a book

How to Read a Book

Name: How to Read a Book
Rating: 5 (10 reviews)
Author: Mortimer J. Adler
ISBN: 9781476790152

Mortimer J. Adler · 1972 · 448 pages

The best and most successful guide to reading comprehension for the general reader, completely rewritten and updated with new material.

A CNN Book of the Week: “Explains not just why we should read books, but how we should read them. It's masterfully done.” —Farheed Zakaria

Originally published in 1940, this book is a rare phenomenon, a living classic that introduces and elucidates the various levels of reading and how to achieve them—from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading. Readers will learn when and how to “judge a book by its cover,” and also how to X-ray it, read critically, and extract the author’s message from the text.

Also included is instruction in the different techniques that work best for reading particular genres, such as practical books, imaginative literature, plays, poetry, history, science and mathematics, philosophy and social science works.

Finally, the authors offer a recommended reading list and supply reading tests you can use measure your own progress in reading skills, comprehension, and speed.

recommended by 10 people

sourced from public statements

Peter Skomoroch
“@BillHiggins Fantastic book and great idea 👍”↗
Sarah Guo
“"going to leave an ad here for one of my favorite (very dry) books: how to read a book, by Mortimer Adler. It’s a useful skill. It might even teach you to read AI"”↗
Fareed Zakaria
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