Bibliotherapy: 15 books that will help you find yourself. Rules for reading books Handshake with palm below

It would seem that what is difficult about reading? Each of us has been able to read since the age of five, and until now we have coped well with works of varying complexity. However, not everything is as obvious as it seems at first glance. Have you ever noticed that even if a book was interesting, you still can’t remember the name of the main character a couple of days after reading it?

The ability to read is not only about putting letters into words, it is about comprehending the meaning of what you read. Regardless of what you are reading - a scientific book, a work of fiction or an article on the Internet. Therefore, effective reading needs to be learned. We offer you 10 tips on how to read books correctly to get the effect you expect.

1. Don't try to embrace the immensity

It often happens that, having happily bought several books, we put them on the shelf and never open them. And then we buy more and more books with beautiful covers, adding to the endless list of unread things. How to read books correctly? Don't buy too much at once. Better take one or two and finally read them. And don’t deceive yourself by buying expensive albums with high-quality illustrations - practice shows that for most people such books pointlessly gather dust on their shelves, remaining unclaimed.

1. There's no need to finish a boring book

Some people think that not finishing a book you have started is a bad omen. Some people think that this is disrespect for the author. But there are so many interesting things in the world! Don't waste time on something you don't like - it will only reduce your motivation to read. Give the book, for example, 50 pages. Or 70. If you still don’t get the taste, put this one aside and take another one.

1. Prepare to Read

It is always important to know who is writing the book, what it is about and why. Even if it's a tabloid detective story. Don’t be lazy and read information about the author, abstract, and a couple of reviews. If this is specialized literature, it would be a good idea to study the contents and afterword - they usually summarize the results and draw conclusions, which will help you decide whether you need the information presented in the book.

1. It's okay to not like paper books

Not everyone likes paper books. A dislike for books and reading is not at all an indicator of low intelligence. There are many alternative formats, for example, you can always listen to a book (audiobooks). Preference can also be given to articles, codecasts, and thematic newsletters.

1. Use a pencil when reading

Do you want to know how to read books correctly? The main rule is to use a simple pencil when reading. They talk about this at school, but not everyone follows the advice of literature teachers. When you “read with a pencil,” the process is more thoughtful and efficient. You highlight the thoughts you like, comment on something in the margins, as if talking with the author, and not just swallowing his monologue. And thus you pass the text through yourself, highlighting the most important, interesting and useful.

1. Reading less than 30-40 pages at a time is pointless

30-40 pages is about a chapter. A chapter is a more or less complete thought. If you read 5-10 pages and stop, you lose the logic of the story, and the rest of the chapter may become less clear to you. Try to read at least 40 pages at a time - this will not only help you read the book before you get bored with it, but also understand it as deeply as possible.

1. Don't get stuck on one genre

Do you like detective stories? Great, but don't read 10 of them at once. Because the first couple of books will bring you pleasure, and the rest will seem bland because you are fed up with the monotony of the plots. Do you prefer non-fiction? Books on business or psychology? Alternate them with fiction or biographies of famous people. This will not only diversify the reading process and expand your horizons, but will also prevent you from getting tired of one genre, even your favorite one.

1. Share your impressions

The best way to formulate your opinion about a book is to write about it. A special blog and an account on any social network are suitable for this. Your favorite quotes and comments in the margins will help you in writing your own review. You will evaluate the work again, remember your impressions, develop them - this will help you better remember what you read, and discussing the book with other readers is also very pleasant. And also - you will never forget what you read and when. At the end of the year it is interesting to take stock.

The following follows from this rule:

1. You can always re-read your reviews

To remember details of a book or your emotions at the time of reading, for example. This is especially true for scientific literature.

1. Discuss what you read

Discussion is not only a way to better understand the author, but also a great opportunity to learn how to formulate your thoughts competently and cogently. It is quite possible that after discussing the book you will discover something new in it that you yourself did not pay attention to.

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Surely you have thought more than once about how great it would be to be able to read the thoughts of others. Intuition helps someone in this matter, but if you do not have such insight, there is only one thing left: learn to understand body language.

