RyanHoliday.net: | Read to Lead: How to Digest Books Above Yo...

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Read the Reviews (Amazon)
Find out from the people who have already read it what they felt was important. From the reviews you can deduce the culture significance of the work--and from what it meant to others, at least grasp a bearing of what it could mean to you. Also by being warned of the major themes you can anticipate them coming and then actually appreciate them as they unfold. Which again frees you up much in the same way that ruining the ending does. And frankly, if you agree with their assessment of the work, go ahead and steal it once you've finished. They didn't copyright it--this isn't school, this is life.

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Read the Intro
I know, I know. It infuriates me too that a 200 page book has a 80 page translator's introduction, but they are helpful. Every time I have skipped through it, I've had to go back and start over. Read the into. It often has a ton of interesting stuff about who the work ended up influencing, and other tidbits that often stick with you longer than the work itself.

Look It Up
If you're reading to lead, you're going to come across concepts or words you're not familiar with. Don't pretend like you understand, look it up. I like to use Definr or I use my Blackberry to look stuff up on Wikipedia. If you're away from a computer and need the definition of a word, type "Define: ______" and text it to 46645 (Googl) and you'll get one back from Google. With Military History, a sense of the battlefield is often necessary. Wikipedia is a great place to grab maps and to help understand the terrain. That being said, don't get bogged down with the names of the cities or the spelling of names, you're looking to grasp the meta-lesson--the conclusion.

Post It Highlighters
These will change how you read. On the right side of the page, I tag the pages I have highlighted important passages on. On the top of the page, I mark if there is a concept I need to research or if there is a book the author suggests I read as a supplement. Don't be afraid to tear the book up with tags--tape is cheap but the time it will take you to otherwise flip back through the book to track something down is not.

Flip Through It Again
Before you close the book, go back through and reread all the passages you've marked. This puts them back into your memory and let's you walk away knowing the crucial hits of the author's message. With these flagpoles you will be able to go back through and remember the details if necessary, like knowing the chord structure of a song and working through the rest as it comes.

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Type Out the Important Quotes and Passages
In Old School, Tobias Wolff talks about how he used to retype the works of classic authors when he felt uninspired just to feel what it was like that have that profoundness flow out of his finger tips. That is why I have the Book Quotes and Passages section. I've been compiling for almost 4 years now and have nearly 15,000 words typed. And I still have boxes left to go through. Not only will it inspire you, but it will help you remember them.

Read One Book from Every Bibliography
This is a little rule I try to stick with. In every book I read, I try to find my next one in its footnotes or bibliography. This is how you build a knowledge base in a subject--it's how you trace a subject back to its core. Just keep a running list through Amazon's Wish List service (here is mine). Last month I read a book on Evolutionary Psychology and discovered that I'd read almost 80% of its sources because I'd been pulled down the rabbit hole of a predecessor.

Connect, Apply, Use
When you make connections--that the cultural reactions after WWI (largely extroverted and flamboyant) and WWII (introverted, uptight and overly moral) appear to be opposite takes on the same disillusionment--you can see things for what they are. And then better understand the cyclical nature of history and human nature. Make the connection--that every major military pretext for war was claimed by (some) historians to be governmentally orchestrated (sinking of the Maine, Pearl Harbor, the Gulf of Tonkin incident, 9/11)--and appreciate how our responses to events rarely ever contain perspective or a sense of rational continuity. Ex: Is Cicero's advice on speaking similar to the mechanics of good writing?

Begin to apply the mindset of the author to your daily life--even if you don't agree with it. How would an evolutionary psychologist consider this situation? If people are economically self-interested, how can I explain this action? If Von Clausewitz said that we love Greek history because it's the easiest to manipulate, should I trust this anecdote? Ex: I know Cicero wanted to make you a better speaker, but if he wanted you to write better, what would he say?

Use. You highlight the passages for a reason. Why type the quotes if you aren't going to memorize them? Drop them in conversation. Allude to them in papers, in emails, in letters and in your daily life. How else do you expect to absorb them? Don't be a douche and drop them where they aren't relevant, but use the wisdom to make yourself a better person.Ex: Write, even if it's just for yourself, even if you're thinking aloud, what Cicero can teach you about writing.

I give you Seneca again:

"My advice is really this: what we hear the philosophers saying and what we find in their writings should be applied in our pursuit of the happy life. We should hunt out the helpful pieces of teaching and the spirited and noble-minded sayings which are capable of immediate practical application--not far far-fetched or archaic expressions or extravagant metaphors and figures of speech--and learn them so well that words become works."

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