How do you read books? Does it vary from book to book? Do you find yourself feeling guilty for not finishing a book, or not understanding it in depth?
Today in my Doctor of Ministry class, Grace Barnes presented a continuum of reading concepts from “Reading on the Run, Continuum Reading Concepts” (J. Robert Clinton).
Consider this continuum:
- Scan. Flip pages and get a broad overview of the contents. Work quickly.
- Ransack. Pick and choose what you want to take. Use the book for its quick utility to you. Look for new ideas and specific ideas. Pull quotes.
- Browse. Do some in-depth contextual analysis.
- Pre-read. Determine thematic intent and structural intent.
- In-depth read. Analyze thematic intent; evaluation analysis.
- Study. Do repeated work in the book. Do comparative analysis.
I find that helpful. I need to ransack and to pre-read more.
dude, this is great! thanks. I'm doing something similar for the class i'm taking presently… and trying desperately to finish – TODAY!
Go get 'em Aaron! Envious that you're finishing soon :).