It has been found that writing book reports increases retention of the material. You don’t have to actually write a formal report to take advantage of that, tho

It has been found that writing book reports increases retention of the material. You don’t have to actually write a formal report to take advantage of that, though. Try to work up a habit of talking to people whom you see often (coworkers, family and friends) about what you read. Listen to them for ideas and be their sounding board and then use them in the same way. Reiterate what you learned, try to extrapolate into new ideas, make criticisms and practice oral book reporting. Humans are linguistic creatures, thinking and verbal expression are closely connected in content and quality.