items of interest, taking about the same amount of time as reading a newspaper.
• The goal: Find the key ideas and understand their applicability to your situation.
• Use the preface, table of contents, and summaries at beginning and end of book.
• Read details only if a) it's meaningful, and b) it's involved.

This approach allows gaining value in a surprisingly short time. It's good because you see more books, and are more likely to see really good ones. Also, you get efficient at skipping lower quality works.

In Open Loops: A Quick and Dirty Reading Strategy When Time is Short, the section "How To Find the Essential 20%" lists these points:

1. Read the title of the material.
2. Read the introduction.
3. Read the Table of Contents.
4. Flip through the material, scanning the chapter titles and sub-headings.
5. Look at the illustrations and captions.  Look at the charts and diagrams.  Read the pull-quotes and sidebars.
6. Scan through the index looking for your particular business’ buzz words.
7. Now read the first chapter (or in a shorter work, the first paragraph).
8. Flip through the book and read the first sentence of each paragraph.
9. Read the last chapter (or paragraph in a shorter work).  If there is an executive summary, read it.
10. Read any other information on the cover or dust jacket.

In How to Study and Make the Most of Your Time, an approach is presented that I found was commonly recommended to students:

• Schedule important work.
• Ask yourself questions as you read - read to answer questions.
• Use SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review.
• Try to develop an overall concept of what you have read in your own words and thoughts. try to connect things you have just read to things you already know.
• Every paragraph contains a main idea - make it a habit to find the main idea in each paragraph you read.
• Think!

The article Leading Forward: How to Read and Digest a Book! (apparently gone, but still in - Google's cache) recommended five steps: Selection, Preparation, Read Actively, Reflect for Insight, Systemise for implementation. This was in the minority in that it addressed how to use the information after reading.

Finally, from The Great Big Book of Personal Productivity, by Ron Fry: To summarize the skimming process:

1. Read and be sure you understand the title or heading. Try rephrasing it as a question for further clarification of what you will read.
2. Examine all the subheadings, illustrations, and graphics. these will help you identify the significant matter within the text.
3. Read thoroughly the introductory paragraphs, the summary, and any questions at chapter's end.
4. Read the first sentence of every paragraph.this generally includes the main idea.
5. Evaluate what you have gained from this process: Can you answer the questions at the end of the chapter? Can you intelligently participate in a class discussion of the material?
6. Write a brief summary that capsulizes what you have learned from your skimming.
7. Based on this evaluation, decide whether a more thorough reading is required.

References

• [1] In his article Read a Book a Week, Steve Pavlina explains a meta reason for reading voraciously:

  But the actual knowledge and the new distinctions you gain from reading are not the main benefit. My experience has shown me that the real benefit comes not from what you read but rather from the habit of reading. When you read a new book every week, you condition your mind to keep taking in new knowledge. Your thinking remains fresh and sharp. Your brain is always churning on new ideas, looking for new distinctions it can make. Every day you pour in more ideas, which your brain must find a way to integrate into your existing knowledge base. Frequent reading fires up your neural activity, even during the periods when you aren't reading.

• [2] Preferred sources: 1) My local library (which supports web-based requests), 2) Amazon's used marketplace, and 3) Amazon's new books. However, I've recently been exploring ebay's books section. I'd love to hear others' experiences buying from ebay...
• [3] Via personal correspondence.
• [4] See My Big-Arse Text File - a Poor Man's Wiki+Blog+PIM and Pickle jars, text files, and creative idea capture.

Comments

[John Richardson]

Great post, Matt! I have found that audio books are the answer for me. I can listen while walking, running, or driving using my iPod. It's nice to have the written book for reference but usually not necessary.

The great thing about the audio format is that I finish each and every book. With written books and my limited time schedule I find that I start many of them but have trouble finishing them up.

I find the book reviews in Amazon to be very helpful in choosing books in the first place. If they only one or two stars I stay far away and save my money.

I will take the multiple advice offered here and do a pre-read skim through the material. Great Idea!

John

[Matthew Cornell]

Thanks, John - I like the idea of audio books. I haven't had much luck with them due to my limited commute times (yea!) but what a great idea. (They're on my mind recently, having read "yes you can!" - a book on the motivational speaker industry. Talks about Toastmasters as well.)

I use the Amazon reviews as well - very cool.

[Teresa Angelicus]

merry christmas matt from Hong Kong!

For the past two hours, i have conquered two books that i was previously VERY AFRAID of picking up. i found myself getting its main ideas and selected materials that are of relevance to me. learning becomes more efficient and fun!

Thanks - this post of yours may have changed my life for the better.

[Matthew Cornell]

Hi Teresa: Your comment gave me such a lift. I'm very pleased to have helped. Thanks for reading!

