How to read

[J.L. Allen]

I know, brother. The main reason for not marking in them is the hopes of passing them down to my future children or a young man that is entering the ministry. My thoughts were they should be able to read without being distracted by my notes and markings. Maybe that is silly.

They get to see your thoughts. If they have that material after you're gone, they will have a fondness and can interact well with memories.

 

[Reformed Covenanter]

I know, brother. The main reason for not marking in them is the hopes of passing them down to my future children or a young man that is entering the ministry. My thoughts were they should be able to read without being distracted by my notes and markings. Maybe that is silly.

When I was an undergraduate, I used to really appreciate underlinings and highlights in library books as they flagged up the important bits of the assigned readings.

Seriously, though, your children and/or future ministerial students may actually appreciate the chance to read your thoughts on the texts in question.

 

[RamistThomist]

The main reason for not marking in them is the hopes of passing them down to my future children or a young man that is entering the ministry.

That's why you use pencils, never pens or highlighters.

 

[Grant]

I am convinced this is how Jacob is able to read so many books:

 

[Regi Addictissimus]

I am convinced this is how Jacob is able to read so many books:

He is next level. I always appreciate the effort and time he puts into his reviews. Whether or not you agree with the author in review, they are worth reading. His Patristic reviews are especially worthwhile.

 

[JimmyH]

I buy many used books, and I won't buy any with underlining or margin notes unless it is in pencil. Then I have the option to leave it, or erase it. I find highlighting anathema.

For me these are distractions that annoy me.

The procedure I've adopted for my own books is to lightly underline a pertinent sentence in pencil, put a star in the margin to easily refer back to it, and go to the ffl and write the page number, and a gloss to explain the context that made it important enough to reference later.

I have no one to hand the books down to, but I do sometimes give them to friends, or donate them. So I'd rather not deface them, and that is how I view ink underlining and highlighting.

 

[Connor Longaphie]

I read a minimum of 100 books a year. I re-read important books often so sometimes within that 100 books is a book I've already read once, twice, or thrice. When I read them I always have a highlighter rather than a notebook. Highlighting helps me to remember for some reason key things even if I never go back to the highlighted section. Perhaps it's the physical act that helps. Then as I'm reading I am constantly rewording and explaining the book chapter by chapter and concept by concept to others. My wife, my classmates, my friends. And I think and ponder them deeply for the day, which I'm sure is natural when you consume content be it a movie a book a sermon etc that you ponder it. It is for me now after making it a practice for years anyway. This helps me to retain a lot of the information I read and grasp it at a deeper level. I think that coupled with the re-reading of books is the best way to internalize a book and be in continual conversation with it so to speak. I am always reading several books but not at once. I will progressively reading sometimes 5, 10, 20, 30, generally around 10 books, and will read one for a few days and then switch and cycle through them. This I think is entirely subjective though. I could not read as much as I do now if I read only one book cover to cover at a time, I was never able to do that when I was younger and still cannot.

 

[RamistThomist]

I read a minimum of 100 books a year. I re-read important books often so sometimes within that 100 books is a book I've already read once, twice, or thrice. When I read them I always have a highlighter rather than a notebook. Highlighting helps me to remember for some reason key things even if I never go back to the highlighted section. Perhaps it's the physical act that helps. Then as I'm reading I am constantly rewording and explaining the book chapter by chapter and concept by concept to others. My wife, my classmates, my friends. And I think and ponder them deeply for the day, which I'm sure is natural when you consume content be it a movie a book a sermon etc that you ponder it. It is for me now after making it a practice for years anyway. This helps me to retain a lot of the information I read and grasp it at a deeper level. I think that coupled with the re-reading of books is the best way to internalize a book and be in continual conversation with it so to speak. I am always reading several books but not at once. I will progressively reading sometimes 5, 10, 20, 30, generally around 10 books, and will read one for a few days and then switch and cycle through them. This I think is entirely subjective though. I could not read as much as I do now if I read only one book cover to cover at a time, I was never able to do that when I was younger and still cannot.

This is exactly how you are supposed to read. I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Wayne]

They get to see your thoughts. If they have that material after you're gone, they will have a fondness and can interact well with memories.

On this point, H.J. Jackson's book on marginalia would be an interesting read:

https://www.amazon.com/Marginalia-Readers-H-J-Jackson/dp/0300097204