> Know the intellectual context This is often what I am most left wondering about. I guess nowadays I end up trying to wikipedia the heck out of the topic, or

> Know the intellectual context This is often what I am most left wondering about. I guess nowadays I end up trying to wikipedia the heck out of the topic, or look for similar books. What do you do? Also I was confused by > Read the whole thing! Which makes me think of careful reading, but they mean "read straight through, not stopping for details." I had been unable to do this for years. Eventually I was able to just plow through a book and it turns out to be more helpful than I imagined. It is often better to proceed than to be stuck, putting it aside forever.