pat loughery

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:

1. Scan. Flip pages and get a broad overview of the contents. Work quickly.
2. 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.
3. Browse. Do some in-depth contextual analysis.
4. Pre-read. Determine thematic intent and structural intent.
5. In-depth read. Analyze thematic intent; evaluation analysis.
6. Study. Do repeated work in the book. Do comparative analysis.

I find that helpful. I need to ransack and to pre-read more.