How do you read textbooks?

Part 1 (2020)
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I don’t know if it is just me, but the moment I have to read a textbook my ability to learn plummets to zero. Usually what I do instead is look at the major concepts, and then just look for explanations online in blog posts or such, combing through materials until it is “easy”. Don’t get me wrong, fastai’s book is one of the easier ones I have ever read, but I am still having issues with reading it.

I can read textbooks if I do a questions first approach, such as go to the end of the chapter, find the questions and then search to find the answers.

Generally I have never worried about this in the past, but does anyone have any tips on reading a textbook the “right” way? I am saying this as someone who went to university and did fairly well.

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I think your question reminds me of my problem in reading a book. When I used to read textbooks, I tried to directly read it. Later on, I realized that’s a very inefficient way. Almost all ML books focus on some key concepts, and I think “looking at the major concepts and looking for easy explanations” is a fantastic way! And how to know what’s the key concepts? One way is to do solve problems. With questions in mind, people can directly tell which part of the book is related to the question. There is no “right” way to read a book. What matters is to really “learn” something and have fun!