How to Read like a Maniac

Reading is an action.

And like any action, it can be performed in a variety of ways.

As someone who grew up reading a lot, fell out of love with it for a few years, and came to love it again, I have a good sense of what helps me get the most out of my reading — and most importantly, enjoy it.

What follows are a few systems I find helpful for getting the most out of my reading.

Highlighting and Note Taking

Highlighting and taking notes is the number one piece of advice I can give to become a better reader. Even silly asides like “wow”, “love this”, or “read this over a few times” help me engage with a text.

Reading, when done correctly, is a conversation, not a lecture.

You do this by asking questions and keeping an open mind to what the author is trying to communicate.

I usually highlight areas of interest with a highlighter and underline text that I may want to quote or reference later.

Notetaking is a common practice in nonfiction reading, but I would argue it is just as effective in fiction. It allows you to make connections that may seem high-level, but are actually obvious when you interact with the text this way.

Ask Questions

The idea that questions — up to a certain point — are more important than answers is a widely accepted idea. Questions make us grapple with ideas so that we come out of that struggle and better understand what we’re reading.

Some of the questions I find myself asking repeatedly are as follows:

• Why did I feel [EMOTION] while reading this?

• Why am I rooting for this character?

• Does anything in this text relate to me personally?

• How would I paraphrase this book or this chapter?

As you may have noticed, all of the questions are “I” or “me” questions. That is by design. After all, why are we reading if not to enrich and better ourselves, or entertain ourselves?

Information for its own sake is a waste of time. Reading is only useful if you make it a personal act.

Focus

Focus is a skill that doesn’t discriminate between activities. In other words, if you can make improvements to focus while reading, that should give you a better ability to focus in all facets of your life.

For reading specifically though, focus allows us to make connections in the text and remember the entire narrative better. Reading a book across 5 focused sessions for me is better than reading it sporadically across 10 sessions that are shorter with less focus.

To start, try to read for 10 minutes continuously. That means no phone or holding conversation. If you find yourself needing to look up the definitions of words, get a pocket dictionary.

Reading is like meditation or exercise; sitting down to do it is the hardest part.

But once you do commit to what you are going to do, sit down, and get going for a few minutes, you will find a flow that is impossible to achieve with constant distractions that lead to unfocused work.

ENJOY IT

I would like to give the advice many other avid readers give: if you don’t like a book after a while, it is ok to change books.

But there’s a difference between boredom and discomfort. If a book bores or confuses you too much, by all means toss it and start another. But if a book is mildly challenging or frustrating you, try to push through this discomfort a bit.

When you disagree with a text, don’t give up on it — ask as many questions as you can. Find out why it is unnerving you. The author probably is not going to win you over, but at worst, you gain an understanding of people with opposing viewpoints without having to speak directly with them.

These are just a few of the many systems and tools you can put in place to make your reading a more worthwhile endeavor. Feel free to use none, some, or all of them.

The important part is to identify what keeps you reading, and from there, what allows you to read more efficiently and effectively.

Lastly, start small, but with focus. Anthologies of well-written articles or short stories are a great place to start. Don’t feel guilty about what you read, just make sure you read something. Whether it is a current best seller, a comic book, a romance novel, a Shakespearean classic, or an online article, read with enthusiasm!