# Book notes By [Veresa](https://paragraph.com/@dongdo) ยท 2021-12-05 --- For large books, you can create an index table for it, read the introduction and preface carefully, and then turn the pages quickly instead of reading from the beginning to the end in a step-by-step manner. After reading the foreword, ask yourself a few questions. 1. Who is this book for, and am I a reader of "who"? 2. What are the core chapters of the book? What kind of problem is the author trying to solve? Reading with questions can spur yourself to think, questions are not yet answered, you have enough motivation to explore the search for answers The following steps. The first time to quickly flip through the pages once, make a good mark, forming a general impression, and then the second time to focus on the marked areas, make notes (summarize the information in their own words), or write an opinion piece, encounter rusty places and then go back to the book, until the notes are completed, and then read the book for the third and fourth time to check the gaps. Eventually the book can be recalled as long as the notes are reviewed regularly. The more clues that are connected (the process of trying to understand), the deeper the memory. In retrospect, any clue that is triggered afterwards is likely to carry the whole memory along. Academic works should all carry a central thesis, so the first thing to do when reading academic works is to grasp their central thesis and express it in your own words (a paragraph or a sentence). Then, in three to four paragraphs, summarize the main secondary arguments, along with their empirical evidence. The key to summarizing is not to excerpt, but to use your own words, because that is how you digest it and make it your own. A possible reading sequence is to read the first and last chapters, and then read chapter by chapter after mastering the central argument, summarizing each chapter in your own words. Finally, answer the question: Did the author convince you, and why? (Or even further: If you were writing the book, what changes would you make?) As for the more theoretical works, we need to ask: How is it useful for understanding the reality of China or your own research topic? Such a method of reading and writing notes is an exercise in thinking and a way to develop your own thinking and writing habits. The key is to develop the habit of writing systematic notes after reading, and not to rely on your own memory, which will certainly become blurred after a few months (or at most a year or two). The notes should preferably be neither too brief nor too detailed, and should be within the range of one or two thousand words. --- *Originally published on [Veresa](https://paragraph.com/@dongdo/book-notes)*