
Ask HN: How to get better at reading - niix
I suppose I have a short attention span, but have always been envious of those who can dive deep into almost any book.  For me to really sink into something I have to find myself extremely interested in the context of the book, otherwise I lose interest quickly.  I often catch myself thinking about something else while reading and then realizing that I&#x27;ve read two pages and haven&#x27;t absorbed anything.<p>Any tips on becoming a better reader?
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brudgers
For me, mainly through time.

I've always read. I took a class where Descartes _Meditations_ was assigned. I
looked up and it had been an hour and I'd read three pages. A couple of years
spent reading philosophy later, and I could read three academic articles in an
evening.

In the late 80's I read Eco's _Name of the Rose_. Two years ago, I reread it.
It was a different book.

The same is true for technical books, articles, papers. As I read more of
them, I understand more of some of them. And now that I know that, I don't
worry deeply about what I don't understand most of the time. It's only when
deep knowledge is relevant to something I'm actually doing that I drill down.
It's the 'T-shaped' idea. Reading for breadth makes it more likely that I
drill down in a productive well.

As for glazing over, I'll do that frequently with equations...happened last
night on two pages worth. I went back and looked again and got about all I
cared to get.

tl;dr Just keep reading.

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bemmu
If you discover early on that you're not going to get much out of it, don't
feel too bad for bailing out. Having a book doesn't mean you are forced at all
costs to finish it.

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severus
Start with reading fiction. That should be easy. Move on to history - it
should be harder language, but still attention grabbing. Once you are
comfortable with that, start moving towards reading textbooks. One thing I do
is always read a fiction in between two textbooks - it keeps your motivation
up.

~~~
severus
(i've read 46 books this year so far, most of which were non-fiction)

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kidlogic
read with enthusiasm.

emphasizing key words in the passages will make the narrative more
entertaining and easier to comprehend

