How to Actually Remember the Books You Read | EP101

Summary

The Read Well Podcast: EP101 – How to Actually Remember the Books You Read

Release Date: June 16, 2025

Host: Eddy Hood

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In the inaugural episode of Season 3, “How to Actually Remember the Books You Read,” host Eddy Hood delves into the perennial challenge many readers face: retaining and effectively utilizing the wealth of information contained within the books they love. Drawing from his extensive experience teaching the art of deep reading, Eddy offers practical strategies to transform passive reading into an active, memorable, and impactful practice.

The Challenge of Retaining Information

Eddy begins by recounting a recent book club discussion centered around Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, a comprehensive exploration of human behavior through neurological, biological, and cultural lenses. A fellow member expressed a common frustration:

“There's so much good information in here and I'm not going to remember any of it. There's just too much.” ([02:30])

This sentiment underscores a widespread issue among avid readers—absorbing rich, complex material only to find its insights fading quickly from memory.

Books as Friends: Building a Relationship

To illustrate his approach to reading, Eddy introduces an analogy comparing books to friendships. He holds up his copies of Behave and Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic, highlighting the difference between a book without notes and one adorned with sticky notes and annotations.

“Reading a book is a lot like meeting a new person and going out to dinner with them for the first time.” ([05:45])

In this metaphor, the initial reading is akin to a first date—pleasant but superficial. Just as a friendship deepens through shared experiences and ongoing interactions, so too does the relationship with a book through repeated engagement and reflection.

Strategies for Deepening Retention

Eddy outlines a multi-step process to enhance memory retention and application of book content:

1. Initial Reading and Highlighting: After the first read-through, instead of shelving the book, Eddy recommends revisiting the text to identify and highlight key passages. This selective highlighting helps distinguish truly impactful insights from mere interesting facts.

2. Annotation and Sticky Notes: By adding sticky notes to highlighted sections, readers create visual cues that signal important themes and ideas. This physical interaction with the book reinforces memory through tactile engagement.

3. Journaling and Reflection: Eddy emphasizes the importance of journaling about these key passages. Writing reflections encourages deeper cognitive processing, allowing readers to connect new information with personal experiences and existing knowledge.

   “The more you journal about it and think about it, the more that thought or idea from the book is going to sort of be stored in your head.” ([12:15])

4. Application to Daily Life: Applying concepts from the book to real-life situations solidifies understanding and ensures that the information remains relevant and accessible. Whether it’s relating a psychological theory to parenting or integrating a philosophical idea into a personal project, practical application anchors knowledge in long-term memory.

Understanding Memory: From Working to Long-Term

Eddy provides a brief overview of how memory works to contextualize his strategies:

“There's this part of your memory system called working memory where when you grab a new piece of information and you're actively working on it, it's in working memory. The longer you keep it there, the easier it is for your brain to package that up into a nice little cube and ship it off to long-term memory.” ([15:40])

This explanation highlights the significance of active engagement and repetition in transferring information from transient working memory to the more permanent long-term memory.

Practical Tips for Effective Reading

To encapsulate his advice, Eddy offers actionable tips for listeners aiming to enhance their reading retention:

• Revisit and Highlight: After the initial read, go back and mark essential passages without rereading the entire book.
• Use Sticky Notes: Physically mark important sections to create a visual reminder of key ideas.
• Journal Regularly: Write about the highlighted passages to deepen understanding and facilitate connections with other knowledge areas.
• Apply Ideas: Integrate concepts into daily activities to reinforce memory through practical use.

“At the end of your first reading, don’t put it on the bookshelf. Go back to page one, find the most important passages and spend some time with them.” ([18:00])

Conclusion: Cultivating a Lasting Relationship with Books

Eddy wraps up the episode by reinforcing the notion that remembering what you read requires intentional effort and structured practices. By treating books as evolving friendships—marked by continuous interaction and reflection—readers can transform transient reading experiences into enduring sources of knowledge and inspiration.

“Remember to read slowly, take notes, and apply the ideas.” ([25:50])

This mantra encapsulates the essence of his approach: deliberate reading, active engagement, and practical application are the pillars of effective information retention.

Upcoming Initiatives

Towards the end of the episode, Eddy briefly introduces the upcoming season of the Read Well Podcast Book Club, inviting listeners to join discussions on selected books, starting with John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. While promotional in nature, this segment underscores the community aspect of the podcast, encouraging collective exploration and deeper engagement with literature.

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Key Takeaways:

1. Active Engagement: Move beyond passive reading by highlighting, annotating, and reflecting on key passages.
2. Structured Reflection: Journaling helps solidify memory and connect new ideas with existing knowledge.
3. Practical Application: Applying concepts from books to real-life scenarios ensures lasting retention and relevance.
4. Understanding Memory: Leveraging the mechanics of working and long-term memory can enhance how effectively you remember and use what you read.

By implementing these strategies, listeners can transform their reading habits, ensuring that the time invested in books yields lasting knowledge and meaningful insights.

