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Ask HN: How to get better at reading

3 points by niix ↗ HN
I suppose I have a short attention span, but have always been envious of those who can dive deep into almost any book. For me to really sink into something I have to find myself extremely interested in the context of the book, otherwise I lose interest quickly. I often catch myself thinking about something else while reading and then realizing that I've read two pages and haven't absorbed anything.

Any tips on becoming a better reader?

5 comments

[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 18.0 ms ] thread
bemmu
If you discover early on that you're not going to get much out of it, don't feel too bad for bailing out. Having a book doesn't mean you are forced at all costs to finish it.
kidlogic
read with enthusiasm.

emphasizing key words in the passages will make the narrative more entertaining and easier to comprehend

severus
Start with reading fiction. That should be easy. Move on to history - it should be harder language, but still attention grabbing. Once you are comfortable with that, start moving towards reading textbooks. One thing I do is always read a fiction in between two textbooks - it keeps your motivation up.
severus
(i've read 46 books this year so far, most of which were non-fiction)
brudgers
For me, mainly through time.

I've always read. I took a class where Descartes Meditations was assigned. I looked up and it had been an hour and I'd read three pages. A couple of years spent reading philosophy later, and I could read three academic articles in an evening.

In the late 80's I read Eco's Name of the Rose. Two years ago, I reread it. It was a different book.

The same is true for technical books, articles, papers. As I read more of them, I understand more of some of them. And now that I know that, I don't worry deeply about what I don't understand most of the time. It's only when deep knowledge is relevant to something I'm actually doing that I drill down. It's the 'T-shaped' idea. Reading for breadth makes it more likely that I drill down in a productive well.

As for glazing over, I'll do that frequently with equations...happened last night on two pages worth. I went back and looked again and got about all I cared to get.

tl;dr Just keep reading.