I’ve taken up watching TED talks during lunch, and this was a great one! I was skeptical about the title, “How to Read a Book a Day” – pshhh, not possible! – but I’m very glad I selected it, and I feel totally inspired.
I read a fair amount, and it’s always a linear process, cover to cover. I never considered an alternative. The approach Jordan Harry’s describes in his talk more holistic, you first familiarize yourself with the entire book’s content multiple times via skimming / scanning, then you read it. From what very little I understand about the brain and how we learn, this makes so much sense! And it’s kind of cool to think about a book as whole, cyclical thing instead of something pieced together chapter by chapter.
I’ve been working through a tome, Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi for several months now, and I am determined to finish it this year…I think I will give these tips a go for the last few hundred pages! My feeling is that this approach would work well for non-fiction, but I’m not sure about fiction – I feel like I enjoy revealing the story as I read – but I could also be totally wrong about that.