It's no secret that we receive 55% of information through nonverbal communication. The famous Australian writer Allan Pease spoke about this more than once. Facial expressions, gestures and body movements can remove a person’s mask, revealing his true thoughts and feelings.

website suggests paying attention to the signals that those around us send us, sometimes without even knowing it.

1. Covering the eyelids

If a person closes his eyelids when communicating with you, know that he is trying to hide, to protect himself from the outside world. Moreover, this does not mean at all that the interlocutor is afraid of you. Rather, on the contrary, he wants to remove you from his field of vision because he might be tired of you. Closed your eyes - bam! - and you disappeared.

2. Protect your mouth with your hand

This is a clear example of what we all come from in childhood. Remember how you covered your mouth with your palm when you didn’t want to tell something. It's the same in adulthood. A few fingers, a palm or even a fist near the mouth helps us restrain the words we speak. Sometimes this gesture is disguised by a fake cough.

3. Biting the temple of glasses

Do you see your friend thoughtfully biting the temple of his glasses? Hurry to support and encourage him. He is clearly preoccupied with something and on a subconscious level strives to feel safe, as in infancy, at his mother’s breast. By the way, a pencil, pen, finger, cigarette or even chewing gum in the mouth can indicate the same thing.

4. Showing your face

As a rule, this gesture is used to attract the attention of members of the opposite sex. Resting our chin on our folded hands, we put our face on display, as if in a store window, as if saying: “Here I am in all my glory, admire my health.” Men should remember this gesture so as not to miss the opportunity to give a timely compliment.

5. Stroking the chin

This is how a person tries to make a decision. At the same time, his gaze can be turned up, down, sideways... or anywhere. He is unlikely to realize what exactly he is considering at the moment, since he is completely immersed in his thoughts.

6. Crossing arms

One of the most common gestures. It is not surprising that many feel most comfortable in this position - this position allows you to isolate yourself from others. We often use this gesture when we are unhappy with something. Arms crossed on the chest are a clear signal of the negative attitude of the interlocutor.

7. Preening

Do you agree that this is a more open position? In an effort to please a man, a woman begins to present herself in the most favorable light. She sits up straight to highlight her chest and tends to cross her legs. Hands folded and lowered down are a signal of attention and increased interest in the interlocutor.

8. Bend forward

When a person feels sympathy for the interlocutor and is ready to make contact with him, he usually leans towards him. In this case, the legs may remain in place, but the body will intuitively move forward.

9. Recline

If a person leans back in his chair, he thereby makes it clear that he is bored with the conversation. Perhaps he feels awkward in the company of his interlocutor.

10. Rocking from toe to heel

Yes, not only children, but also adults do this. This means that the person is very worried.

11. Rubbing palms

It is believed that the hands convey what the head is thinking. Rubbing palms together usually expresses a person's positive expectations, the hope that he will succeed in something. In a word, this is exactly what we do when we think about the upcoming benefit.

12. Glove handshake

If the interlocutor clasps your hand with his free hand, he shows that he can be trusted.

13. Handshake with palm on top

The palm on top, covering someone else's hand, indicates empathy, participation, but only if this was done right away. If the hands had already been clasped for some time, and then someone decided to put the second hand on top, this may indicate his desire to show who is boss.

14. Handshake with palm underneath

If you support your interlocutor's hand from below, you seem to be telling him that you are ready to help.

15. Handshake with touch

You can also use your free hand to touch the other person's forearm, elbow, or back. Such an invasion of personal space symbolizes the need for communication. Moreover, the closer this gesture is to the body, the greater this need.

Almost a third of Russians do not read books. How do you like these statistics from what was once the most reading country in the world? The speed of our lives has increased, and often there is no time at all to sit in a chair under a floor lamp and leaf through thin, rustling pages. For tips on what to do with this and life hacks on how to finally start reading more, read our material.

Decide how many books you will read in a year

The human brain is designed in such a way that it perceives goals expressed in numerical form much better. Therefore, if a certain number always looms at the edge of your consciousness, it will be easier not to forget about reading in the heap of other things and events. Don't set yourself unrealistic plans. If you haven't found time to read since school, set yourself a goal of 12 books - one per month.

