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I have only come to accept this after accepting limits on my time
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There are no cookies for "finishing" a textbook
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This is very different from reading fiction; it's much more "active" -- even "interactive"
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What I want from the book is not necessarily what the author wanted to teach
- Potentially antagonistic
- Compared to fiction where I actively suspend disbelief and follow the author
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Technique
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Clarify intent
- what do I want to know?
- Learn to apply a specific topic
- Do a generalized survey
- perhaps I'm not sure what I want to learn
- start skimming several books/papers
- determine budget in time and energy
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Choose a book to read
- Look for reviews, lindy effect
- Don't spend too much time here
- Rely on people I trust for recs
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Actively skim the book
- Read the ToC, index, blurbs, diagrams
- Any pages that stand out
- Don't stop on hard things
- Don't accept the book as true; don't fall for suspension of disbelief
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Mark up the book
- if I know what I wanted, highlight those pieces
- if I don't know what I wanted, skim first to figure out what I can get
- brief summary from skimming, and decide what to do next
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Engaging with the book
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Confirm I want/need more informaton/knowledge
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Decide how to judge that I've acquired what I needed
- project? notes? article?
- exercises?
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Rely on skimming to figure out how I'll tackle the book
- Where I'll pay attention, what I can skip
- What other books/references I should pull in
- Are there other references that will match my purpose better?
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Read the book, paraphrase it constantly
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Implement projects based on the book
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Consolidating the knowledge
- Write up summary in my own words
- Try to explain it to someone directly & simply
- Maintain a list of Jargon / Glossary for easy look up
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References
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How to read a book, Adler/Doren
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How to read a book, Paul Edwards: http://pne.people.si.umich.edu/PDF/howtoread.pdf