Unique reading styles, difficulties or approaches

[Gaze]

Do you have any unique reading styles or difficulties? How do you approach them?

I've been noticing that I have always had difficulty reading books. I love ideas and enjoy reading the thoughts in them but struggle engaging those ideas if I'm presented with too many ideas at once or if they're located in a big thick book (and thick for me is average length for everyone else ). I need to process one or a few ideas at a time to feel I can get a handle on it. It's tough to look at a book and want to read because everything inside it seems overwhelming but reading a copy of a chapter and having only that chapter in my hand makes me feel better able to complete the reading. It's almost like emotional paralysis sometimes because I can see a book, want to read it, but get cold feet and leave on the shelf to gather dust for eternity. lol

 

[say what]

I find reading heavy material - theoretical stuff especially, very difficult. I will read, and then realized I've zoned out for a few pages. One trick that has helped me is taking notes/highlighting- I do this in the margins, but I also parapharse sections after I read them. This gives me time to process what I've learned and move onto a new section. Taking the time to write about what I just read - in a way where I am rethinking it and linking it to other material - is how I read dense material critically.

 

[Tin Man]

I find it difficult if I'm reading something that is very dry. I recently read A Brief History of Time; it was written without any personality and so I just got bored and put it down. I'm currently reading QED, a book of lectures on quantum electrodynamics by Richard Feynman. You can tell he finds it fascinating and he often adds humorous anecdotes which make it far easier to digest.

I also can't stand authors who try too hard to be quirky or unique. They usually have little personality and nothing interesting to say.

 

[Nixie]

I read regular novels very fast. I am not a speed reader by any means, I've just read so much I'm good at it...LOL.

For schoolwork reading, I ALWAYS read and outline at the same time. It helps to cement the information inside my head and most textbooks already seem have been created with an outline type formant anyway. I take notes on concepts, definitions, processes as I go along. I do this handwritten. if I think I need the extra umph to get it inside my head, I then type my handwritten notes. The added benefit is that when it comes to lecture time I can cross reference those notes to my handwritten or typed notes. Also when it comes to comprehensive finals, I don't have to re-read whole chapters and can just peruse my notes. I hate having to re-read stuff which is why I do the notes as I read. It is inefficient to go back...might as well have/get all you need the first go around.

If I zone out, I just go back and re-read something until it clicks or realize I have to stop. Strangely, the process of taking notes as I read keeps me on track more than just pure reading will.

 

[say what]

I find it difficult if I'm reading something that is very dry. I recently read A Brief History of Time; it was written without any personality and so I just got bored and put it down. I'm currently reading QED, a book of lectures on quantum electrodynamics by Richard Feynman. You can tell he finds it fascinating and he often adds humorous anecdotes which make it far easier to digest.

I also can't stand authors who try too hard to be quirky or unique. They usually have little personality and nothing interesting to say.

Have you seen "A Briefer History of Time"? I'm reading that now - it has pictures and is written for stoopies like me

 

[Eventhorizon]

Technical manuals. Shoot me. Microsoft certification manuals, shoot me.

Anything else where I need to derive information from, I can skim through a large page, magazine size with regular size type in about 9 seconds and figure out if what I am looking for is there or not. If reading for pleasure I take a bit longer so that I have time to absorb the description and form a picture in my head.

 

[Tin Man]

Have you seen "A Briefer History of Time"? I'm reading that now - it has pictures and is written for stoopies like me

No, but I have read "A Ridiculously Brief History of Time"

It just has one page with a picture of the universe and underneath the words "Shit happened".

Technical manuals. Shoot me. Microsoft certification manuals, shoot me.

I've been studying for Microsoft Server 2008 certification and the manuals are so long and so very very boring. It would take an entire truck of Benzedrine to get through the entire thing.

 

[say what]

No, but I have read "A Ridiculously Brief History of Time"

It just has one page with a picture of the universe and underneath the words "Shit happened".

I should have started with that!

 

[sprinkles]

I think I'm fairly 'aspie' about reading.

I used to read a lot of fiction but I don't seem to get into it the way other people do. I think I read it out of curiosity and wanting to know what happens in it. There aren't many novels that really get me into the story.