If you don't like a book, quit it

At school they taught me to finish every book I started. But this can completely kill any pleasure from reading. If you didn’t like the book, throw it away! There are millions of times more books in the world than you will read in a lifetime. Don't waste your time on ones you don't like.

Alternate books

It is better to dilute serious literature with light stories, alternate novels with non-fiction, modern literature with classics, and foreign books with Russian ones. This will give you the impression of newness and vividness of the experience.

If you feel like you haven’t picked up a book for several days,reduce time spent on TV, reading social networks or computer games

This helps you get back to reading, and not grab the usual mental chewing gum in your free moments. By the way, if instead of a book you constantly want to scroll through Instagram, this may be a signal that you don’t really like the book, and it would be a good idea to change it to something more exciting.

Create little book rituals for yourself.

For example, you must read on the subway, listen to an audiobook in a traffic jam, read 10 pages at breakfast or before going to bed in bed, on Saturday morning read for an hour before getting up. These habits introduce reading into your life, making it part of your schedule.

If the book is going slowly, but you definitely need to finish it, set yourself a plan

Check your reading speed

Yes, like in elementary school, but not out loud, but silently. Often people read little because their speed is too slow. Because of this, the brain becomes bored in the process and is distracted by extraneous topics. You automatically flip through the pages, while you think about where to go on vacation and what to cook for dinner. With the help of simple exercises, you can increase your reading speed by 50-100 words per minute in a week, and this will be enough for your brain to fully focus on the plot, and you will not get bored reading a book.

Master speed reading

Discuss what you read

Send your favorite pieces to your husband, girlfriends, mother, read the same book at the same time with friends, argue about characters and events, or talk on social networks about the books you love. And after reading the book, navigate through the hashtags on Instagram and look for those who have also read it. This helps, through such a generally individual activity as reading, to feel unity with other people and communicate on topics that interest you. After all, society considers it a much more worthy activity to discuss love affairs from the last book you read than from an evening talk show.

Read using the Pomodoro method

Lately we have become accustomed to compressed amounts of information, Twitter, short posts on Facebook, newspaper articles. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to switch to long, coherent text. The phone buzzes with notifications, and urgent matters come to mind all the time. In this case, set a countdown timer for 20-25 minutes and during this time read without being distracted by anything. The first 5-10 minutes may be difficult, but then you will be immersed in a state of flow, your thoughts will tune in to the rhythm of the text, and you will float along the waves of the plot without difficulty.

After reading all the tips, don’t forget about the main thing: read what interests you! Nowadays, books have probably been written about everything in the world, so it’s not so difficult to find exactly what will excite, hook and make you forget about time. Haven't found your book yet? Write in the comments what you would like to read about, we will help and give individual advice!

Many people, reading another book, see only the surface of the work, and leave the most important thing that the author wanted to convey unnoticed. The hidden meanings and varied symbols are where the real beauty and value of the novel lies. If you are fond of reading, then this is commendable and good. But doing it right is even better. Check out the tips below and you will succeed. In just a few weeks you will be a real master, since learning to read books correctly is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance.

Before moving on to tips on how to learn to read, you need to pay a little attention to ways to do it. There are 4 types of them. All of them were described by M. Adler in 1940 in his research work. He identified the following methods:

1. Elementary.
   The simplest method involves using the skills acquired in school lessons. With its help, a person simply reads the text, understands the meaning, and follows a certain plot.
2. Inspection.
   This method is also called “across the sheet”. Following it, the reader first looks at the beginning of the sheet, and then moves to the end, while quickly trying to “rip out” the main points, having understood the meaning. This option is extremely useful and is often used in conditions of lack of time when working with a large amount of educational or work-related material.
3. Analytical.
   With the analytical method, it is necessary to immerse yourself in the text, which makes reading books truly effective. Slow, careful movement along the page, individual written notes, searching for explanations of misunderstood words, and using the author's references are the main components of the analytical method. His goal is 100% understanding of what he reads with complete assimilation of all the author’s thoughts.
4. Research.
   A popular method among writers and workers in the creative or scientific fields. It requires reading several books on the same topic at once to confirm or refute any theories. This option is not well suited for fiction if you consider it in terms of pleasure rather than work.

