Another way to "read" nonfiction books

I read two books yesterday – and by “read” I mean that I picked through these two books only to get the kind of information that I needed from them. I did not read these books from beginning to end. I didn’t start at the beginning and read each and every page until the last one. No, I perused the table of contents in one or just paged through the other one to get to where I would find the information which I got these books for. I have zero interest in learning how to kayak or how to make maple syrup in the woods, so I didn’t read those parts of those books. I did, however, want to know a thing or two about first aid in the woods, hiking essentials, the types of oil lamps, how to clean and gut a fish, how to build a campfire and how to find your way in the woods if you get lost. Oh, and the recipe for the oatmeal cookies was a nice plus! But I didn’t want to read about how to ride in a canoe or climb a mountain, and I didn’t really wanna know how to build an outhouse in the woods or how to build a dock.

This was an entirely different reading experience for me. Usually, with a nonfiction book, I’ll read it from beginning to end. But I have noticed there are some books that I don’t really need to read from beginning to end. Gray’s Anatomy comes to mind, as does one of the many Guinness Book of World Records books that I have. I go through these books only to read what I want to know, what I need to learn about and what I am interested in.

I suppose with certain nonfiction books, like a history book or a biography, it makes sense to read it from beginning to end. But with other nonfiction books – say, a reference book – I could understand only reading the parts of the book that one would want to learn something from.

And, you know, I’m totally fine with this. I don’t REALLY know, however, that I can actually say, “Yeah, I read that book.” Because, technically, I didn’t really “read” it. I only used it to get the information (or a recipe!) that I wanted in that book. So, in a way, I guess the better thing to say would be, “Yeah, I’m done with that book.” Because now that I have gotten the info that I need from them, I don’t need the books anymore. I MIGHT need to read up again about how to clean and gut a fish (though I think it’s better to learn that sort of thing in person and not from a book) or how to create a temporary shelter in the woods, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, these being library books, they will need to be returned to the library. I don’t need to read all that information again. I am satisfied that I have read enough about those topics for now.