I've never really had any difficulty reading. I like dry material, and I like data. I enjoy reading manuals, spread sheets, and technical papers. I used to read the dictionary and even the phone book. I'd read repair manuals for cars that I will probably never have.

It isn't very often that I find something that is too heavy or complicated for me, except maybe the most very advanced math theories and parts of quantum physics.

 

[Gaze]

I've never really had any difficulty reading. I like dry material, and I like data. I enjoy reading manuals, spread sheets, and technical papers. I used to read the dictionary and even the phone book. I'd read repair manuals for cars that I will probably never have.

It isn't very often that I find something that is too heavy or complicated for me, except maybe the most very advanced math theories and parts of quantum physics.

It's funny because I'm the complete opposite. I was never really that good with details or technical data, but was usually good with theories. I could review and grasp social and psychological concepts and theories easily without being taught, and I could get the big picture without necessarily getting or understanding all the details. It's amazing to me how much I realized I understood without someone reading all these "expert sources" you're supposed to read to fully understand them. I think education sometimes, not always, can freeze your own intellect to conform to it's own reasoning and way of thinking based on the canon, and leave you feeling you may not have the natural ability to understand or grasp things without having 'read' it in a book somewhere.

 

[sprinkles]

It's funny because I'm the complete opposite. I was never really that good with details or technical data, but was usually good with theories. I could review and grasp social and psychological concepts and theories easily without being taught, and I could get the big picture without necessarily getting or understanding all the details. It's amazing to me how much I realized I understood without someone reading all these "expert sources" you're supposed to read to fully understand them. I think education sometimes, not always, can freeze your own intellect to conform to it's own reasoning and way of thinking based on the canon, and leave you feeling you may not have the natural ability to understand or grasp things without having 'read' it in a book somewhere.

I also understand things without ever reading them. I read that stuff because I like to, and as a supplement to refine things and get a clearer picture.

It's not that I need to read it. I read it because I can.

 

[ThomasJ79]

Up until the time I graduated high school I read a lot of fiction for my own enjoyment(mostly fantasy, mystery, horror, some science fiction, and comics). Most of the literature I had to read in high school didn't interest me one bit and had to force myself to finish them. But about he same time I started taking up an interest in more non-fiction, and enjoyed history books that delved into the social, political, economic, and religious ideas that have shaped and defined the course of history. I also loved reading scientific narratives, where they discussed an interesting idea in a more fluid way. One of the most interesting books I read in high school was about telomeres, how they were involved in human senescence, and possible ways in which to slow or prevent aging. In college, I took a strong interest in the humanities and started reading philosophy and that let me to literary fiction(some of the same books I couldn't care less about in high school) where many writers would incorporate the philosophies of their time into an interesting narrative involving rather complex characters. Now I tend to read mostly nonfiction in an attempt to focus in on the ideas that I'm most interested in. I also enjoy reading more technical books to better improve my understanding of something I'm interested in.

Pretty much anything that is on any Best Seller's list is unlikely to be something that I would find stimulating enough for me to enjoy. Usually, when I read fiction, I read it very slowly because I will try to extrapolate key ideas from the book while I'm going and I will stop and think about them, which slows me down. When a book is about a topic I enjoy I can barely put it down, which reinforces the notion that I am a big, fat nerd.

 

[54tjsioU]

I have a light sensitivity that seems to be real weird so reading paper hurts my head. It all kinda blurs out and becomes a very bright white page. Reasons why I love the my Kindle ^.^ and while I agree my tech will never smell like those pages and that familiarity I also love, a book written on paper is of no use to me if I cannot read it.

I also daydream a lot. If I have stuff on my mind I cannot read so I just stop reading all together until I think whatever I'm thinking to death. My own personal way of clearing my mind.

If I'm zoning I blink a couple times and crack my neck and back and adjust and sit up straight as it is more often than not a posture problem. If that doesn't work I speed read and that seems to do the trick. When you read and you don't do it quickly you have a lot of time to daydream or zone and not absorb any information you're reading. When you speed read you apply yourself to reading that piece quickly and what I've found is that I absorb more of it.

