How to read Technical Books

Often I struggled to keep my interest in reading technical books for more than half hour.. sometime I loose interest in 15 mins.. unless if the subject is what I am currently working on or when I am trying to find a solution for a problem I am stuck with. During these times I can read for many hours tirelessly till I find a solution.

So searching for a good way to read.. I found the following two comments by somebody.. so I am quoting it here..

Technique to read

(ref: http://ask.metafilter.com/136021/How-can-I-learn-to-read-technical-documents, brainwane)

Technology is an ecology. It's a bunch of moving parts that fit together -- sometimes well, sometimes badly. Neal Stephenson said that learning Unix is more like learning anatomy than like learning physics, and I find that true of technical learning in general.

To summarize: Skim first, really fast, for the headings/subheadings. Draw an anatomy, a diagram of all the parts and how they fit together. Imagine yourself in a conversation with the author. What questions would you ask if you were in a one-on-one conversation with her, or if you were trying to implement or use that technology? Then skim for the answer, annotate your diagram, and think up the next question. What's the usual flow of information through all these components? What's enforcing the rules, and what's pushing the data through the system? What are possible attacks or failure points? And what defenses are built in to resist or recover from attacks or failures?

With any skill, there's theory and there's practice. You're obviously just fine at the practice part, since you learn by doing. If you're trying to learn a new technical subject, make up problems for yourself, or get books that have a lot of practice exercises (like, every other page). Learning a skill isn't like memorizing history.

And since you learn through conversation, as you learn a new subject, try teaching it to someone else. In my experience, coworkers are fine with me taking up a few minutes of their time with "I need to explain this to someone else to make sure I understand it myself," followed by whiteboarding and chatter. Or get a study buddy with whom you can discuss the material topic-by-topic.

Learn to Stop

(ref: http://ask.metafilter.com/136021/How-can-I-learn-to-read-technical-documents, grumblebee )

I've learned to STOP reading BEFORE my brain starts fogging over. If that tends to happen after ten minutes, I stop reading after eight minutes. If I keep reading into the fog -- or, worse, try to push through it -- the fog gets even thicker the next time. In fact, there may not be a next time. I probably won't return to the book because I associate it with fog and frustration.

I use a similar technique when I write prose and program code. I quit when I'm still alert, and I quit in the middle of a

...sentence or statement. That makes it easier to jump back in next time. It leaves me with a cliffhanger. My brain WANTS to resolve it. And I don't associate writing or programming with fog. I associate it with something that I always have to quit too soon.

I've found that the fog is a very reliable message from my brain telling me to STOP. Actually, it's telling me that I should have stopped earlier, and that I'm now doing damage. It sucks if I "have to" get a chapter read that night. Too bad. I need to quit anyway. Continuing is counter-productive. Whether I "need" to keep reading or not, I simply can't force my brain to work beyond its limits. Similarly, you may "need" to carry a heavy box up the stairs, but if your muscles are completely fatigued, you won't be able to. And you'll probably injure yourself if you try. And you'll definitely associate heavy boxes with pain from then on.

The good news is that if you quit while you're ahead, you'll find that you can gradually read for longer and longer periods. Your brain starts trusting you not to fatigue it.

I think it also helps to have various materials at easy reach. There are about five subjects I want to learn over the next year. One of them is Functional Programming. It's tough, and the fog descends pretty fast. But I have about ten different books lying around my apartment. Every once in a while, I pick one up and read a couple of pages. No pressure. Then I quit for a week or two. I find that my brain gradually warms up to the subject.