Do you have a (reading/highlighting/note taking) system or methodology that you prefer or recommend?
I can juggle maybe 3-6 books, and it’s still a challenge to remember the best points later on.
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If you are able to post a longer TR of the book upon completion, I’d be curious as to your thoughts. Also, if @RiskyFlush is reading it as well, please share if you have time.
I read the amazon page about the book, but it didn’t give me enough insight as to what the content of the book is actually like.
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Sure.
Also, if anyone is interested, I’m reading this as part of a virtual book club, we meet and discuss it on Mondays. Eitan Hersh joined us for the first week, and will join us again for the final week. Don’t mind the DNC" label, it’s just the platform we’re using to manage our events so they reach a larger audience. It’s a totally grassroots group not sponsored by the DNC at all.
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Oh shit!!! That’s so cool to get to hear from the author. How was the discussion with Eitan the first week? Within discretion of course.
pretty good, he couldn’t stay long, so mainly he just introed it and where he got the ideas from, why he wrote it, etc.
The 28th will be a longer Q&A/discussion as a wrapup.
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Hi, just something that helped me better network what I’m reading into my existing knowledge base and deliberate recall. I switched the way I engage with the material from “I will be tested on this tomorrow” to “I will be teaching this tomorrow.”
Gotta say though, 3-6 books is impressive. Between leisure reading, industry reading, and client reading, I am usually juggling 12 or so books in my head at once. The system I have found is to take notes as I read on whatever occurs to me. Questions, insights, counterarguments. I don’t have to look for anything in particular. Then I go back over those notes and turn them into a kind of letter to myself wherein I manifest some sort of takeaway. Here’s everything that occurred to me as I read. What does that mean? If that hasn’t already emerged as I read, I have to manifest it deliberately after the last page.
Memory requires shape or it’s just visceral sensation. We can enhance our recall by making those connections to our existing knowledge as we read, and by organizing our random commentary afterward so that its purpose gives an easily recalled frame.
What is your reading experience like? Do you have an approach already that helps you juggle 3-6 books instead of just one? Finally, a thread in which we can move beyond these silly books and discuss the experience of reading itself 
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I like the insight of “tested on this” vs “teaching on this”. That is useful, thanks.
My book juggling can be really random. Like I won’t touch a book for 6 months and then get back into it. 99% of my reading is non-fiction, so there’s little need to remember a certain plot element or anything like that.
Where are you logging the notes/questions/insights? Do you use a system for notetaking and logging information that you take in outside of books(video lectures, articles, papers, etc)? If I own the book, I’ll underline/star/circle key elements and sometimes jot a couple lines of notes into the back or front page. But I rarely, if ever, am reading a book that I own.
I read the book “How to Read a Book” years ago. My dad recommended it and he uses the techniques detailed in it, but the techniques and methodologies tend to lend themselves better to books that you own rather than borrow. This book is co-written by Charles van Doren(who was the guy who cheated in the movie Quiz Show) https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Classic-Intelligent/dp/0671212095
This is very true. The subjects that I read or learn about that are the easiest for me to have memory recall on are things related to geography, history, and current events. In general when I gain new knowledge in those areas, I’m able to tie it to multiple anchors within my preexisting memory framework. I don’t have the same extensive foundations of knowledge when it comes to science, math, art, or literature.
My hope is to incorporate proven systems that others have had success with in order to accelerate knowledge acquisition and retention.
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This is probably going to be a SPICY hot take, but my experience is that 99% of the quality information in nonfiction books - many of which are just long-winded versions of Ted Talks - can be distilled and internalized in summary form. Book for book, I’m firmly in the camp that fiction/fantasy reading has more value - and there’s a reasonable amount of research that supports this. Benefits include:
Social cognition
Empathy/prosocial behavior
Race boundary perception
Animal welfare
ETA: This is especially true given the fiction world’s growing emphasis on portraying minority identities and cultures, giving representation to the marginalized and introducing those identities in positive ways to generations who otherwise might never encounter them.
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I think this depends on why you read. If you just want facts, you’re probably better off with Wikipedia. But good nonfiction books have their own literary merits.
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as noted above and in the LC thread, I tend to agree, but I’m trying something new ;) Also, I separate memoirs and autobiographies because those aren’t really distillable like most informative non-fiction.
