This. I also did little blogging experiments like that when I was in graduate school, with physics textbooks! Sadly, I didn't get far because Jackson was so,

This. I also did little blogging experiments like that when I was in graduate school, with physics textbooks! Sadly, I didn't get far because Jackson was so, so far beyond anything I'd seen up to that point -- it was all I could do to keep up with the weekly 2-3 problem assignments, much less read and understand all the reading. But Jackson is a special case. :) I would also add progressive-time experiments to this list. If you're reading something important, that you want to retain, ask yourself one day, one week, and one month later what you remember from it. Come up with ways to apply what you read: in writing, in conversation, etc.