The other thing I would say that hinders my reading is distractions. I wish I read more and was on the internet less. Or even read instead of watching TV, though the watching of TV is usually a must because my DVR is full and I'll have my book forever but that one episode of whatever-the-fuck will be gone till it comes out on Netflix. That being said though I seem to read at an average state. Not too much and not too little, so in that I am proud of myself because I use to not read at all.

 

[sassafras]

I have the attention span of a spoon, so a book has to grab my attention and be able to sustain it for at least a page or two as I adjust and get into the 'zone' of reading. Once that stone gets rolling, I can read comfortably for about an hour or so before I take a break. I usually have three or four books going at one time, so next time I sit down to read, it's rarely the same book I started reading last time.

With dry or theoretical reading, I have to take notes to artificially engineer that initial interest... and it usually takes longer, but once I get going, it's hard for me to stop because I just want it out of the way. It becomes less about enjoying myself and more about 'I just want to read this and not come back to it ever again.' I couldn't do the 'read ahead or read along with everyone else thing' because unlike fiction, I couldn't cycle through many different texts at the same time. Nope. I'd read one text, start to finish. Done. And I might as well do it right before exam/finals week rolls around so the information is fresher too...

 

[TinyBubbles]

I have the attention span of a spoon, so a book has to grab my attention and be able to sustain it for at least a page or two as I adjust and get into the 'zone' of reading. Once that stone gets rolling, I can read comfortably for about an hour or so before I take a break. I usually have three or four books going at one time, so next time I sit down to read, it's rarely the same book I started reading last time.

With dry or theoretical reading, I have to take notes to artificially engineer that initial interest... and it usually takes longer, but once I get going, it's hard for me to stop because I just want it out of the way. It becomes less about enjoying myself and more about 'I just want to read this and not come back to it ever again.' I couldn't do the 'read ahead or read along with everyone else thing' because unlike fiction, I couldn't cycle through many different texts at the same time. Nope. I'd read one text, start to finish. Done. And I might as well do it right before exam/finals week rolls around so the information is fresher too...

I do the reading multiple books at one time thing too, although I've tried to stop that as it tends to lead to me not even finishing one.

 

[Gaze]

I have a light sensitivity that seems to be real weird so reading paper hurts my head. It all kinda blurs out and becomes a very bright white page. Reasons why I love the my Kindle ^.^ and while I agree my tech will never smell like those pages and that familiarity I also love, a book written on paper is of no use to me if I cannot read it.

I also daydream a lot. If I have stuff on my mind I cannot read so I just stop reading all together until I think whatever I'm thinking to death. My own personal way of clearing my mind.

If I'm zoning I blink a couple times and crack my neck and back and adjust and sit up straight as it is more often than not a posture problem. If that doesn't work I speed read and that seems to do the trick. When you read and you don't do it quickly you have a lot of time to daydream or zone and not absorb any information you're reading. When you speed read you apply yourself to reading that piece quickly and what I've found is that I absorb more of it.

The other thing I would say that hinders my reading is distractions. I wish I read more and was on the internet less. Or even read instead of watching TV, though the watching of TV is usually a must because my DVR is full and I'll have my book forever but that one episode of whatever-the-fuck will be gone till it comes out on Netflix. That being said though I seem to read at an average state. Not too much and not too little, so in that I am proud of myself because I use to not read at all.

read minds much? Seriously, this sounds just like me. I love the kindle or the kindle cloud reader. I've read so much on Kindle that I would never have read if it was a book in my hand. Weird. I also get easily distracted and love my tv. I also sometimes have too much on my mind to be settled enough to read, so when I do, I just go for it in one sitting, and try to read a lot. Yep, glad it's not just me. lol

 

[Gaze]

I couldn't do the 'read ahead or read along with everyone else thing' because unlike fiction, I couldn't cycle through many different texts at the same time. Nope. I'd read one text, start to finish. Done. And I might as well do it right before exam/finals week rolls around so the information is fresher too...

Me too! If I read ahead, and don't do something with it almost immediately, I forget it so yeah, I usually need to read just a few weeks in advance. That's why it was so tough to write papers that were assigned from the beginning of the semester.

 

[Rain]

I have the same problem with heavy theory books. Try note taking like this.

 

[Vict]

Read magazines starting from the back.

Only read books in transit to someplace else.