> [!Info]- A note on the purpose of book notes > Reading needs a reset. It's okay. You can stop worrying about perfect highlights. No one is here to grade you on them. It's time to stop treating books like a class; and to treat them like a conversation. > > Why? Because that aligns with the main goals of non-fiction: *to learn*, *to remember*, and *to apply*. We accomplish these goals by engaging with the author. > > Let's zoom out even further and give ourselves a meta goal for reading: > > > To understand the content well enough that it *enriches the mind* and *empowers the person*—both in the moment and in the years to follow. > > The emergent questions below will help you get there—and stay there. > [!Info]- A note on 💥 Emergent Questions & Emergent Answers > The best questions, insights, and answers *emerge* when your natural enthusiasm is leading the way—not from a misguided desire to take notes like a stenographer. > > > The art of engaging with a book is to allow your curiosity to govern what happens next. > > All of the questions below are meant to be "emergent questions". Keep them in mind while you read. Eventually, they will percolate your subconscious and you will re-ask them without realizing it! > > These emergent questions will cultivate emergent answers from you as your understanding improves. > > As your understanding improves, don't be surprised when your intuition makes unexpected connections across different domains, fields, and really...the totality of your life's experiences. --- # Book Title > [!Hint]- As I experience this book, what questions should I be asking? > This is the # 1 meta question to keep handy while you are reading. That's right, the benefit comes from asking this throughout your reading process, not just at the start. > [!Hint]- What is the book about? What is it *really* about? > In the LYT Workshop, this is known as the "Surface & Depth" prompt: The first answer is on the surface, while the second seeks the depth. Here's the format for you to complete: > > - It's about X, but it's really about Y. > [!Hint] Why do I care about this book? # Note-making > [!Info]- A note on what to make notes about > Remember the main goals of non-fiction: *to learn*, *to remember*, and *to apply*. > > With that in mind, there are three types of notes to make so you make the most out of your reading. > > - 🎙 **Articulate Insights**: Can I turn sparks I read into remarks I remember? > - 🌱 **Add Knowledge**: Can I effectively build my knowledge? > - 🔥 **Apply Ideas**: Can I actually apply what I'm reading? > > Use the emergent questions below to make sure you make the main thing the main thing. Notice they include "sparked by this book". That's because... > > > Books should spark thoughts and ideas that *are not* contained within in the pages of the book itself! > > Don't be a stenographer; be a thinker. > [!Hint]- **🎙 Articulate:** What stories, insights, or arguments—sparked by this book—can I actually articulate? > "If you can't articulate it, did you even read it?" > > As you feel the spark from reading, you may want to express your thoughts on it before the spark fades. As you externalize it, you naturally improve how you are learning and remembering the material—and increasing the likelihood that you'll be able to apply or use it if you need to. > > As you externalize the spark, you may need only a few sentences to make the point. No need for more. (Add a page number back to the book if it makes sense.) > [!Hint]- 🌱 **Add:** What ideas—sparked by this book—should I add to my PKM? > This is major part of PKM (Personal Knowledge Management). Long story short: Knowledge is something to be cultivated. Over time, meaningful ideas emerge. > > If "Knowledge is Power" you better believe it empowers you to manage it wisely! > > Think of adding ideas and planting seeds that may sprout in the future. > > How should you plant concepts or ideas that spark with you? Type them below. You may enjoy turning the idea into a strongly-worded statement—this improves learning, remembering, and using the concept (and is covered in depth during the [LYT Workshop](https://www.linkingyourthinking.com/)). > [!Hint]- 🔥 **Apply:** What actionable takeaways—sparked by this book—should I consider applying? > One of the biggest pain points in reading non-fiction is that there is often a disconnect between your aspirations before reading the book...and your actions after. Bluntly: you don't do anything you wanted the book to help you do. > > The first part of the solution is to just write it down. That's half the battle; that's what this space is for. > > Then you can decide if/when/how you might want to apply it. # Key terms > [!Hint]- What are some key terms, concepts, or phrases so far? > > If it has a name, it can be known. > > Concepts are a wonderful thing. They give us the handles we need to grasp nebulous ideas and abstract concepts. They are tethers, landmarks on the map, cognitive scaffolding. > > They pack dense information into a bite-size chunks. And they provide a short-hand for us to communicate complex ideas quickly. Cherish them. The author likely spent a lot of effort figuring out which terms and concepts to use in the book. > > List them below. As needed, add definitions, commentary, and links to other ideas. # Page notes > [!Info]- A note on page notes > This is where you can put all the miscellaneous notes from various pages. Notice it's at the bottom. Most people spend all of their best energy making these types of notes. It often just becomes a pile of untouched highlights. > > But where is their *thinking?* Sadly absent. > > All this to say, page notes are nice, but they encourage the "completionists" to lose track of the goal. It's not to have a perfect list of notes—it's to learn, remember, and apply what you've learned. If these page notes are just a wall of highlights, then their value pales in comparison to the emergent questions prioritized above. > > > How can you tell if you are out of balance with your page notes? If they take up more space than your emergent answers above. > [!Info]- How to make better page notes > However, if you add your own "one-liner" above each page note or highlight, then you are adding a bit of note-making to the process. Here's an example for you: > > - 11 Word Index vs Subject Index > - The word index (also known as a Concordance). The questions are: Have word indexes won in the age of google and global search (Cmd-shift-f)? Is there still value in a subject index? > - 47 The Index is not committed to the author > - "not to the author but to the reader, and to the arbitrary order of the alphabet." > - it's "not a form well-suited to narrative" > > This is how to take bland note-taking efforts and infuse a pinch of note-*making.*