For an ordinary person who wants to find the answer to the question of how to read books effectively, the 2nd or 3rd method will be the most beneficial. They will allow you to both have fun and learn important information. However, there is no point in considering them in detail, since you need to read correctly as a whole, and not force yourself into the framework of one method. Let's move on to the tips.

Have a goal

Never read without a purpose, as most people do. There is no need to try to fill your free time with superficial reading, hoping for vague benefits. Try to set a goal first to solve a specific problem or answer a question. If it comes to scientific literature, then decide in advance what exactly you need to find out in it.

Re-read

There is no guarantee that after the first reading the entire text will be understood. It often happens that on the second or third reading, people discover new parts of the plot, and the novel takes on a completely different meaning. This advice is especially relevant for working with scientific works, even in the form of popularized literature. Don’t be afraid to practice and repeat, otherwise how else will you learn something if you don’t work through the material.

Try different ways of reading

The methods described at the beginning of the article appeared there for a reason. Despite the large number of tips that will teach you how to read books correctly, you should use the methods described. As mentioned above, inspection or analytical are effective for the average person. After trying each of them, you need to choose one, try to hone it, and then repeat with the second. You can alternate or even use it on one novel, which is very effective.

Take several books at once

This advice only applies to the case when it is necessary to work with serious literature that is not related to fiction. For example, when studying the traditions of a country. You need to use many books to get a complete understanding of the issue being studied, eliminating the risk of receiving false or misinterpreted information. Also, do not forget to compare what you read with your existing knowledge. And if the work is presented in several parts, then they should be read strictly in chronological order.

Look for information

If during the reading process you come across an unusual word, a description of an interesting event or object, then you should not skip it, as you need to read with understanding. Take advantage of modern technology and find the information you need. Firstly, it will expand your knowledge. Secondly, it will allow you to understand what you read much better.

Take notes

Always keep a pencil with you, as well as several small bookmarks or a notepad. It is important to highlight significant moments so that later you can briefly review them and remember or see what previously seemed hidden. This is especially true for educational or work literature, since it will never be possible to learn something serious without notes. While reading a work of art, you can also make notes in a notebook about your thoughts about the further development of the plot.

Focus

Some people read even 5 hours a day, but at the same time they constantly lose focus, withdraw into themselves, and have detached thoughts. Since you need to read correctly so as not to waste time, such moments should not happen in your life. Try not to be distracted and get into the work. If, despite all efforts to concentrate, a cozy atmosphere, and good health, such a problem remains, then this indicates a lack of purpose, which was mentioned in the first tip. Try asking yourself: “Why am I doing this?”

The reader sometimes looks for correspondence and involuntarily compares the environment in the novel with the real world. By comparing, he moves away from the goal. Follow the hero’s gaze, look for the right point from which the entire process of getting to know the novel will begin. This will allow you to find yourself in the world being described, which will play into your hands.

Remember the subtext

Modern readers really don't know how to read books correctly. The proof is the fact that most people take novels and everything described in them literally. It is important to always remember the subtext left by the author. This can change the idea of ​​the plot, and will also open up new facets and hidden meanings not previously noticed.

The subtext is hidden in the following:

• weather, season - weather conditions often express the feelings of characters, and seasons can have a huge symbol of the purpose of writing a novel or partially express a hidden meaning;
• the actions of the characters - the author can thus show the real world, drawing a parallel, for example, with politics;
• violence – in many works has a social or cultural meaning;
• geography - it can act in a unique role, revealing a whole separate topic, denoting a symbol, or showing the influence of the environment on the characters;
• salvation of the hero - many authors show the rebirth of the hero or a sharp change in his views by saving himself from death, for example, falling into a river and being saved, and sometimes the hero is killed, which also says a lot;
• the stigma of characters - physical disabilities can express symbols of human moral or psychological problems.

