Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd be rich if I had a dollar for every student who told me "I understand the concepts but I can't do the problems" in math or physics and then in debugging their problem solving it became clear that they don't understand the concepts at all. There is nothing like doing the problem sets when it comes to learning something like math or computer science. If you did the problem sets successfully but didn't read anything…
Not my area of expertise, but wouldn't most compiler books have chapters on generics work for general languages? You could use that to reason on how Java generics work.
Ask HN: How to Read More Books?
31–40 of 41 posts
Re: Ask HN: How to Read More Books?
#32I lost a Kobo in an airline seat pocket and had enjoyed it for only a year. While it was a bit slow to render Transmetropolitan, it made time go by quickly between YYZ and HND.
I haven’t replaced it yet but I just might, now that I’ve learned the Kindle can be jailbroken.
Get an e reader and take it everywhere. I love my iPad Pro for other media, but your eyes really need eInk to get in the mood. Just accept it - an eReader is a special device meant to provide slow food for the brain. It’s worth having.
Re: Ask HN: How to Read More Books?
#33Re: Ask HN: How to Read More Books?
#34Fond memories of reading many series of books on my Palm IIIxe. The green glow of the backlight made for a relaxing bedtime. HHGTTG, Dune, Gibson. I lost a Kobo in an airline seat pocket and had enjoyed it for only a year. While it was a bit slow to render Transmetropolitan, it made time go by quickly between YYZ and HND. I haven’t replaced it yet but I just might, now that I’ve learned the Kindle can be jailbroken.…
Re: Ask HN: How to Read More Books?
#35Re: Ask HN: How to Read More Books?
#36I setup a bedtime routine where I try to read at least 30 mins or until I get really sleepy. I've been able to finish more books this way and it really helps in retaining concepts.
Re: Ask HN: How to Read More Books?
#37What I've done and has worked for me: 1. Take the book, leave the phone and laptop at home. Go to a coffee shop, park, bar (a chill kind of bar, not a sports bar or a dive bar) and read. 2. Declare a space in the home to be tech-free. 3. Read after doing some other activity and make that the habit. After I go for runs or mow the lawn, I sit on the back deck and read. <-- this one seems to be the most consistent, but…
What I did: I took the sim card from my smartphone, put it into a dumb phone. So I had no internet during my 30min work commute (train/bus). Then I took a book with me. And I read it. I started this last year in October and I'm at my 9th book now, mostly only reading them during commute.
Another insight for me was: don't do read text books for the sake of "reading more". Go for the type of literature you like, how unintellectual it might be. For me its pretty much any best selling novel.
Re: Ask HN: How to Read More Books?
#38Ultimately, after having read/listened to ~200 mostly non-fiction and fantasy books in the past several years, the ROI is non-zero but not that high relative to the other activities mentioned. I think this is partly a byproduct of the times and the culture I'm in (mid-career engineer in silicon valley), where priorities shift a lot towards career and financial successes. Personal output tied to network, skills, and work has a much larger influence on these priorities over a much shorter time frame than reading arbitrary books. If I lived somewhere else or didn't have money needs, I can see my priorities shifting more towards reading. It's not ideal, but I've come to accept this reality. Reading isn't something I have to do, nor is it always the most rewarding activity.
I try to still read every now and then, especially if there is a focused book aligned with my immediate interests, but I've also come to accept the fact that I may not finish a lot of books and that's okay.
I've also come to believe that most books have too many words for my taste given the relative paucity of ideas, and I'm under no obligation to read every word just because an author wrote it. I need to be my own editor of the content I consume; outsourcing this to the writers/publishers makes less and less sense. If I'm bored, I skip a chapter or three. Or I may read a synopsis online and if it is interesting, then I dive deeper. I have to prioritize how I read, not just how much I read. I actually find this makes the reading experience more enjoyable since I spend less time on the parts that feel "boring".
(I have the same attitude to TV/movies; some episodes are not a great use of my time so I scene skip and increase playback speeds).
I've also found myself listening to more audiobooks instead of reading. This is particularly helpful when I drive, do late-night stretches, or cook and it doesn't consume additional time.
I wish circumstances were different and I could just go outside in the shade of a tree and read all day, but at least at this point in my life letting go of the pressure to read definitely has had more stress-relieving effects than actually reading.
Re: Ask HN: How to Read More Books?
#39I actually now track my reading using Kanban. Books I've decided to read go in to Pending. When I actively start reading one it moves into In Progress and when I complete it it moves into Done. I limit my actively being read books down so that I've never got more than 2 on the go at once, though quite often I'll only have one being actively read. It has certainly made a difference for me, as I now get through about 6…
Re: Ask HN: How to Read More Books?
#40I actually now track my reading using Kanban. Books I've decided to read go in to Pending. When I actively start reading one it moves into In Progress and when I complete it it moves into Done. I limit my actively being read books down so that I've never got more than 2 on the go at once, though quite often I'll only have one being actively read. It has certainly made a difference for me, as I now get through about 6…
60 books a year? That's insane :) For how long do you read each day?