Advice on Reading Strategically

Fred Sanders:

The most important advice I can give about reading is to make decisions in advance about what you want from the book you're about to read. You've got to stay in charge, and not just let yourself accidentally fall into the reading experience.

Before you really engage the book, decide if it's the kind of book you need to read slowly, repeatedly, taking notes, and pondering.

Or is it the kind of book that covers familiar territory and will only offer a few new details?

Is it a book you want to immerse yourself in and get lost in, or the kind you want to dip into for bits of information?

Or is it a book that you need to figure out so you can put it on your shelf and know how to use it for reference later on?

Some books contain analysis and perspectives that are brand new for you, and require slow assimilation.

But others just confirm, deepen, or extend things you already know.

And it's fine to read for fun and entertainment, or even to read haphazardly. But you need to have made a decision that you're going to do so. There are some books that I'm done with in 90 minutes, because I already knew what was in them before I picked them up, and I got everything I needed from them in a short encounter. I'm not an especially fast reader, but I do read strategically.

You can read the whole thing here.

For more counsel on reading well, keep an eye out for Tony Reinke's excellent book, Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books, coming this Fall.