[The Night Blogger]

Hello Matthew,

Nice post

Do you believe that reading a book without taking notes is a lost read ?

I've got also another problem
sometimes I pick up up book, read it completely and then realised that I've already read that book

I feel that I need to set up a database of book that I owned, wish list feature like Amazon and notes for each book that I've read

Do you know any software which might help organizing all these

Best Regards from France,
The Night Blogger

[Matthew Cornell]

Hi Night Blogger, thanks for reading.

Do you believe that reading a book without taking notes is a lost read?: Yes! I'm now spoiled - if I start reading a book and I don't have a capture tool around, I feel that I shouldn't go on. In fact, that's my new definition of "pleasure reading" - Can I read it without feeling like I should take notes? Note that this definition crosses the fiction/non-fiction line...

sometimes I pick up up book, read it completely and then realized that I've already read that book: Interesting! Maybe if you get through it and find the re-read has been useful, it's OK?

a database of books that I owned/read: I'd welcome recommendations from readers on this. I use my [ Matt's Idea Blog: My Big-Arse Text File | http://www.matthewcornell.org/blog/2005/08/my-big-arse-text-file-poor-mans.html ] to track these, and some use Excel. Also, you might check out [ Delicious Library | http://www.delicious-monster.com/ ] or [ LibraryThing | Catalog your books online | http://www.librarything.com/ ].

Thanks for your comment.

[The Night Blogger]

Thanks Matthew, this as just confirmed what I believed.

The technique I use is as follows :
As I read the book I highlight
(using a pink Stabilo highlighter)the important section that I will need to synthetise using my own words

It works ok for me, the only negative point is that it's difficult to resell a book on ebay or amazon which have got marked and highlight on every page.
So the only solution to this, is to not be greedy and give away the book to someone

I did hear (in good) of delicious library, it seems to have nice UI, too bad it's a Mac only app

Question : have you got any article on time management, procrastination, efficiency, motivation, I really suck at those so any tips and advices would be mmore than welcomed

>> The Night Blooger <<

[Matthew Cornell]

Night Blogger: Why not take external notes (voice recorder, pad of paper, etc)? Also, many people think the point of owning the book is so that you can mark it up!

Another approach (from Jason Womack): Put a pencil dot next to each paragraph that strikes you, and keep an index in the back of pages with dots (maybe on a large sticky pad).

have you got any article on time management, procrastination, efficiency, motivation: Well, hopefully this entire blog is on those topics, so search around. FYI I've tagged all my posts as [ ideamatt | http://del.icio.us/cornell/ideamatt ] on http://del.icio.us/.

[Ray Fowler]

I found a post last year at The Dawn Treader blog called "Reading on the Run" that was very helpful in this regards. The process recommended there looks like this:

Scan > Ransack > Browse > Pre-Read > In-Depth Read > Study

Here is the link: [ The Dawn Treader: Reading On The Run : How To Get More Out of Reading In Less Time | http://www.mrdawntreader.com/the_dawn_treader/2006/08/reading_on_the__1.html ].

[Matthew Cornell]

Thanks for the pointer, Ray. Looks good.

[Marcel]

Very useful information.

I use a C-pen 10 to scan text parts from books into my textdatabase. http://www.cpen.com/

[Anonymous]

Check out http://www.si.umich.edu/~pne/PDF/howtoread.pdf

Many of the same ideas, a bit more detailed, focused for students but widely applicable.

[Laura]

I've just begun a new habit -- I have a reading wiki where I keep notes on whatever I'm currently reading. I often read while eating my lunch at work and can then quickly type a few notes into the wiki of things to remember or look up later. I prefer this to the Post-it page marking method (which I used to use) because if I wait until the end of the book to write down/type up my notes, it seems like too daunting a task, or it's time for the book to go back to the library and there is no time to make the notes.

[Matthew Cornell]

Hi Laura, thanks for the story. I think typing the notes as you read is a great practice if you can make it work.

if I wait until the end of the book to write down/type up my notes, it seems too daunting - Exactly! For me, what's working well is to dictate, outsource the transcription ( see [ The 4-hour workweek applied: How I spent $100, saved hours, and boosted my reading workflow | http://www.matthewcornell.org/blog/2007/08/4-hour-workweek-applied-how-i-spent-100.html ] ), then review the notes and enter them into my quasi wiki ( see [ My Big-Arse Text File - a Poor Man's Wiki+Blog+PIM | http://www.matthewcornell.org/blog/2005/08/my-big-arse-text-file-poor-mans.html ] ).

...or it's time for the book to go back to the library and there is no time to make the notes - I solved this by buying and keeping every book :-) I frequently quote Brian Tracy's Guaranteed Formula For Getting Rich:

Invest as much in your mind each year as you do in your car." "The average driver spends $600 per month on his car... In the first year of practicing this formula, you income will increase 25 percent to 50 percent, or more, and your entire career will take off.