Having grown up reading fantasy and sci-fi and fiction in general, it’s really hard for me to see it as infantile or inartistic, because of the metaphor and commentary that I know exist in many of those works. Sci-fi, in particular, has always been a genre steeped in social commentary, because the setting allows for a freedom of ideas that “realistic” settings do not.
I argue this with Jal because his take feels close-minded to me, which is, of course, one of the things good fantasy and sci-fi argues against. It feels like those people who only read the headline then want to argue about the merits of an article. If you hate it, don’t read it, but don’t also try to tell me it has no value or isn’t art. Of course, this is an age-old argument that will never get solved here.
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I read 90% nonfiction, seems the best way to me to learn about new topics and such, i dunno. Whenever i want to really learn about something though i look for a book on the topic.
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Yeah, rereading my post comes off a little strong. I mean more to weigh in personally rather than pass judgment on alternatives. I think there’s probably a pretty strong personality/genre interaction, where the value we derive is going to be strongly based on what we’re looking for and what we need.
I’ll stand up for the value of fiction and don’t particularly love nonfiction myself (except in summary form!), but no hate for the other side of that coin
Your take is appreciated. And you brought receipts to back up your point. Non-fiction receipts, which are my favorite kind 
I’ll probably read at least one of the papers that you linked, but still may not end up increasing my reading of fiction/fantasy. I tend to enjoy learning about the meta aspects behind human behavior and psychology rather than fictionalized accounts of the same, even though I know that storytelling can be a compelling and effective way of communicating concepts.
I do value trying to understand other people’s tastes and preferences.
If any fiction/fantasy/sci-fi reader is open to sharing a personal anecdote about how a particular or general reading of fiction has impacted their perspective on the world, I’d be curious to better understand that perspective.
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My system is closer to just chaos. I read pretty much only nonfiction, sometimes history, biography, sometimes philosophy, popular-ish science. Which of the 20 books on my kindle or near my bed I pick up depends on mood and how sharp I’m feeling. If I’m near 100% i might read philosophy or technical science (went to grad school in philosophy of science), if I’m 80% it might be history, 60% is Twitter or new yorker.
My chaos system is not ideal. I feel i should limit myself to 4-5 books. I need to decide whether to plow through a work (as i did with Hamilton) or shelve it. I used to highlight and take notes, but that’s rare these days.
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This is a subject of interest to me, although my depth of knowledge on the topic is surface level scratching. Do you have any books that you would particularly recommend?
I purchased Karl Popper’s Conjectures and Refutations, but have only read a few pages thus far.
I’m not sure anything I share could match the eloquence of Aidan Moher.
https://sarahgailey.substack.com/p/personal-canons-there-is-no-universal
If SFF canon looks like a reading list for a History of Science Fiction 101 course, it’s missing the point of how the genre is a conversation with itself and the outside world of politics, sociology, and humanity.
As DongWon Song said, “The idea of the canon is outdated, colonialist, racist, sexist, and anti-queer. It’s easy to say that this is only true because old stuff is colonialist, racist, sexist, and anti-queer, but that’s a bullshit cop out.”
There is no correct path to SFF fandom. You’re going to have a different relationship with SFF than your friend across the street, even if you trade books endlessly and your introduction to the genre is largely built from the same bricks. Someone devouring epic fantasy as a kid in Ohio is going to have a very different experience than a young adult in Saitama, Japan who loves post-apocalyptic SF, and they’re each going to have a different experience than someone who only dabbles in the genre. An older queer man is going to have a very different take on Ender’s Game than a straight teenager reading it for English class. The idea of one singular canon erases what we all bring individually to books and the genre as readers.
SFF is global, with authors and readers from every point on Earth. It’s impossible to consider a static SFF canon largely made up of white dudes from the US as relevant to every reader. As a Canadian, I’m US-adjacent, but even then many of the Golden Age SFF held up as canon by an older generation of SFF readers explored themes and motifs that aren’t largely relevant to my life or culture. Even now, with a Hugo Award staring me down as I write this, I’ve only read a book-and-a-half between Heinlein and Clarke — and can’t remember anything about either of them.