Transcript

[Eddie Hood]

So I've been teaching the art of deep reading on YouTube in my podcast for over two years now. And I think the biggest lesson I've learned is what I'm going to share in today's episode of the Readwell podcast. Last night we were in book club. We were talking about Behave. It's a book by Robert Sapolsky that discusses why we do what we do in terms of neurology and biology and cultural systems and so on. And somebody made the comment of, wow, there's so much good information in here and I'm not going to remember any of it. There's just too much. And I got to thinking about how, or at least what I've learned that helps me to remember the important things that I read. And that's what I'm going to share with you today. Let's get into it. Welcome to this week's episode of the Read well podcast. My name is Eddie Hood and I'm your host where I believe it's more important to read well than to be well read. So grab your favorite book, open up your notes and let's get ready to learn something fascinating. Hey everyone, welcome back to the Readwell podcast. My name is Eddie Hood and I am really excited to be back. It has been a hot minute. First of all, I went on vacation. We were on a cruise. It was great, but about four days in, my 10 year old got sick. And I guess when you put, I don't know, 6,000 people on a boat, somebody's bound to get ill. My child got that sickness and lovingly passed it to me and my wife and the other siblings and so on. So we had to spend the last two days of our cruise crammed mostly in our tiny little cabins, trying to recover. Came home, went to the doctor and I'm still just full of it. So if my voice sounds froggy, I'm sorry, it is not editing. It is not your phone or your tv, your laptop, whatever. I just am sick. So please be patient with that and let's jump into this lesson now. Again, somebody mentioned the comment like I don't know how to remember what it is that I'm reading. You know, as I'm going through the book I'm thinking, wow, this is really great. This is fascinating stuff that behave itself. We just finished it in book club last night and it's a, it's a large book, it's 700ish pages and it's science based material. Luckily, Sapolsky is a very good writer. He's funny, he Makes things accessible and so on. But it's still quite a lot to take in, and there are just hundreds and hundreds of gems. And so it's very normal, I would think, to feel at the end of this book that there's just simply too much to retain. And maybe you can relate to this. Maybe you've read a really great book and thought, wow, this is life changing. And then a week goes by and you're kind of, you know, looking through your book, your bookshelf there, and you come across the book you just read and you think, oh, that was a really good book and you've already forgotten most of it, and this is normal. So let's start with the idea of the open pages of a book. If you're listening to the podcast, I'm holding up Behave, which looks like I just bought it out of the bookstore, except for the wear and tear, because I've been reading it. I'm also holding up my copy of Letters from a Stoic by Seneca. And if I look at those pages, there are lots of little sticky notes or flags sticking out of it. I made the comment last night that reading a book is a lot like meeting a new person and going out to dinner with them. Now, my wife and I have been trying to expand our friend circle lately, which has been really great, but I've been learning some skills there as well. When I go out to dinner with a couple for the first time, they're usually very polite and kind, and you leave going, wow, you know, they were. They were great. That was fun. But that's all I know of them, is that one single experience. And I don't know the quirks. I don't really know what makes them interesting. And it takes a while before you can actually call somebody a friend. You have to go through experiences together. You have to have learning experiences, you have to win some, you have to lose some, and so on. Anyway, a book feels a lot like a friend, really. First time you read a book, it's kind of like going to dinner with that friend for the first time. And you. You go through the pages and you feel very impressed by what's there. You enjoy the experience, hopefully. And when you're done, you put it back on the shelf. And if it's a friend you want to get to know better, what do you typically do in life? You're going to invite them out to dinner again next week, maybe this time at your house instead of theirs. Maybe you'll go to a movie, whatever. So here's how this works. After you read a book the first time through, if you think to yourself, okay, that was a really good book, I liked it. I want to get to know it better. I want to remember the things that were really impressive the first 10 through. Not just to remember them, but I actually want to use some of this information in my life. Well, if you're going to do that, you have to make your book look not like the pages of my behave book because I haven't done this yet. I just finished the first reading last night. But those pages again, there, there are no sticky notes, there are no physical post its sticking out of it. And compare that with the, the Seneca version that does have the notes. And by that what I mean is at the end of the first reading, go back to page one and don't reread it, but just go back and look at all of the passages that you highlighted. And what you're going to find is that many of the passages you found interesting the first time through aren't really that important. They're not that interesting, they're not that needed. And you're going to know the entirety of the book and you'll be able to pick out the passages that really do matter. And for those add a little sticky note and perhaps do some journaling about it and think about that concept. Now the more you journal about it and, and the more you think about it, perhaps you, you go for a walk today and you think about this idea and you sort of relate it to how it applies to your job or raising your kids or another book that you've read or a project you want to start or a project you have started and can't seem to finish whatever it is, right? You try to think about that idea in relation or in context of your life. And the longer you do this, the more that that thought that idea from the book is going to sort of be stored in your head. Cause your brain is a funny thing. There's this part of your memory system called working memory where when you grab a new piece of information and you're actively working on it, it's in working memory. And the longer you keep it there, the more that you play with it, the easier it is for your brain to package that up into a nice little cube and ship it off to long term memory when you're done with it. That's nice because down the road when you think, huh, what was that thing I read in Behave? And you're able to sort of go through the index of long term memory cards and pull it out and you'll be able to use it. So that is the tip is at the end of your first reading, don't put it on the bookshelf. Go back to page one, find the most important passages and spend some time with them. And that is how you remember what you read. Now, if you're thinking about joining us for Book Club, this little segue before we end this episode, we're actually starting season three of the Readwell Podcast Book Club on June 17, 2025 and we're beginning with one of my favorite books, the Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. So if you've been thinking about joining, now is a really great time to do that. You can pick up the [e-mail] I have all of the season three books we'll be reading there, and if you join us, we would love to meet you. We have great discussions every Tuesday night live in a virtual group together. It is absolutely fascinating and enjoyable. So thank you for listening. I hope you got something out of this episode. If you and until next week, as always, remember to read slowly, take notes, and apply the ideas. I'll see you all next time. If you'd like to take your reading to the next level, then head on over to thereadwellpodcast.com there you'll find daily posts on how to read well. You'll also get access to all of my book notes and tools for becoming a better reader. And as always, don't forget to read slowly, take notes and apply the ideas. Thank you for listening to the Read well Podcast.