Deep Reading Pt. 3: How To Know If A Book Is Worth Your Time

Welcome back to our third instalment of Deep Reading, and today we’ll tackle inspectional reading.

Like we’ve mentioned in the overview, these stages of reading build on one another. Last week’s post on elementary reading is the foundation of inspectional reading, and inspectional reading will carry into analytical reading next week. So, make sure to revisit parts 1 and 2 before reading today’s letter.

If you’re new here, what you’re about to read is a part of our Monday letters for members. These letters will give you in-depth frameworks to transform you from someone who can’t finish a book into a well-read & nuanced thinker.

Your contribution is why A Mug of Insights has been around for nearly 4 years, and if you find the 1-2-Read newsletters valuable, I’m sure you’ll also love all the benefits of a membership.

Mortimer J. Adler’s Reading Framework Pt. 3: The Art of Inspectional Reading

Picture this:

You’re at a bookshop, trying to find something interesting to read. But for some reason, you’re still going from aisle to aisle after an hour.

Yes, you have a few books in your arms, but you want to make sure the blurbs aren't lying to you. After all, you still remember that dusty pile of books under your windowsill. They're solid reminders that just because the cover is cool and the blurb is intriguing, there's no guarantee that the book will be your cup of tea.

But, wouldn’t it be nice if there were a way to know what’s inside before you commit to buying a book? Even better, wouldn’t you love to know the main outline of the book before reading it in depth?

This is what Inspectional Reading is all about.

It turned out that even during Adler’s days, people were already overwhelmed by how much stuff was out there to read. And, given that our focus here is to read with depth and intention, it’s important to determine where we should allocate our limited mental energy.

So, Adler came up with a useful way to see which books are meant to be skimmed, which ones are to be devoured, and which to savour with care and attention. There are two passes to this, and they are: Systematic Skimming and Superficial Reading.

Pass 1: Systematic Skimming

This component of inspectional reading is all about determining whether the book will be worth your time. It’s also about grasping the key ideas of the book in a systematic manner, and the whole process shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes.

Essentially, whenever you pick up a new book from the store, run it through these inspections: