"How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading" by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren

Books are important tools for the mind, and since I was planning on reading a large number of books this year (and after a couple of recommendations) I decided I would start with this one, in the hopes that it would help improve the speed and efficiency with which I glean new knowledge and conceptual understanding. Before I go into the chapters that I found most useful, here first is a summary of the claims the authors make about the book:

They first assert that reading is a skill comparable to catching in baseball, that while a good author like a good pitcher should be able to make the concepts easy to catch, a good catcher should be able to grasp even very difficult throws and a good reader should be able to be able to catch difficult concepts, even when they are explained a little sloppily. The book then asserts that any good author on a subject has a higher 'level' of conceptual understanding on a topic, and that the reader should be 'rising to approach the level of the author', otherwise the text is just a series of facts to be memorized. This process of read ing which brings a person a greater conception of the world around him consists of four successive levels.

1. Elementary reading: this is the kind of reading we are taught in schools, which consists of seeing words on a page and constructing them into sentences.
2. Inspectional reading: this consists of getting the maximum you can out of a book given a very limited time. For example, if you are in a bookstore and want to learn enough about the book to decide whether it's worth buying.
3. Analytical reading: this consists of getting the maximum you can out of a book given unlimited time.
4. Syntopical reading: this consits of reading many books about a subject and coming to your own, unique conclusions. Properly done, you can gain an equal or greater level of understanding as any given author on that subject.

The book dedicates one chapter on elementary reading. Since it assumes that the reader already has this skill, it's mostly about the history and current practi ces of teaching how to read to others. If you will be teaching someone how to read, this chapter may be useful.

The chapters I found most valuable were the ones on inspectional and analytical reading. One thing that I didn't realize I was missing when I read textbooks in college, was how important it is that the subject matter be personally relevant in order to be memorable; the last thing you want to be telling yourself when you're reading something is "what does this have to do with anything?" Now when I intend to read a book I read the preface and introduction, table of contents, epilogue or afterword, and often the first and last chapters and then glancing at the rest, weaving my way through until I have know what the main point of the book, why it's structure is relevant to the main point, and how the different pieces fit together. Now, when I'm reading about the details I have a grasp of what is important and why. Dry books are not as boring and I have noticed a clear difference in the amount that I remember. This book has helped me with every one that I have read since, and for that I highly recommend it.