---
title: New ways of reading books
date: 2026-01-06T11:03:07+08:00
categories:
  - how-i-do-things
  - llms
tags:
  - book
---

I'm using AI to read books by:

- **Summarizing**. This tells me what the books is about, the key points it makes and the main takeaways. It also helps me decide if I want to dig deeper.
- **Fact-checking**. I can find mistakes, alternate perspectives, and biases. That's a _huge_ win!
- **Re-authoring**. I can write it in the style of Malcolm Gladwell, Randall Munroe, Richard Feynman, or anyone else I like. Makes dense prose much more enjoyable.

So far, I've applied this at different levels - and I'm sure there are more possibilities:

1. **A book**. I can [summarize & fact-check](https://claude.ai/chat/26cd4580-ede9-45e0-909e-2c58946458d1) books like [How Not To Die](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25663961-how-not-to-die) and learn what's really established.
2. **A chapter**. I can turn each chapter of Primo Levi's [The Periodic Table](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/427282.The_Periodic_Table) into a [Randall Munroe article](https://claude.ai/share/298dae77-08ba-4131-9790-7c7490154afe) that makes me laugh.
3. **A sentence**. I can take a single proverb like [忙しいほど幸せ](/blog/the-busier-you-are-the-happier-you-are/) or a [Kural](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kural) like [அடக்கம் அமரருள் உய்க்கும்](/blog/humility-elevates-divinity/) and turn it into an essay that makes me cry.
4. **Multiple books**. I can [compare and fact-check](https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/8e5076f4-84c9-497a-ad38-d5654ae3f3b4) multiple books on the same topic, e.g. [Make It Stick](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18770267-make-it-stick), [A Mind for Numbers](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693655-a-mind-for-numbers), [Ultralearning](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44770129-ultralearning), and [How to Take Smart Notes](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34507927-how-to-take-smart-notes).

But I suspect this is just the beginning. AI opens up [many more reading styles](/blog/prompts/reading-styles/). For example:

- **Reviews over time**. Could we read [Lolita](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9216051-lolita) along with the 1950s interpretation, the 1970s feminist critique, the postcolonial turn, the contemporary reassessment? Understanding how meaning evolves over time?
- **Character story**. Reading just the sub-novel of a single character, e.g. [Hoid](https://coppermind.net/wiki/Hoid) across the [Cosmere](https://coppermind.net/wiki/Cosmere)?
- **AMA with the author**. Interpret what the author might have meant or said, e.g. [What caused the quake in Arelon?](https://chatgpt.com/share/68be4c74-afa8-800c-b004-7a1565cb2487)

We should be mindful that artistry is **not** understanding. Assessing, teaching, applying, debating, ... these are better tests. But accessibility, enjoyment, and novelty are meaningful too. Let's go exploring!

![Calvin & Hobbes: Wow, it really snowed last night! Isn't it wonderful? Everything familiar has disappeared! The world looks brand new! A new year... a fresh, clean start! It's like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on! A day full of possibilities! It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol'd buddy... let's go exploring!](https://picayune.uclick.com/comics/ch/1994/ch941030.gif)