How I Read A Magic Book

I came up with a new way of reading non-fiction books that I’ve found to be very satisfying. It might not appeal to everyone, but if you’re of a similar mindset, you might get something from the idea.

So let’s say I find a new book I want to read…

What I’ll do is I’ll start reading, and when I find a really good idea or concept (or, in the case of a magic book, a trick or technique I want to work on) I will make note of it in a document I’m keeping while I work my way through the book. After I do that, I will stop reading the book for the day.

The idea here is this:

Let the book pace itself.

This goes against my natural instinct when I find a book I really like, which is to stay up all night reading it.

But I find when I do that, even if I take detailed notes, I’m not giving my mind enough time to truly digest and contemplate the ideas. And then I’m on to the next book or the next whatever and I never truly wring out the full value of these things.

This method of reading allows me to cruise through the books that don’t have much to offer me and savor the ones that are resonating with me.

I originally started doing this with non-fiction books generally and then added magic books to the mix as well. I could also see myself doing the same thing with online lectures. Pausing the lecture when an idea grabs me and sitting on it until I pick it up again the next day.

Since I started consuming books this way, I have much greater recall and a much greater depth of understanding of the material.

Perhaps this pacing comes from having written a blog for almost a decade. Focusing on one general idea a day feels right to me.

It’s also probably reminisicent of my youth, when I had much less magic content to absorb and I would carefully go through a Genii magazine for many days, or a magic book for weeks/months. Whereas now I often feel like my goal is just to “process” the material as quickly as possible so I can move onto the next thing.

If I’ve learned anything about my own personal happiness, it’s that when I find something—be it intellectual content, art, a delicious meal, or a person— that truly resonates with me and brings joy, the best course of action is to find ways to slow my consumption down and fully revel in it.