How I Read and “Digest” a Book
According to PEW Research's Book Reading Survey from 2021, 75% of Americans have read a book in the last 12 months, and the typical (median) American reads 5 books per year, with 42% reading digital books. For a long time, I was lucky if I read one book in a year. In 2018, with the process I outlined below, I read 51 books, and since then, I have read 30+ books every year. This post shares that process and some background on how it came together.
Last Updated: 1/15/2024
MY PROCESS
- Get both the Kindle and Audible versions of the book.
Books with Whispersync allow you to seamlessly switch between listening to the Audible version and reading with the Kindle version. Bookmarks and notes will sync across Kindle, Audible, and Alexa devices if you own both versions.
It’s often cheaper to buy the Kindle version with a discounted Audible version than just the Audible version. If you don't want to buy the book, you can loan books (both Kindle and Audio) from your local library using the Libby app, but they will not have Whispersync.
For books without an Audible version, the Amazon Alexa app does a decent job reading Kindle books. I prefer the professionally recorded Audible version when it’s available, but this has let me listen to books I would have had a more difficult time getting through. You do have to have Internet access to have the Alexa app read to you. (I discovered this on my Appalachian High Points trip) - Listen to the book
Listen whenever/wherever you can! Driving in the car, walking the dog, mowing the yard, emptying the dishwasher, and doing DIY projects around the house are good times to listen to a book.
While driving, I'll use Audible's car mode, which has three big buttons: Play/Pause, Go Back 30 Seconds, and Add a Bookmark. When I'm not driving, I will listen to the audio using the Kindle iPhone app because Immersion Reading highlights the words in real time as it plays the Audible Companion Audiobook.
I also vary the speed of the reading. 1.5X-2.0X speed is more natural to how I think and read, but this is not for everyone.
- Bookmark & highlight
While listening to the audiobook, listen for the book's key points and create a bookmark to highlight in the Kindle version.
I am a very visual person, but listening for this “Tweetable” content helps me better focus. When driving, I'll bookmark in Audible, which will sync to the Kindle. Later and ideally, when I arrive at my destination, I will go through the bookmarks and highlight content in the Kindle app while it is still fresh in my mind.
The Kindle has four colors you can use to highlight. This allows you to categorize the content to easily access it by filtering by color.
Here is the system I use for highlighting:
- Yellow – regular highlights
- Pink – quotes/stats from others
- Blue – to-dos (i.e., other books mentioned, things to implement)
- Orange – temporary or alternate highlighter color when needed
The Kindle also has a feature called Popular Highlights, which I always like to review and see what other readers are highlighting.
- Read to Teach and Create a document of main points
- Read the book as if you are going to teach the concepts to others. Several studies have shown that you learn better when you have the mindset that you will have to teach the content.
- Creating a document of main points is a game-changer and a way to "write in the margins" of audiobooks.
- Copy the table of contents into a document from the Kindle app.
- Review your bookmarks and highlights and copy key points and quotes from the book.
- This creates an outline of the key points of the book. While this is time-consuming, you re-read the book's best parts at least twice (your highlights). It helps to better "digest" the book's information and easily reference the material in the future. I used to store my notes in OneNote, but now have a Books folder in Apple Notes to make it easier to reference.
- Write a review and summary of the book. This puts you in the mindset of teaching the content. What key points would you want to share from the book? I have started writing a review while I am reading the book. Even if you never finish or post the review, you are thinking about how you will talk about the concepts in the book to others.
- Start a book club with your team. I take my notes and create a slide presentation with the main themes from each chapter. See my Book Club Templates.
- Keep and share lists
I use Goodreads to track books I have read, yearly reading challenges, and books I want to read. Goodreads does a good job of helping me keep track of how many books I have read. I also share all my highlights on Goodreads so others can see the main points of the books I have read. I've also started a Recommended Books list on my website to share some of my favorite books by topic. - Re-Listen to Books
It's amazing what you pick up when reading a book multiple times. Over time, our roles and situations change, which can shed a whole new light on a book. When discussing books, Pam Springer has reminded me that it is the quality, not the quantity, and she will often listen to a book 5 times before moving on to the next one.
Sometimes, if I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep, I’ll put on headphones and listen to a book I’ve already read. It helps calm my brain, and I often go back to sleep, but I don’t feel like I’m going to miss out on anything because I’ve already listened to the book.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know.The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”-Dr. Suess
BACKGROUND
I have always liked to read, but I’ll admit I got burned out reading books while in high school and college. After college, I always wanted to read more but never made it a priority. As life went on, I only got busier with my work and family of 4 kids. I’d buy books, but they mostly sat on the nightstand next to the bed to collect dust. In 2009, I discovered the Kindle app for the iPhone and loved the idea of always having my books with me. My first Kindle book was Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson because I couldn’t pass up the price, which was free. I read a few books over the next several years but still found it hard to find the time to read a book. A business coach, Brad Dunnington, suggested I listen to audiobooks to and from work in the car. I was quickly amazed at how much of a book I could get through listening to just 15-20 each way to work. I was reading more, but I was not consistent. I wasn’t hitting my goal of one book a month.In the fall of 2017, several things inspired an immense love of learning while reading and listening:
- First, our new health insurance offered United Health Care Motion, a benefit where you can earn money for walking. I started walking the dog for 30 minutes every morning while listening to an audiobook. My love of learning, combined with the fitness tracker's gamification, helped me establish the habit of a morning walk.
- Second, we were getting our house ready to sell, and I listened to several books while power washing, painting, and doing other DIY projects.
- On Thanksgiving morning, I stumbled across a video in my LinkedIn feed: How Bill Gates reads books. The first point was to “take notes in the margins.” Bill said you have to be really careful that you are concentrating. It made me stop and think about my process. I could only get through a book if I listened to the audio, and how could I take notes in the margin of an audiobook?
- Another business coach and author, Barry Rellaford, had recently suggested I keep a list of my "goto" books along with their key points for reference. This video and Barry's suggestion helped tie everything together, and I formalized a process. I shared this video along with my first draft of the process on LinkedIn in this post on Thanksgiving 2017.
I continue to iterate on my process and am always interested in tips and good book suggestions from others.
Hopefully, my process inspires you to read more (and share some good book titles with me)
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