How I Read
I read a lot when I have spare time, but I have never really thought about how I read. I definitely do not write in my books. My mother liked to keep everything in perfect condition so I am not sure how she would have reacted to such a thing. I really didn’t want to find out. I do, however, put a sticky note on the page and write my comments in a separate notebook. I put the page numbers beside my comments and the sticky notes in the book simply to help me find the page quicker and more efficiently. I started doing this last semester. I had to read a book and write a paper about it for my final along with a PowerPoint presentation. I got about half way through the book when I realized I should probably at least mark the pages I’m going to be taking quotes from instead of just writing them on a piece of paper. Needless to say, I had to go back and start from the beginning which was not what I wanted to do even though I started the process for the final long before I actually needed to.
My mother always says that there is a good and a bad way to look at things. It’s all about how you want to perceive it. I think everyone will agree when I say marking your book and writing comments about it makes you a slower reader, but it also helps you better understand the text. When I blow through a book in a day or two, I don’t take enough time to think about what I’m reading. I don’t sit and think about everything the writer is possibly trying to say. Writing comments about what you read forces you to think all the way around what you are reading. All in all, I’m a better reader when I takes notes.