Comments on: How to Read a Book

By: thduggie

thduggie — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:48:48 +0000

Janet: I edited it, but with the anticipated result of several characters having that backslash decor.

Paul: That’s actually a good point to raise. I feel ok doing an 80/20 on a book of an author I do not personally know. I feel ok doing an 80/20 on a blog post, because I’m not the intended addressee. I don’t think it’s right to read personal e-mails or responses to comments 80/20, and I don’t think it’s ok to listen to someone 80/20, though I have done both and will likely end up doing both again. Deciding whether to apply the 80/20 approach is touchy business!

By: Cousin Paul

Cousin Paul — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 19:33:43 +0000

Well, I tested the “How to Read a Book” method out on this blog entry … I think I got it! Naw just kiddin, I read the whole thing, really I did! 🙂

By: IrishOboe

IrishOboe — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 08:13:26 +0000

Ugh, Stephan, can you edit so that the first sentence ends in “time” not “task?” Sorry!

By: IrishOboe

IrishOboe — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 08:09:24 +0000

The 80/20 rule in general says that 80% of the task takes 20% of the time and the remaining 20% takes 80% of the time. This especially applies if you are a perfectionist. The same idea goes for books if you\’re smart about it: you can get 80% of the content of a book by investing 20% of the time in it that you would have if you read 100% of the book. I might be more conservative and say with 20% of the time you can get 50% of the book, but it depends on the book. This mostly applies to non-fiction, btw. Some ideas \”How to Read a Book\” suggests are looking carefully at the table of contents, reading the publishers blurb, looking through the index, identifying keywords and reading those passages in the book, reading a few chunks (a page or few pages only), reading the last few pages (since most authors can\’t resist summarizing the most important ideas at the end) and all the while asking yourself questions like \”what kind of book is this?\” \”how is it structured\” \”what\’s the author\’s main point?\” etc. That\’s just a taste, but that\’s as much as I gave Stephan and he was able to apply it in his own way, so maybe it will help you, too!

By: SursumCorda

SursumCorda — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 22:05:20 +0000

What is the 80/20 rule as applied to books?

By: IrishOboe

IrishOboe — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:53:31 +0000

“How to Read a Book” never mentions the 80/20 rule, but it gives you specific tools with which to apply it to books. I am a slow reader, so I’m very excited about this new skills set. Today I covered a 300 page book during part of Joseph’s morning nap. I know enough to say with confidence I’ve spent as much time with the book as I think worthwhile. If I’d just chucked the book on my hunch I would have felt guilty since maybe there was something great in there and I didn’t give it a chance. I can’t express how freeing it is. Maybe the two of us can actually make progress cutting our household book inventory without guilt and while learning a thing or two quickly in the process!