Always try to see the subtext.

Put the plot to the background

All famous writers write not for the sake of entertaining readers, but to convey some idea. The plot here plays far from the main role - it acts as a means, and not an end in itself. That is why some works do not have a clear plot at all, but contain many useful thoughts. The same applies to heroes - they are a means of expressing thoughts. Read to understand the author's thoughts, not to know the plot. This is the most important point in the question of how to learn to read correctly.

Read the book in advance

When wondering how to read effectively, start with the cover. Before reading it for the first time, try to get to know the book as closely as possible. Try to delve into the name to see if there is something important hidden in it. Study the cover, because... images can say a lot about the meaning of a novel. Pay attention to the chapter titles, read the first pages - this will help not only determine how complex and interesting the text is written, but also learn about the author’s most important message. You should also read a little about him (about the author), if possible, get acquainted with other works. It will not be superfluous to read several reviews of the product.

Summarize, analyze

After reading, give yourself a little time so that what you read fits into your head. Then create a unique report that describes the most important things:

• What did you read about?
• What happened? What are the reasons?
• Are the events described instructive and interesting?
• Do you agree with the author?
• What conclusions can be drawn?

This approach will allow you to get the most out of the book, which is the goal of learning to read most effectively. Additionally, you can write your personal reviews of what you read or discuss everything with friends.

Throw away inappropriate literature

There is no need to try to forcefully master bad literature, thinking about how to learn and read it more efficiently. Strictly weed out useless works that you cannot master. They will not give you a feeling of pleasure, will not help you develop efficiency, but will push you back.

Take more time

You need to study regularly, and not once a month - you most likely already knew this. Teaching reading efficiency is no exception. You need to set aside enough time at least once every couple of days. One hour will be enough, but subject to the correct approach and use of advice.

Mix genres

Having genre favorites, you shouldn’t delve exclusively into their representatives. Oversaturation with any genre is not beneficial, especially if you want to achieve such a goal as learning to read effectively. Change genres, moving from one to another, with each novel. This will not only speed up your learning, but also broaden your horizons.

Summary

Effective reading skills are a useful thing for a person, which everyone who wants to benefit from books and achieve success must learn. If you follow the tips described, the results will come within a few weeks of training. The main thing is not to forget about regularity and quality.

Some books are easy enough to try, others you want to swallow in one fell swoop, and there are those that take a long time to chew and digest.

Francis Bacon

1. Open the book.
2. Read the words.
3. Close the book.
4. Take the next book.

What could be simpler, right?

Yes, indeed, if you read just for fun, just to kill time, then this is pretty much what happens. But if you want to take something useful out of this lesson, you want to gain knowledge and new experience, then everything is not so simple. And that's why.

In 1940, Mortimer Adler wrote a work entitled “How to read books. A Guide to Reading Great Works", which is now considered a classic. Today we will try to very briefly get acquainted with some of its provisions, expressed about 75 years ago, but which do not lose their relevance in our time.

This study revealed that there are as many as four different ways of reading.

• Elementary. This is exactly what is meant by this word. This is a skill we learn in elementary school, and it just means that we can read words on a page and understand their meaning, and follow the main story, but nothing more.
• Inspection. This is reading with a glance, what we call “across the sheet.” We look at the beginning of the page, then move to the end, along the way trying to catch the main key points and understand the author's flow of thought. This often has to be done when there is a need to master large educational or work materials under time pressure.
• Analytical. This is when you really immerse yourself in the text. You read slowly and carefully, you take notes, you look up words you don't understand, and you follow the links the author provides. Your main task in this case is to fully understand and assimilate the ideas presented in the text.
• Research. Mainly used by writers, scientists and creative workers. At the same time, you read several books on the same topic at the same time in search of confirmation or refutation of your own theories on this issue. This is a rather specific way of reading, which is associated more with work than with hobby or pleasure.

