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Ask HN: How Do You Read?

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Re: Ask HN: How Do You Read?

#241

Post by disabled »

nyolfen wrote: post #239
disabled wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry for the late reply. Voice synthesis takes getting used to, and it is much easier to deal with if you have to rely on it for a print-related disability. The voices on Voice Dream Reader, such as Sharon or Heather, are excellent compared to the stock voices on iOS/Android. You may want to try getting a subscription to the digital databases at Houston Public Library (if you live outside the state of Texas, otherwi…

very cool! i'm in DFW so the houston library service sounds great. thanks for the suggestion!

You're welcome! I'm in Houston. The link to apply for a card: https://houstonlibrary.org/my-link-library-card-registration

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Read?

#242

Post by thisisit »

submeta wrote: post #240
Advaith wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently started using kindle highlights along with https://readwise.io/ and it works like a charm!

Thank you very much for that tip! Tried it, fell in love with it immediately. It imported my highlights from my Kindle and from my iBooks library and shows me my Highlights in a much better way than Amazon's web interface is able to do ( https://lesen.amazon.de/notebook?ref_=kcr_notebook_lib ) Also, it allows me to export all of my highlights. Finally it adds a gamification dimension, showing me random five hightligh…

What is the format of the 'My Clippings.txt' file? The reason I am asking is because I use Google Play Books most of the time. All highlights in Google Play Books is stored in Google Docs under "Highlights _Book_Name_" and I am wondering if readwise works for those.

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Read?

#244

Post by mariushn »

Advaith wrote: post #123
guidoism wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somebody wrote "Not to sound rude, but how can one judge what idea one needs to see as 'important' while skimming through the book if they have no clue of what the book is about?" and then deleted it. I'd still like to reply because it's a good question. Here goes... That's a perfectly good question. I used to think that skimming was worthless, only something that people who didn't actually care about information did…

I recently started using kindle highlights along with https://readwise.io/ and it works like a charm!

What do you think about https://booxia.wensia.com ?

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Read?

#246

Post by tristanho »

thisisit wrote: post #242
submeta wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you very much for that tip! Tried it, fell in love with it immediately. It imported my highlights from my Kindle and from my iBooks library and shows me my Highlights in a much better way than Amazon's web interface is able to do ( https://lesen.amazon.de/notebook?ref_=kcr_notebook_lib ) Also, it allows me to export all of my highlights. Finally it adds a gamification dimension, showing me random five hightligh…

What is the format of the 'My Clippings.txt' file? The reason I am asking is because I use Google Play Books most of the time. All highlights in Google Play Books is stored in Google Docs under "Highlights _Book_Name_" and I am wondering if readwise works for those.

Hey there, Readwise founder here.

Unfortunately 'My Clippings.txt' is a narrowly (and honestly, pretty awfully) defined format that Kindle devices generate. So that won't work for Google Play Books.

That being said, we want to build a separate Google Play Books importing tool -- it's on our roadmap!

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Read?

#247

Post by yezooz »

martin-adams wrote: post #199
ingve wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is an audio book version: How to Read a Book, narrated by Edward Holland [0] [0] https://www.audible.com/pd/How-to-Read-a-Book-Audiobook/B003...

Sadly not available in the UK

If you use audible.com, all you need to do is change the billing country to US. Suddenly all books previously unavailable can be purchased.

Country doesn't affect card payments in my case (Monzo) but worse case scenario you can use points.

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Read?

#248

Post by Elof »

mkagenius wrote: post #55
Elof wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you every tried listening to content. I’m adhd and dyslexic and have found that I retain content I listen to far far better than sight reading.

Listening is definitely better, but your mind will start to wander if you get bored. You have to forcefully do something to get back your attention.

My experience is that if you practice listening long enough it’s easy to focus. I’ve been doing it everyday for more than 5 years. I remember what you’re talking about but personally no longer experience it

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Read?

#249

Post by guidoism »

s9w wrote: post #203
harubi wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, a book is researched, thoughtful and laying a long, and complicated argument. Just the act of reading the long forms of ideas will make you better at thinking. Reading a Wikipedia page or watching a video, almost always dismisses the ideas that lead to a conclusion, which is what you need if you want to THINK, not walk around with containerized ideas that other people came up with.

But most books could be a 100th of the size they are

Indeed. There's a reason for that: Most modern non-fiction books are the result of a publisher giving a book deal to an author to expand an article they wrote and people who are going to spend $20 on a book want to feel like they are getting their money's worth (more pages == better deal).

Few modern authors are willing to buck the trend and publish a 100 page book, but they do exist. Take a look at Christopher Alexander's Notes on the Synthesis of Form.

Re: Ask HN: How Do You Read?

#250

Post by cyneox »

To be honest: I was waiting for this kind of thread for years. I've literally tried to absorbe everything you've put together. I will definitely have a look at "How to read a book".

Now some words about my reading habbits:

- Most of time I read non-fiction books. I read newspapers, interesting articles I've found on the Web and some books.

- I use an E-Reader to read my stuff (for many years I've used a Kindle 3rd Generation which got replaced by a Pocket InkBook 3 [1])

- Everything that I find interesting gets highlighted on the E-Reader. If I'm reading a real (paper) book I'll use my notebook and make some notes in a bullet journal style. [2])

- To organize my highlights I use TiddlyWiki [3] and some really nice plugin [4] to organize books.

Regarding Tiddlywiki: I think this is one of the most underrated tool out there since it can be used for everything. You can filter and tag your content (book highlights, ideas etc.) in a way that fits your needs.

Cheers,

Cyneox

Links:

[1]: https://www.pocketbook-int.com/ge/products/pocketbook-inkpad...

[2]: https://bulletjournal.com/

[3]: https://tiddlywiki.com/

[4]: http://inmysocks.tiddlyspot.com/#%24%3A%2Fplugins%2Finmysock...

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