How do you read books?

[K.I.L.E.R]

For some odd reason I find myself skipping paragraphs of information and I get very impatient and irritated when reading large things.
This makes it difficult to get all the information I want within a single read-through.

I really hate it when books are just paragraphs of "blah blah blah" and they don't stick things into point form.
Books with maths in them are usually easy to read for me because I can find what I want and just read a sentence or two about it and use the maths to direct me further.

Is there something I can do to make myself patient to read books?
I find myself wasting time if I have to go back and re-read parts.
The only thing I can think of is to keep notes about what I'm reading. Although I'm too lazy to do this.

Does anyone have some advice for me?

 

[Babel-17]

I have no easy advice.

It's about your state of mind. Approach a novel like you would a gourmet feast served at the holidays. Savor it.

Beyond that you can try to appreciate the "voice" the author is using when delivering long/expository passages.

This gives you the patience to wade through them and should also give you some insight into the author.

Good topic, I'm tired now but I'll check in "tomorrow".

 

[epicstruggle]

possible solution: rent movie based on the book. /grin

epic

 

[K.I.L.E.R]

Do you know of a movie that explains the cencepts of 3D graphics and mathematical applications of it?

possible solution: rent movie based on the book. /grin

epic

 

[Simon F]

Do you know of a movie that explains the cencepts of 3D graphics and mathematical applications of it?

If you skip paragraphs in something like that you could be making life rather difficult for yourself.

 

[K.I.L.E.R]

If you skip paragraphs in something like that you could be making life rather difficult for yourself.

I make up for that in the lectures. I hope.
You're right though.
This is why I made this thread. It is a serious problem that needs to be solved now rather than later.

In a lot of cases it can get much worse though. I sometimes skip chapters and even pages if I don't deem them useful.

 

[Diplo]

Are you talking about fiction or non-fiction books? Or both?

 

[_xxx_]

I always wrote down a small live summary of what the profs talked about and that's the stuff I concentrated on while learning. But I somehow "naturally" could recognize what's important and what's not that important.

As for normal literature, as long as you don't miss anything really important, it really doesn't matter IMHO.

 

[Geo]

Left to right.

 

[London Geezer]

Oooh u're not talking about fiction!!

Well, i don't think skipping paragraphs in text books is a good idea...

Personally, when reading books (fiction), i read every word. Or almost. Kinda feel like i'd be missing something important, and i'm always more paranoid about missing things than wasting time, so i end up reading pretty much everything.

 

[sytaylor]

I have the same problem, I've found the only solution is to steal someones code and then fiddle with it, breaking bits and seeing what happens. The only way I'd read everything on a page was if it kept my very distractable attention.

 

[London Geezer]

I have the same problem, I've found the only solution is to steal someones code and then fiddle with it, breaking bits and seeing what happens. The only way I'd read everything on a page was if it kept my very distractable attention.

You do know that dislexia doesn't exist, right? You can't use that excuse anymore!

 

[John Reynolds]

Left to right.

But do you go up or down at the end of each line?

 

[silence]

But do you go up or down at the end of each line?

damn.... i used to go to the begining or the line.... thats prolly why it took me years to finish even smallest book.... so you say you cane go up and down?.... damn, damn....

 

[London Geezer]

damn.... i used to go to the begining or the line.... thats prolly why it took me years to finish even smallest book.... so you say you cane go up and down?.... damn, damn....

Didn't u know? it's one down, two up, one down, two up and so on...

 

[Skrying]

When reading heavily math related topics I generally use my fingers. I use them to track down different parts and place a finger on what I think is important to the topic. Then after a page I will write a short sentence and sum it up, and also note where it is located. Of course, this means I general will reread those bits about 2 to 3 times.

I dont think there is a real easy to way to solve your issue, I know there wasnt for me. I have issues where constant stream of numbers will actually put me to sleep. In highschool I had to have music playing that was loud and aggressive or else I'd fall asleep, no issue since I listen to death metal, etc.

Good luck with it. Its a pain even today for me when I do daily totals at my shop. Sigh, I think I'm gonna make my wife start helping with that. (Yeah right, more like I run in fear)

 

[Geo]

But do you go up or down at the end of each line?

Bastard. I was going to give you "topper rep" for that, but I've hit you too recently. You'll have to be satisfied with a $%$#@!

 

[ZoinKs!]

Is there something I can do to make myself patient to read books?

Cut back on the coffee grounds and you'll be able to sit still longer.

Seriously, Skrying's advice sounds good.

You could get a highlighter and mark the parts that seem important.

If you're desperate, maybe try going in reverse. Start at the end, where the conclusion is, then go back to figure how the author built to that conclusion. But I'm starting to grasp at straws now, hehe.

 

[sytaylor]

You do know that dislexia doesn't exist, right? You can't use that excuse anymore!

I choose ADD vs pikachu

 

[Crisidelm]

Try bustrophedic reading.
No wait, your math books aren't written in Etrurian language I suppose.