How To Get The Most Out Of A Book

It’s fun to join a book club to see what everyone takes away from the monthly read. For all you introverts, you can experience this by going online and reading blogs and book discussions. Did someone bring up something about a book you didn’t think of when you first read it? There is a trick to getting the most out of a book. All it takes is approaching it a bit differently than what you are used to. Follow these steps the next time you dive into a read and make the most out of any fiction or nonfiction piece.  

Review what the book is about

You wouldn’t go into a shop you’re unfamiliar with and buy a product you know nothing about. So why would you do so when checking out a book at the library? Before you pick up your next read, get familiar with what it is about. Read the back cover, prologue or introduction, and table of contents. It is also a good idea to flip through the chapters to see how the author organized the book. Reading the “about the author” section is a good idea as well. Are they a retired neurologist writing about an innovation in neurosurgery that could change a person’s life? Or are they currently practicing medicine and are a known advocate for controversial treatments? Their expertise matters!

What is it that you hope to gain from reading this book?

Now that you know what the book is about sit down determine what you hope to get out of the book from reading it. Bill Gates posted his summer reading list recently and included the nonfiction book, The Great Influenza. He said he reread it in light of recent events to gain perspective on how things worked out then and how they are working out now. Gates had a set purpose of rereading The Great Influenza and gained precisely what he was looking for. Perspective.  

Summarize the book’s main actions

The book summary on the back of the book is ambiguous for a reason. Authors and publishers give only a hint of what the pages inside contain to peak your curiosity enough to purchase it. Put the purpose you got out of the book to work and write a summary about it. Compare it with what someone else wrote to see the magic that happens when different minds all read the same book. Especially if this was a book you read for an English class, you will be ready for any discussion or upcoming essays to argue your point properly.   

Put the book’s actions into play

For those that take the book’s main actions and apply them in life, they are the ones that will gain the most out of a book. This concept becomes especially fun when these actions came from a fiction read! To Kill a Mockingbird is infamous for being the book known to teach readers why you should never judge others because they are different from you. What a wonderful lesson to apply to your own life! Or what about The Chronicles of Narnia, a young adult fantasy novel that shows how good always prevails over evil. 

Get the most out of a book by making it an activity that promotes action. You can apply the same concepts to reading a textbook for school. This summer, practice these concepts with a fun list of reads to better prepare yourself to fly through complicated textbooks this fall. Learn how with our Speed Reading Foundation Course, where you’ll learn all the ways you can save time going through stacks upon stacks of textbooks without forgetting what you just read. Click the link to find out more and to purchase your course today.