Next, we will take a closer look at the second and third types of reading as the most relevant and useful skills. Because elementary reading is probably already familiar to you, since you are reading these lines, and research reading is a rather specific type of activity that will interest few. With analytical and inspection reading, the picture is completely different: many people need it, but not all people have it. So, what do you need to do to take your reading skill from elementary to the next level?

Inspection Reading

As mentioned above, this type of reading is applicable in a number of situations. For example, in a store you need to quickly assess the feasibility of purchasing a particular book, quickly understand the essence of a voluminous report, keep abreast of the latest events in your area of ​​interest, and so on. In any case, you will not be required to deeply immerse yourself in the text, but to quickly capture and evaluate the information you need. To do this you need to do the following.

Read the title and examine the front and back covers of the book

This advice seems obvious, but many people neglect it, immediately moving on to the content. But everyone knows that the author always attaches great importance to the title and cover design, often investing in them the main meaning (or a hint of it) of the entire book. If you manage to guess this message, then much will become clear even before the first lines of the text.

Pay special attention to the first few pages

This is especially true for business and popular science literature. Here you can immediately go to the ending to find out the main conclusions, and only then, if they interest you, begin to get acquainted with their proof.

Read reviews

If you are choosing a book on the Internet, then it will not be difficult for you to get acquainted with the opinions of other readers. Although these comments should be taken with a certain amount of skepticism, since sometimes they are dictated by selfish motives to increase sales or, conversely, to “drown” the author. But you can still find book sites that publish reviews from real people.

Thus, by following these simple steps, you can easily form a preliminary opinion about almost any book. This skill will help you literally in 5-10 minutes choose really worthwhile materials and cut off unnecessary ballast, which will save you whole years of life.

Analytical reading

It should be noted that not every book is worthy of being read in this way. This type of reading should only be used when you really want to get the most out of your reading. If you do not know how to use the analytical method of reading, no book - even the most useful and necessary - will be able to give you everything that the author intended in it. Let's look at how to get the most out of what we read.

Find out a little more about the author and his other works

Simply making inquiries about the identity of the author can greatly clarify the motives and characteristics of his work. Agree that a book about ways to achieve financial success will be much more credible if it was written by a practicing entrepreneur rather than a bankrupt loser. Or, for example, a novel about war will be read completely differently if the author’s biography contains corresponding episodes.

Spend a few minutes doing some inspection reading.

Before diving into the depths of the text, take some time for the brief preview described in the previous section. Do not miss the opportunity to gain information from the analysis of the title, content, preface, and so on.

Return to difficult moments

Read the entire book to the end, but try not to drag out the process too much. Adler calls this “surface reading,” that is, one during which you become familiar with the content of the book without going into too much detail. This means that if you encounter a difficult or unclear passage, do not immediately try to figure it out, but simply make a note and continue reading. When you finish the book, you need to return to your bookmarks and pay maximum attention to all controversial and incomprehensible points. Involve additional sources, re-read some places again, but as a result you should not have any dark places in the material you are studying.

Prepare a short resume

After finishing the book (and analytical reading is just that, work), write a short report reflecting your main impressions and knowledge gained. It's best if you write it in the form of answers to the following simple questions. Ideally, you do this in writing.

1. What is this book about? Sometimes we become so immersed in the intricacies of the plot or insignificant details that by the end of the story we completely forget about the author’s main idea. Just state the main meaning of the work in a few sentences.
2. What happened and why? Create a very brief outline of the book. For fiction, this can be the chain of events of the main plot, for popular science - the main theses and proof of the author's concept.
3. Are the events, facts and opinions described in the book interesting, true, and instructive? What is your attitude towards what you read? Do you agree with the author's opinion or do you think it is wrong?
4. What conclusions did you draw from what you read for yourself? Books are a powerful tool for changing yourself and your attitude towards the world. If we approach this issue to the maximum, then we can say that if the book you read gave you absolutely nothing, then you simply wasted your time. So try to capture in this answer everything that you were able to extract from this book for your development.

Yes, such a meticulous approach to reading does not contribute to the rapid absorption of literature and may probably seem too tedious. But you can definitely be sure that every book in your life will leave its mark and you will get the most from every hour spent with a book in your hands.