15 Things You Never Knew About Reading Nonfiction Books
Avil Beckford 
In this blog post, you'll discover 15 things you never knew about reading nonfiction books. These things will help you to become an effective reader.
Reading is one of the most important things humans do. As more of our lives are spent on screens, it has become increasingly difficult to get people's attention away from technology. Almost everyone these days feels that they are too busy to read anything, even if they are fond of books. Reading nonfiction books offers a lot of benefits – but not all of them are immediately obvious. Nonfiction is a genre of literature that is usually more informative than entertaining. It’s a little-known fact that reading nonfiction books can have a powerful effect on your life and can change your perspective. In this blog post I’m going to share 15 things you never knew about reading nonfiction books.
15 things you didn't know about reading nonfiction books
- Write down your one-sentence purpose for why you want to read a book.
- Before you read any book, it's important to prepare your mind for reading.
- It's essential to preview a nonfiction book before you start to read it.
- View a nonfiction book as a problem-solving tool.
- The most successful people don't read a nonfiction book cover-to-cover. They read to learn what they need to know.
- The 80/20 Rule applies to reading.
- Traditional publishers have word counts, so authors often add in extra information to satisfy the word count.
- If you're using a book as a learning tool, to build a strong foundation on the topic you're interested in, you have to read at least five good books on the topic.
- When reading a book, develop the habit of connecting the new information to what you already know.
- To read a book faster, first read a good summary of the book.
- Most people know that it's critical to take notes while reading a book. But what you may not know is that taking notes as you read is a form of learning.
- After you finish reading a book, review your notes a few times, so that you remember more of what you just learned.
- After you review your notes of the nonfiction book, pick out the big ideas.
- Develop the habit of connecting ideas between the nonfiction books that you read.
- Apply the ideas from the nonfiction books you read.
Write down your one-sentence purpose for why you want to read a book
Before you start reading any book, it's important to have a reason for doing so. Your one-sentence purpose needs to be clear and concise. You also want to write down the questions you'd like the nonfiction book to answer.
Before you read any book, it's important to prepare your mind for reading
Most people don't think about preparing their mind before reading. But it's important because you want to connect both sides of your brain, so that you absorb more of what you're reading. You also want to get into the alpha brainwave state. You want to be relaxed, yet alert. One way to prepare your mind is to do a few brain gym exercises. A quick search will yield exercises such as jumping jacks and marching band.
Another way is to listen to binaural beats audio. I usually combine brain gym exercises with listening to binaural beats. There are many apps that you can use to prepare your mind for reading and learning. I have several that I'm experimenting with. Two of them are Brain.fm and Brainwave 35 Binaural Programs.
It's important to preview a nonfiction book before you start to read it
The most successful people view a nonfiction book as a problem solving tool. Therefore, they have specific information they want from the book. Previewing the book first, allows them to better determine where to find what they need. Additionally, these readers can align their purpose with the content of the book.
The most successful people don't read a nonfiction book cover-to-cover. They read to learn what they need to know
Successful people have a purpose for reading a nonfiction book. They either have a problem they need to solve. Or they have questions they want answered. They don't have time to be reading nonfiction books cover-to-cover. They read to learn what they need to know. That means they practice what is called leadership reading.
The 80/20 Rule applies to reading
You can read 20 percent of a book yet understand 80 percent of the text. The trick is to know which 20 percent of the book to read. When you have a purpose, craft the questions you'd like the book to answer, and preview the book first, you'll know which 20 percent of the book to read.
Traditional publishers have word counts, so authors often add in extra information to satisfy the word count
If you were to visit a bookstore, you'd notice that most of the books in a genre have roughly the same number of pages. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. But the books are similar in length because traditional publishers have word counts. Therefore, for writers to satisfy the word counts, they often have to add more information.
Most of the time, what they add is non-essential information. How many examples or case studies do you need to understand the text?
If you're using a book as a learning tool to build a strong foundation on the topic you're interested in, you have to read at least five good books on the topic
One book cannot give you all the information you need on a topic. In addition, you need diverse perspectives to really understand a topic of interest. Five good books on the topic will allow you to build a strong foundation on which you can build.
When reading a book, develop the habit of connecting the new information to what you already know.
To read a book faster, first read a good summary of the book
You don't have to engage in speed reading to read a book faster. I want to add that book summaries should complement reading the book, and not be a replacement. A book summary may or may not have the information that you're looking for. When you read a book summary, it gives you a good idea of what the book is about.
It may also direct you to the sections of the nonfiction book that you need to explore more deeply.
Most people know that it's important to take notes while reading a book. But what you may not know is that taking notes as you read is a form of learning
When you're taking notes while reading a book, you're doing several things at the same time. You're deciding what's essential and non-essential information. And at the same time, you're paraphrasing what you're reading. To paraphrase, you have to understand what you're learning to put it in your own words. This is part of the learning process.
After you finish reading a book, review your notes a few times, so that you remember more of what you just learned
There's a concept called the curve of forgetting. You forget most of what you learn within an hour of learning it. Therefore, it's important to review what you learn. And it would be helpful if you also did a memory recall of the information.
After you review your notes of the nonfiction book, pick out the big ideas
You have a purpose for reading the book in the first place. When you find what you need from a book, usually you make note of it. When you review your notes, develop the habit of picking out the big ideas. As a guide, any of the following information counts as big ideas.
- Solve problems.
- Increase revenues.
- Cut costs.
- Make processes more efficient.
- Save time.
You can add more items to the list of big ideas.
Develop the habit of connecting ideas between the nonfiction books that you read
Everything is connected. Therefore, it's essential to develop the habit of connecting the ideas from the different nonfiction books you read. Most people will not be going this extra step. What often happens is that when you connect ideas across the books you read, you end up with better ideas.
If you're trying to develop your thought leadership and personal brand, doing this one thing could be a game changer for you. Imagine the unique articles you could write.
Apply the ideas from the nonfiction books you read
I frequently say that reading a book and not applying the ideas is like spending all day in the kitchen preparing a gourmet meal that you don't bother to eat. What's the point of reading the book and not acting on the information?
Final thoughts on things you didn't know about reading nonfiction books
If you're reading to learn, it's important to change your definition of what it means to read a book. If you've only read 20 percent of the book, but you understand 80 percent of the text, you've read the book. We're living over-scheduled lives, don't waste your time reading a book cover-to-cover when sections of the book have everything you need. Most nonfiction books don’t deserve the investment in time to read them cover-to-cover.
Next Steps
Would you like to learn how the Art of Learning Leadership Academy can help you? I offer Bookish Notes. A Bookish Note includes a summary of the book, discussion questions, book groupings to expand your knowledge of a topic, big ideas and a lot more. I curate the Bookish Notes based on a theme and turn them into a course. You'll get about 10 perspectives on a topic, so you can form your own opinion.