Favorite Places to Study/How To Read?

[Bible Belt Presbyterian]

First, what are your favorite places to study/read? This applies to all, from teaching elder to layman. Currently being in college and living with roommates, I find my room full of distractions and it is very easy to get sidetracked. I am currently reading through Religious Affections as a "fun read" during my free time away from my schoolwork. It is quite difficult to read while there is noise going on as I can't focus on the words I'm reading. I commonly go to the library on campus but I was looking for other options. I would rather be in a places where there are no people walking by as I get easily distracted by them (I'm a people watcher), or where there are other things to do (my apartment with TV's and no study room/office).

Secondly, how do you read? I'm not really interested in how you might read a novel or a "light" book, but more interested in how you all approach reading harder to understand material. While the subject matter of Religious Affections isn't necessarily difficult to understand, Edwards' style of writing is to me. I am typing notes as I go along. I find that simply underlining isn't enough for it to stick in my memory, in part because I can't read everyday and repetitively review the matter at hand. I thought that typing notes would allow me to repeat it and then have a searchable resource later. When reading, what do you do?

I believe the problems in reading/studying is mostly where I am situated and the environment I'm in, but I also feel it is in part due to how try to read and take notes on books. Any advice or suggestions would as always be appreciated.

 

[Backwoods Presbyterian]

I love reading in carrels in libraries. The only place I can do that here is at JCJC in the Tisdale Library. I also like to sit on the Confederate Soldier Memorial on the courthouse lawn, both for similar reasons you note above, it is quiet and I can focus.

As far as "how" I read I always read with a pencil and make notations and underline where necessary.

 

[Heath]

1. I use my dining room table early before my wife and kids get up at home and I have an office I rent where I am the only tenant so it comes in handy as well.

2. I am still working on this but I mostly underline and take time to look up scripture references. I am better at getting the big picture than every detail though. I am working towards taking notes as I read but I end up just copying large portions and not reading when I do.

I also try to get accountability partners in reading. This isn't always the case but if I have someone else reading with me or at least asking about it I tend to be more motivated to get into the details more.

 

[CharlieJ]

I recently wrote a post that goes through my reading and studying process with an eye toward book reviews: Reading, Annotating, and Reviewing Books: My Method | Sacra Pagina

 

[Zach]

I sympathize, Scott. My roommates and I share two rooms, one with four desks and one with four beds and it is hard to find a quiet place to read! I think the library is my go to place when I want a good, quiet place to read.

I'm not really sure the best way to read more difficult books. I struggle with them too so I am looking forward to reading everyone's responses.

 

[Wayne]

I had shared this not long ago on another thread, from Greg Koukl's Stand To Reason web site:

How to Read Less More, and Twice as Fast

*Greg Koukl

***** If you're like me, you really want to read more effectively, but you don't know how and can't find the time.* Solomon wrote, "The writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body."** I agree.* The stacks of unopened volumes in my own library weary me just looking at them.*

***** I have a plan to change that.* I want to show you how you can read less, more.* It's based on one simple idea:* It's better to thoroughly read one or two good books than "finish" ten or twenty by reading them cover to cover and then moving on.

***** Here’s the plan.
Get a sense of the book in 5-10 minutes.
Read jacket copy, contents, skim preface & introduction, read conclusion (last 3 pages)and skim the index.* Note publisher and date of publication.*
Quickly page through the entire book at the rate of 2-3 seconds per page.*
Determine if you want to read the book more thoroughly, give it away, or file it for future reference.
Preview

Skim entire book at a slower rate (4-10 seconds per page), breaking the book in as you go.*
Look for structure, outline, key facts and concepts.
Write a quick summary for the book in pencil on title page.*
Read

Preview each chapter again before you read it to get the structure (4-10 seconds per page).
Read every word at fastest comfortable speed using a pointer so you won't wander, hesitate, regress, or lose your place.* Mark the margin, but don't underline the text.
Write a 1-4 sentence summary in pencil at the beginning of the chapter.
Sketch a quick outline or recall pattern.
Postview Immediately

Re-read the chapter quickly, focusing on marked sections, interacting with the text.*
Refine your 1-4 sentence summary at the beginning of the chapter.
Review at regular intervals, looking over recall patterns and summary material.
***** Think for a moment what six books you would like to have mastered a year from now.* You can do it.* Choose your titles carefully, then apply the plan.* This may be one of the most rewarding habits you'll ever develop.* I hope you start today

 

[Bible Belt Presbyterian]

I end up just copying large portions and not reading when I do.

I'm guilty as charged. This is perhaps my biggest issue. Everything sounds so good I don't know what I NEED to make note of. I suppose this stems from trying to know everything, which I know is quite absurd.

Thanks for the link. I really like what you say about what you do while reading.

I don’t write comments or underline each word, because the goal is to interrupt reading as minimally as possible. When the chapter or section is finished, I go back and decide whether the sections I marked are really worth making into notes.

Seems like I have heard this before but never tried it, but I might just have some free time today to do so.

