Read With A Purpose

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention." ~ Francis Bacon (16th century English philosopher)

When you take the time to figure out what your purpose is for reading the story before you, you greatly increase your chances of retaining what it is you read.

Having a definite purpose for what you are doing unleashes a new level of ability to achieve that purpose. This is what I mean when I encourage you to read and learn actively. 

Practice this and see if you don't have a better feeling while you read. Notice if you don't sit up straighter and your eyes become more focused on the words and the meaning they bring to the story. The brain loves to make sense of what it is doing and consciously knowing why you are reading a particular story not only helps you make more sense of it, but make more sense of it much faster.

I am not a speed reader. I am a speed understander.
~ Isaac Asimov ~

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
~ Joseph Addison  ~

That is a good book which is opened with
expectation and closed in profit.
~ Amos Bronson Alcott ~

When I look back, I am so impressed again
with the life-giving power of literature.
If I were a young person today, trying to gain a sense of
myself in the world, I would do that again by reading,
just as I did when I was young.
~ Maya Angelou ~

To feel most beautifully alive means to be reading something beautiful,
ready always to apprehend in the flow of language the sudden flash of poetry.
~ Gaston Bachelard ~