This is a bit of a different book review from the usual, mostly because this was originally supposed to be a SingLib recap. I heard about How We Read Now when I attended the NLB’s talk “Read to Focus: The Art of Focused Reading in an Age of Distraction”. One of the guests was Naomi S. Baron and her book sounded fascinating. So even though it was for teachers, I decided to pick it up.
And you know what? I finished this book thinking that everyone can benefit from it. Here’s why:
We need to know about the different types of reading
I’ve always thought of reading as well.. reading. So it was a surprise but not really a surprise for me to see the different types of reading that exists. And one type of reading can be compared to more than another type of reading! To quote from the book, there is:
- Skimming (getting the gist) vs scanning (looking for a particular piece of info) vs linear reading (reading continuously)
- Extensive reading (wide range of topics) vs intensive reading (narrow topic)
- One off reading vs rereading
- Paying careful literary attention to the text vs reading analytically
- Deep reading (reading analytically) vs hyper reading (quick skimming, scanning, hyperlinking)
- Linear reading vs hyperlinks (follow online links)
- Single text (reading one document at a time) vs multiple documents (reading multiple documents at a time).
Now, there is no one superior type of reading. The type of reading you need to do is related to goal you have for reading. The book goes into a lot more detail about these types of reading, which is the first reason why I think everyone should read this.
We need to know how different mediums affect reading
Are ebooks superior to print books? Are audiobooks superior to ebooks?
As with the type of reading, the best medium to read definitely depends on how you want to read. The push to ebook and audiobook may not be entirely good, but that doesn’t mean that we should only be reading print. How We Read Now spends most of its time looking at different studies to see how the medium affects the way we read. One rather obvious thing which I didn’t realise until it was pointed out – people tend not to rewind when they listen to audio. That’s definitely true for me; I will reread a paragraph if I don’t get it, but if I’m listening to a podcast and daydream and miss a section, I’m more likely to continue rather than go back and relisten.
As an aside, I’m not sure if the statistics for the growth in print, ebook, and audiobooks can be wholly relied on because they leave out small publishers and self-publishers. According to the Alliance of Independent Authors, 30%-34% of all ebook sales in the largest English-speaking markets are self-published, so leaving them out may not accurately reflect the trends in reading medium choices.
Still, the research on the medium (and type of reading) is what counts because we know how we read.
As readers, we need to figure out how we want to read
This is probably the main reason why we should be reading How We Read Now. As a reader, I had a lot to think about after reading this book – should I prioritise print or ebook going forward? Am I losing the ability to deep read? How do I want my reading life to look like?
How We Read Now is for teachers, so naturally, Baron tailors her suggestions to those who want to teach. However, her suggestions can serve as starting points for us regular readers to think about the type of reading life we want to build, and how we can get there.
Overall, I found this to be a very interesting and necessary book. I have been feeling distracted when reading so this book prompted me to think a bit more about what I want out of my reading experience. I still don’t have the answers, but at least I’m thinking about it!
what an interesting book about reading, specially that topic on how different medium affects reading. Great review!
Thank you! It was very interesting for me to read and think about this!
I actually make a dedicated effort now to ensure that I am still reading physical books regularly because I worry I’ll lose the ability to read deeply. I have a friend who was an avid reader her whole life, and she confessed a few years ago to me that she did not have the attention span anymore. Another friend who was trying to go for an advanced degree said the same. I thought of both as serious readers with focus, but both worried that all the reading they did on the internet had made them lose the ability to sit down with a long work.
I agree that all types of reading is beneficial and that reading on the internet or with hyperlinks is not bad–it serves its own purpose. However, I would like to keep up the skill to read deeply, as well, and for me, that means thinking about how long I’ve been not reading books and why I keep choosing to peruse the internet instead. Sometimes I have to make a conscious effort to stop reading internet articles, fascinating as they are, and just sit with a book for a bit.
I just finished an older book with longer chapters and that really emphasised how used I am to short, quick reads! I definitely think it’s due to how I read on the internet.
Agree with you that reading deeply is a skill that should be kept!
I can see how a book like this would be beneficial to more than just teachers. I think my attention span isn’t what it used to be–many thanks (or blame, really) to the internet and America’s “fast food” culture. I read more e-books than physical books these days–they are so much more convenient (to hold, to read in the dark, adjust the text as needed, to maneuver, etc)–but I do think I read more deeply when I read a print book. I also think how I read depends on the type of book and the writing style. I’m more apt to read more deeply when it’s nonfiction than if it’s fiction. Or if it’s literary fiction versus a romance or thriller.
Yes, genre really does matter! I can fly through thrillers/mysteries but nonfiction is a lot more challenging!
This sounds like an insightful read
It was! Definitely took home a lot from the book!
Sounds like a very interesting book, and you raised some questions in your post that I’ve been pondering on, mostly if I’m losing the ability to deep read due to being so easily distracted these days when I do read and reading too many things at once (not just books, but articles and posts and tweets and statuses and all that).
The not rewinding when listening to audio was interesting too. I always rewind, which is why I don’t often listen to new-to-me things on audio much — I rewind too much and it becomes annoying. That’s why I prefer to use audio to reread. If I miss something, I know what I missed.
I tend to listen to podcasts while driving so I almost never rewind! I think holding on/teaching the ability to deep read will be challenging as technology gets more and more immersive, but I do believe that there are benefits to deep reading so I’d want to keep it!