I like going through suggested books and readings lists on Hacker News, and they’re so popular that someone made an app to make a definitive list. But unless you’re an avid reader, it can be a bit of a chore. For me most books have their main points in the chapter title and preambles, then spend the rest of it providing evidence to supporting it.

When I was down a YouTube rabbit hole on Tai Lopez, a.k.a. the “Here in my garage” guy, some comments and other videos criticized his “I read a book a day” claim. He just reads summaries to get the main points, then re-reads them to internalize the concepts so they’re in the front of his mind. Most knowledge-based and self-improvement books can be dense with information, so it’d be tough to read a book in a day. But I did like the idea of using summaries, and I already use Anki regularly.

So I’ve combined both ideas into this workflow:

  1. Find the summary of a book I want to read
  2. Make Anki flashcards for the main points of the book summary
  3. Go through the flashcards normally with the rest of my decks

Some would say it’s blasphemous or that I’m hindering my ability to focus. Both critique are valid, but I’m only concerned with getting the knowledge into my noggin, and making sure it sticks.