Notes on "How to Skim Read"

The excellent Alastair Roberts (biblical theologian and extensive reader, personal site) has put out a new video on skim reading which I quite like. The relevant insights are condensed here for easy reference.

• Books do not only cost you money, they also cost you time. The opportunity cost of reading a book is substantial; therefore it is worthwhile to develop your ability to read selectively in order to gain the knowledge you desire from a book in less time.
• Consulting reviews, summaries, etc. of the book you are about to read allows you to get a head start on understanding what the book argues for and how it fits into the wider context of the conversation it speaks into. A reviewer whose own work you are acquainted gives an especially valueable perspective on the book.
• Be clear on what you need to know: the subject, or this individual author’s arguments?
• Acquaint yourself with what the author is bringing to the conversation. What is their angle of approach as opposed to other voices in the field?
• The table of contents what in the book can be skimmed or skipped in the case that you have previously acquainted yourself with some topic (e.g. by reading some other book), or are not interested.
• You are choosing between books with your time. This trade-off is fundamental to reading.
• Read the Introduction for a outline of the author’s argument and its scope. Read the Conclusion.
  • Also do this for any chapters that particularly interest you.
    • This strategy is fractal: read the first sentence of the paragraph. Read what you need.
  • Then focus in once you know where to look for what you want.
• A personal example: Alastair has a good understanding of what various Bible commentaries contain, which he consults selectively to examine specific passages from various angles.
• Get a feel for the argument of the book before you read it straight through.
• As you read a book, make an ongoing plan for rereading. It is easy to forget what you have read, but careful planning for your second, or nth, skim read makes the process much easier the second time you go through it.

These are wise tactics, coming from someone who wrangles with texts for a living (and, in my opinion, does quite a good job of it). Alastair’s advice is optimized for one of the things reading is very good at: the deep exploration of a particular field or “conversation”. A 10,000 foot overview on things can often be vividly provided by internet writing or videos, but compounding knowledge is something that the book, as a literary form, excels at.

For further reading, consider How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler but recall the above comment about opportunity cost!