How to Read a Book

"Wonder is the beginning of wisdom in learning from books," says Mortimer Adler, in his classic, How to Read a Book. Indeed, it is important to have that intellectual curiosity that comes naturally with book-worms, but Adler highlights some important rules for reading a good book good. Called the "Rules of Analytical Reading", Adler expounds some important tips to apply while reading any book.

1. Classify. You must know what kind of book you are reading; and you should know this as early in the process as possible -- preferably before you begin to read.
2. State. State the unity of the whole book in a single sentence, or at most a few sentences (a short paragraph).
3. Enumerate. Set forth the major parts of the book, and show how these are organized into a whole, by being ordered to one another and to the unity of the whole.
4. Define. Find out what the author's problems were.
5. Find the important words and come to terms.
6. Mark the most important sentences in a book and discover the propositions they contain.
7. Locate or construct the basic arguments in the book by finding them in the construction of sentences.
8. Find out what the author's solutions are.
9. You must be able to say, with reasonable certainty, "I understand," before you can say any one of the following things: "I agree," or "I disagree," or "I suspend judgment."
10. When you disagree, do so reasonable, and not contentiously.
11. Recognize the final difference between knowledge and mere personal opinion by presenting good reasons for any critical judgement.

There you have it, then. Now you know "how to read a book."