Reads: How to Read A Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren

Hi all,

Here's another book about education of the mind: its a book teaching you how to read a book. Well, you may be surprised that the concepts of meditation and mindfulness overlaps with the ideas in the book. It tells you that effort must be exerted everytime you read a book, and mindfully craft a storage system to store all your information systematically. Its like organizing a your brain 'folders'.

The book mainly consists of four sections on how to read a book, namely, elementary, inspectional, analytical and syntopical reading. It also tells about how to read scientific and literary titles - which is a very helpful introduction on the concepts of knowledge organized in these subjects.

Reading is a skill, which requires time to develop. Once developed, it becomes an art. Like learning to ski, it requires patience and courage to stand up against every slips and fall. But once skills are honed, skiing becomes an art that flows naturally in the form of a habit. Reading is the same too. One is bound to feel overwhelmed and frustrated in the beginning, and later give up. But due perseverance and courage, one developes mental strength to acquire further knowledge.

This book is rather rare, I last saw it in MPH in Midvalley Kuala Lumpur some years back, costing some RM60. It is not published regularly. But you should keep alert at the secondhand bookstores - if you are mindful and lucky, you'll find it. Alternatively, you can order the book through amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Touchstone/dp/0671212095/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-9687847-6372836?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175222524&sr=1-2

And so, likewise in mindfulness, we should cultivate good mindful habits.

Cheers.

Dan Xia