Quick and Easy Way to Read a Book - 7 Effective Steps

Read a Book

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We have too much information and too many books and articles to read. Yet we have very little time. We need to read efficiently and effectively in order to absorb the knowledge that is useful to us. The purpose of reading a book is to find answers to our questions. 

Here are the 7 steps to read a book: 

 1. Read the front cover and the back cover: From the covers, you will know the core subject of the book by looking at the title and subtitle. There is also a brief summary of the book and a write-up of the author. By checking the publication date you will also know how current is the book At this point you should decide if this book is what you are looking for.

 2. Introduction: In most books, you will find an introduction at the beginning together with the forward and preface. You can quickly read these three parts in full because the gist of the book and the writer’s purpose in writing the book can be found here. 

 3. Table of contents: Over here you will note that a book is divided into a few parts with each part having a few chapters. By reading this page you will get a glimpse of the actual contents. . 

4. Index: This area is important in the sense that whether the things that you are looking for are listed. Check the words, the names of people, and places. From the index, you will know the range of subjects covered in the book.

 5. First chapter, last chapter, and summary: Usually the first chapter and the last chapter are the most important parts of a book. Read these two chapters together with a summary at the end of the book, if it is available. The summary tells you the whole book in a nutshell. 

 6. Parts and chapters: Now you can read the heading of each part and each chapter and also the headlines and summary of each chapter and each part. You should do the same for the other parts and chapters until the last part and the last chapter. Take a look at the maps, illustrations, graphs, and charts. 

 7. What's Next? By following the 6 steps you will have surveyed the whole book. This is now time for you to read fully the sections, chapters, or parts that answer your questions or of special interest to you. You don't have to read a book from cover to cover. You only need to find the answers to the questions that you are looking for in a book. 

 Happy reading!