# Shane Parrish - How to Remember What You Read (Highlights) ![rw-book-cover|256](https://readwise-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/images/article2.74d541386bbf.png) ## Metadata **Cover**:: https://readwise-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/images/article2.74d541386bbf.png **Source**:: #from/readwise **Zettel**:: #zettel/fleeting **Status**:: #x **Authors**:: [[Shane Parrish]] **Full Title**:: How to Remember What You Read **Category**:: #articles #readwise/articles **Category Icon**:: 📰 **URL**:: [fs.blog](https://fs.blog/2021/08/remember-books/) **Host**:: [[fs.blog]] **Highlighted**:: [[2021-08-26]] **Created**:: [[2022-09-26]] ## Highlights - We shouldn’t read stuff we find boring. Life is far too short. - Finishing the book is optional. You should start a lot of books and only finish a few of them. - Summaries can be a useful jumping-off point to explore your curiosity, but you cannot learn from them the way you can from the original text.* ### Active reading - Books don’t enter our lives against a blank slate. Each time we pick up a book, the content has to compete with what we already think we know. - Connections help retention. - Focus on some combination of books that: 1) stand the test of time; 2) pique your interest; or 3) challenge you. #### Get some context - For example, you might ask yourself: How does the book relate to topics you’re already familiar with? What about the book challenges you? What are your preconceived notions about its subject, and how can you put them aside? - Some helpful questions to ask include the following: Why did the author write this? What is their background? What else have they written? Where was it written? Was there anything interesting about the writing process? What was the political, economic, and cultural situation at the time of writing? Has the book been translated or reprinted? Did any important events—a war, an economic depression, a change of leadership, the emergence of new technology—happen during the writing of the book? What was happening in the world during the time the novel is set? This is particularly useful to ask when it comes to fiction. #### Know your why - What can I learn from this story? What in this book parallels or pertains to my own challenges? What are the differences? How might I apply some of the insights I’m picking up? #### Intelligently skim - This article on how to read a book is an introduction to more effective skimming. - a well-researched book should have a bibliography full of interesting texts. #### Match the book to your environment - When choosing books, take a look at your own situation and decide on genres or authors that might help you overcome any current challenges or give you a fresh perspective. ### Remembering what you read #### Takes notes - The best technique for notetaking is whichever one works for you and is easy to stick to. - In How to Take Smart Notes, Sönke Ahrens suggests a way of approaching notetaking to make the books you read a lasting part of your thinking. - the Blank Sheet Method. Here is how it works. Before you start reading a new book, take out a blank sheet of paper. Write down what you know about the book/subject you’re about to read — a mind map if you will. After you finish a reading session, spend a few minutes adding to the map with a different color. Before you start your next reading session, review the page. When you’re done reading, put these ‘blank sheets’ into a binder that you periodically review. - Another effective technique is to start your notetaking by writing a short summary of each chapter and transcribing any meaningful passages or phrases. #### Stay focused - If you’re struggling to stay focused on a particularly difficult or lengthy book, decide to read a mere 25 pages of it a day. - The more you write, the more active your mind will be while reading. If you can’t mark up the book, do it on paper and note the page numbers. - make a habit of building a dialogue with the author(s). #### Make mental links #### Stop when bored - Author and librarian Nancy Pearl advocates the “Rule of 50.” This entails reading the first 50 pages of a book and then deciding if it is worth finishing. ### Now what? #### Apply what you’ve learned - Another way to reinforce the learning is to apply the Feynman technique - Make your notes searchable - Schedule time to read and review these notes. - Reread (if you want to) - Skim a lot of books. Read a few. Immediately re-read the best ones twice.