Keep on reading!

[Pearl]

Thank you for your post! I'm preparing reading classes for my college students and it's so lucky to find out your post. I'm Pearl in China. I'll visit your blog whenever I am free.

[Matthew Cornell]

Hi Pearl - glad you liked it. You might also find this helpful: [ A reading workflow based on Leveen's "Little Guide" | http://www.matthewcornell.org/blog/2007/03/reading-workflow-based-on-leveens.html ]

[Norman Wei]

Matt,

One idea I have is to summarize a book I have read in a BBP presentation. It forces you to search for the main ideas in the book while reading it. For those readers who are not familiar with BBP. That is the art of doing a PowerPoint presentation without using thsoe dreadful comma-inducing bullet points.

[Norman]

If you are held captive and your captor tells you that you are allowed to read only one book, which book would you pick?

For me, the choice is “Moving Mountains” by Henry Boettinger. It is by far the best book on communication. It was written back in 1969 by an AT&T executive in England. The language is a bit dated but the advice offered there is timeless.

Peter Drucker’s review appears on the book cover as follows: “A first-class and highly original, but also highly practical, treatise both on how one thinks and how one presents thinking.”

On presentation, Boettinger states that each person listens for his own reason. So it is not what you say that matters; it is what people hear. Before you make a presentation, you need to really try to understand the various reasons people show up to hear you.

On elegance, Boettinger says that it “exists when a great many aspects of a subject or person are expressed in the simplest possible way.”

On passion, he writes that “you can never affect others if you yourself are not affected by the idea”. That’s why people who read from their speeches or presentations can never convince their audience because there is no passion there. The audience can sense it right away.

Boettinger also says that you should always “treat the audience as equals during the presentation”. If you talk down to the audience, they become resentful. If you try to kiss up to the audience, they despise you.

The best quote from the book is what Boettinger says about making presentations: ” Presentation of ideas is conversation carried on at high voltage — at once more dangerous and more powerful.”

This book is 340 pages of great practical and timeless advice. The bad news is that it is out of print and it is a bit hard to find. Some libraries carry them. You may find it at Amazon or EBay.

[Matthew Cornell]

Hi Norman,

If you are held captive and your captor tells you that you are allowed to read only one book, which book would you pick?

Christ what a question! I guess it would not be a speed reading book ;-)

Moving Mountains ... by far the best book on communication

Thanks for the tip - it's on my list: [ Moving mountains: Or, The art and craft of letting others see things your way | http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0020792506?ie=UTF8&tag=masidbl-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0020792506 ]

... So it is not what you say that matters; it is what people hear. Before you make a presentation, you need to really try to understand the various reasons people show up to hear you.

And that seems like the hard part.

elegance: "exists when a great many aspects of a subject or person are expressed in the simplest possible way."

Yes! And that's what I'm calling "genius." The ability to see the essence of something clearly, then state it in a diamond nutshell (OK, I need to work on the wording). And, like "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance," you know it when you see it. It's that research paper that nails the idea. It's the presentation that's 100% on. Etc.

I'm striving for that.

presentations: "Presentation of ideas is conversation carried on at high voltage - at once more dangerous and more powerful."

Nice! The danger comes from the possibility of failure? The power, from the intensity and potential to make an impact in a short time?

Thanks a ton, Norman.

[Anonymous]

We have recently made an exciting discovery--three years after writing the wonderfully expanded third edition of How to Read a Book, Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren made a series of thirteen 14-minute videos on the art of reading. The videos were produced by Encyclopaedia Britannica. For reasons unknown, sometime after their original publication, these videos were lost.

When we discovered them and how intrinsically edifying they are, we negotiated an agreement with Encyclopaedia Britannica to be the exclusive worldwide agent to make them available.

For those of you who teach, this is great for the classroom.

I cannot over exaggerate how instructive these programs are--we are so sure that you will agree, if you are not completely satisfied, we will refund your donation.

Please go here to see a clip and learn more:

http://www.thegreatideas.org/HowToReadABook.htm

[sophia]

I am currently studying at university and I would like to know how to read effectively and retain the information. Thanks in advance.

[matthewcornell]

I appreciate your comment, sophia.

[Anonymous]

i have found this great new site for book lovers everywhere which has some really brilliant new features so go and check it out as it really is worth it!

http://www.bookarmy.com

[Anonymous]

hello.please can u tell me how to read speed.???

[Jiel]

I love to read but i do not have much time to do it. I will consider your suggestion. I hope i can do it. right Thanks!

Regards,
Jiel
http://www.universityloveconnection.com