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Well, Kitcher’s Advancement of Science is quite good but may require the equivalent knowledge/interest of an undergrad philosophy degree. Best bet would probably be an anthology used in an undergraduate course, with intros to the readings providing some context. Can find some good course syallabi online.
There are some public intellectuals, like sean carrol (cal tech physicist) who have a general interest in phil/philosophy of science, and his books have decent discussions of philosophy and philosophy of science (eg, verificationism, logical empiricism).
Actually, the Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Kuhn is probably the best single work for a relative novice due to its influence, readability, and because it deals with some core ideas (progress/incommensurability).
Popper isn’t a great place to start these days, though he’s an important figure.
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For taking notes, I either make notes in a document on my computer as I read along, or I take notes on my phone. I have a lot of thoughts and sometimes spend more time parsing through what I think than reading 
My mental system relies on parsing whatever I’m reading into a kind of narrative. A story with a beginning, middle, end. Main characters, secondary characters. I’m doing this even for nonfiction books about ideas. I perceive opposing ideas as opposing characters, and will sometimes imagine a person delivering that argument so that it’s easier for me to envision a mental totem for that concept and argument. A person who in my imagination regurgitates the information as though they were yelling at me why that’s the right way to see things.
As you mention, a key not just in recall but integrating the information into our knowledge base is to find the concept that provides you with an anchor. For me, the perception of narrative provides an anchor across domains where I may know little or nothing at all.
The other thing I do once I’m done with a book is devour reviews and criticism. Sometimes the issue is that I just don’t know what to pay attention to, or what meaning to take away from it. I can really start to remember stuff if I find an article or review I strongly disagree with. In an odd way, finding an emotional motivation can be the essential ingredient to remembering something.
You may also enjoy How to Read Like a Professor.
I think… I haven’t read that in almost twenty years, but I remember liking it.
I suppose that sort of gets at the question though. When you read, what are you trying to recall and integrate? If it’s just facts and figures and concepts, as Nonono says, there may be far easier methods to aid your goal.
Whereas if your goal is to have an enjoyable reading experience that has some sort of conscious impact on your after the last page, you may find your goal is far better served by engaging with personal meaning rather than trying to remember anything at all. You are in effect serving two masters if you’re trying to do both at once.
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Your feels are off. The first books I really enjoyed (as a young to mid teen) were SF, which I read every night for a couple of years, going to the library every week with my dad to get another batch (bless him). I loved the imagery of the ideas and the “other worldliness”.
But now I’d get a lot more from writers working in parallel areas eg Ballard…strange futuristic settings with (often pretty bleak) observations on human nature…because they say so much more about the world - the scope is much greater.
Not talking about contemporary SF/fantasy of course because I haven’t read any.
(btw it’s considered good forum etiquette to @ someone if you talk about them)
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I’ll share a little here, though I should again emphasize that my complaint about nonfiction is largely that it can be distilled down - not that it inherently doesn’t have value. I’ll still read the heck out of research articles or instructional texts when they provide an efficient source of learning. As far as fiction anecdotes, I’ll give you some from both past and recent history.
I had a mediocre upbringing, with my primary exposure to real-world male role models coming from my estranged father’s rage and from the echoes of his aggression on my single mother’s mental health. So when I wanted to be around good people, I read books. And one of the studies I linked alludes to this, but there’s something about the imagination-inspiring nature of fiction that paradoxically makes the character struggles more approachable. Because the challenges faced are not owned by someone else’s lived experience, it’s easier to envision yourself in the midst of those challenges - and to learn from the ways that they are faced and overcome. So even as I watched my dad navigate the world by bullying everyone, I learned about compassion, self-regulation, and personal sacrifice as I looked through the eyes of the heroes in stories. Where nonfiction taught me concepts, fiction taught me how to be a decent person.
These days, I don’t read fiction as often or as voraciously, but there is still the occasional book that teaches me something significant about life. Most recently Loading interface..., which - despite the nerdiest goddamn title of all time - is a deeply compelling allegory for the struggles of the modern-day disenfranchised. I’m a white dude who will never understand what it’s like to awaken into a world that views me as a lower caste, but seeing such a world through the eyes of richly-developed characters gives me a better idea than I might otherwise have access to.
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