I found on the WTS website a guide to reading. If all I did was read it might be more helpful I suppose but with the busy work that I am assigned I can't really go to the extend that this does.
Pre-Reading
Reading Quickly
Deep Reading
Post-Reading

 

[jwithnell]

I get up before everyone else and prefer a spot with some outside natural interest -- trees or something. Otherwise I get so intent that I burn out rapidly. If going to campus is a distance for you, might you have a local town library? We have a very quiet historical genealogical library that I use for a quiet spot.

For what it's worth, here's my note system for both audio and written materials. I only copy what might be useful later as a direct quote. If the material is not easily digestible, I try to capture the major point, then go back and summarize the section or chapter. ALL pages get a number, the work's title, and in the top right hand corner, the author/speaker's name or initials. I put the page number from the material down the left hand side and note if its been continued onto another page. The reverse side gets labeled as such. I use < > to enclose my own thoughts, questions, and observations. I used to think I could remember all this out, but nope. If I'm putting all this into a computer, I create a header and page number.

 

[Bible Belt Presbyterian]

Thanks for that Mr. Sparkman. Skimming through multiple times might be a good change for me since I read non-fiction so slowly.

I have actually been doing the bookkeeping at the local library in town since last fall, so I am familiar with it as well. It is the same distance away, and there are many more "hiding" spots in the library on campus (it is five floors, and nobody uses the floor with all the reference books).

 

[Curt]

Since my wife and I live alone in a decent-sized apartment, I have a little office in which I can read with the door open or closed. I also, however, like to read on the love seat (but that's only "light" reading). On Sunday afternoons, lately, I've been sitting on the loveseat reading Reymond's Sytematic (NOT light reading) with pen and highlighter

 

[FenderPriest]

1) Favorite places or realistic places?!.... Favorite place is the library. I really like WTS's library, but alas, not so close. Realistically, my favorite place is wherever I am when our son is asleep.... with a cup of coffee. So, make that the living room, or study chair. As the father to a young family, I've learned to read wherever I can and organize my schedule to optimize those times. Also, the Thrown of Thought is a good place too.

2) Scan the book, read the index, flip through page by page to get a sense, read any sections that interest, and then plow in. Most books do not demand a careful reading of every page. Get a sense of what's going on and where it's going before plowing into the book so you have a road map to work with. I've learned to mark up books and use a highlighter. It's my book, not sacred and therefore to be used at my mind's discretion. (However, I do not mark in my Bible. Ever.) There's a progress of thought and ways to key pages so I can remember what I was thinking, how my thinking was developing, and important things to remember from the book.

My recommendation is to work these things out over time. Each person's personality will find what works for them in reading. Like many things, the primary thing to do here is to do it - read, read, and read. Keep it up and things will develop over time.

Oh, and turn off the computers around you. Bait of Satan!

 

[Cymro]

I find that reading 4 or 5 books in the same time period keeps ones
interest. The selection would be diverse, comprising doctrinal, experiential,
Biographical and devotional. Depending on ones mood the appropriate book
is taken up, and the salient thought on each page is marked in pencil in the
margin. Any pithy epigram that captures concisely the thought is also marked
in the margin. When the books are finished the marked portions I copy out into
last year's desk diaries which can be picked up cheap in January! The page number
is also noted alongside, and also one word which expresses the subject so that a
quick reference for a quote is available.

My favourite place is on the floor with books around me, particularly in the
winter in front of the fire. Though after braking my hip that's getting harder!!

 

[Constantlyreforming]

The most quiet, isolated place for me to read is in my car...drive somewhere quiet (like a cemetery) and read and pray.

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

I sit at the kitchen table, my private study, or on my sofa. I have Verilux reading lights at all locations as I like the simulated white sunlight to read. When reading theology books, I use one of those small Franklin electronic pocket bibles to look up scripture references when needed as I read along. I sonetimes underline and comment in many of the books I read if I intend to hold onto these texts.

I prepare my books by having plenty of small tabbies stuck to the front pages that I can then use for bookmarks. This is important when all the references are located in the back of the book instead of as footnotes. I scan the TOC, review appendices and then start right in with the Preface (never skip that portion) and go forward from there. I have an odd habit of dulling the sharp corners of hardback books by tapping each end of a closed hardback on my tiled floors. I don't like the sharp corners as I am reading. I also "break the backs" of my books so they will lay flat. Especially if they are paperbacks. My family gets a kick out of my idiosyncratic antics.

When doing my daily Bible studies, I have notebooks for each of the books of the Bible that I fill up with my scribblings as I study.

Occasionally I will head out to Paradise Bakery with my laptop and just read some of my books within my Logos account at the biblia.com website while doing other things online...like posting this message.

 

[Eoghan]

The most useful asset in this regard is an mp3 player - I use it not just for sermons but for "reading music" (my version of elevator music). Once plugged in with headphones I can be sitting in any room engrossed in a book.

 

[Gforce9]

I once read 17 pages of a historical theology book on my way to work on the expressway......and comprehended it. I don't think I would try that youthful silliness now.