I split my non-fiction books in two rough types: Non-fiction—when my aim is to understand some ideas—and technical—when I seek to improve my skill. Some of the

I split my non-fiction books in two rough types: Non-fiction—when my aim is to understand some ideas—and technical—when I seek to improve my skill. Some of the first can be bloated. But I only read in a linear fashion on my first skim. Just seeing what's the main ideas are and the author's perspective on them. I view stories taken as example as a kind of slice of life illustrating the ideas. On subsequent reads, if the book warrants it, I just go straight to what I need. If I have the time to do so, I summarize it, put it in my wiki, and uses that instead. I never remember the author's words—if there's a sentence I like, I quote it in my wiki—, only the ideas. How it is phrased don't matter as long I can understand. If the writing is atrocious, I just quit. The only books I'm really critical are fiction books, because they promise a good story.