Andy’s Implementation of “How to Read a Book”

As a para academic, I face the challenge of finding valuable insights in lengthy books. To determine if a book is worth reading, I initially assess if it will help me or if I crave more information. If it seems useful, I read it thoroughly, but otherwise, I take brief notes and move on. During my initial pass, I extract key information and make rough annotations in the margins. However, I save deeper analysis for later when I can fully digest the material. After the first pass, I summarize my understanding of the book and strategically explore the marked sections. If I find important ideas, I group and cluster them, sometimes connecting them to existing evergreen notes. These insights often contribute to my work and require further summarization and integration. This process usually takes a day or more for a book I'm deeply engaged with and often involves subsequent rereading sessions.