Do you want to know the secret to learning how to read books properly? Well you’ve come to the right place, because this article is all about that!
Reading is an essential part of academic life. Through reading, we can explore new ideas, gain knowledge and develop critical thinking! So learning how to read and analyse novels effectively is a really important skill to have.
Table of Contents
Why is Reading so Important?
Well, books and novels in general have a large impact on our academics. A lot of our academic subjects require us to read (an analyse) novels, poems and more!
In order to do well in those subjects we need to know how to analyse and understand a book well. You cannot simply read a book, not be aware of any of the details and call it a day.
Chances are that you wouldn’t have understood the novel well, and whilst this might be fine if you’re reading as a hobby – that’s not the case when you’re reading academically.
In addition, reading is very important for our cognitive performance. As we age our cognitive abilities slows down, which means the way we learn and reason decline! Luckily, reading actually slows down this process, which is another great reason to take up reading more often!
So, with that out of the way, we can start our journey to more effective reading!
1. Find out why you’re Reading in the First Place
The first step to learning how to read books properly is figuring out why you want to read!
Are you reading for a class, or for pleasure? Why do you want to read the book you’re reading specifically?
If you’re reading for academic purposes, then you should make sure that you are aware of the objectives. Should you be looking out for themes in the novel?
Knowing the purpose will help you focus on the key points, which will help you retain the information better.
This step is like the table of contents in the beginning of the book! It gives you instructions to know what to look for whilst you’re reading!
2. Learn How to Read Books by Note Taking
This is probably the most important part of reading a book, especially if you are reading for academic purposes. This is what we call active reading, which just means that you are reading with the intention of learning something.
Active reading is helpful because it helps you to better understand the concepts in the book.
How To Read Books using Active Reading?
There are actually quite a few ways to go about doing this!
The first option is to use highlighters!
You can highlight quotes and important events in order to remember them in the future. It’s important to note however, that you need to have a good highlighting strategy. If you’re not sure what to highlight, you might end up highlighting anything you come across! This just isn’t effective!
Try to keep themes, important quotes, and literary techniques in mind to help guide you. You should also colour code your highlighter in order to maximise the efficiency of this task!
If you’d like to know more about colour coding, go read my article all about it!
Annotating is another great option to actively read!
This is quite similar to highlighting, but it can actually help you learn how to read books like a professor! Wouldn’t that be great?
Essentially, the good thing about annotating is that it allows you to expand on what you highlighted! This will eventually help you to remember important details!
A lot of avid readers use this technique, including teacher during their lessons – so it’s a good idea to get on it too!
You can annotate by simply asking a question. For example, if a sentence catches your eye, you can highlight it and write a question you can answer later on when you’re studying the material!
3. Know What to Look Out For
It’s just as important to know what to look out for when you’re reading, which can make the entire process much easier. Luckily for you, I’m going to list them here for you!
1. Voice/ Narrative: Some tips
Whose point of view is the story from?
What type of narrator is he/she?
2. Setting
Where is the story set?
What time period is it set in?
3. Themes
What are the major themes in the book?
If you’re not sure the internet will probably be able to help you out with this one!
4. Characters
Who is important in the story?
What relationships do they have with one another?
5. Genre
What kind of novel is it?
Think about the different genres out there and see if the book fits in one of them!
4. Summarise the Material
One of the most effective ways to retain information is to summarize it in your own words.
You can choose to summarise the entire plot once you’re done, or else you can simple summarise each chapter as you read them.
You can also summarise any thoughts you formed whilst you were reading the book, what you understood etc.
However you choose to summarise, just make sure that you include the important details so that you can easily review them later!
5. Review, Review, Review
This is the final step that will really bring together all the above steps.
Just reading through your book once and calling it a day isn’t going to help you actually understand the novel deeply!
Reviewing entails looking back through the text again in order to look at the important points! This is where your highlights and annotations will come in handy. You can simply look at the pages you highlighted, making the process far quicker!
Once you’ve reviewed your work, you can rest assured that you’ve retained the information far better!
Conclusion
Reading effectively is an essential skill for academic success. By following the tips outlined in this article, you can learn how to read books effectively and achieve fantastic grades.
With practice, you can become a more effective reader and achieve academic success!
Have anything else helpful to add? Let us know in the comments below!
