Remember what you read

Highlighting feels like learning and mostly isn't — the memory forms when you restate. A reading note forces the restatement: one note per book, article, or paper, built around your words rather than the author's.

The source-first pattern

Start with the citation (title, author, where to find it again), then capture two or three quotes that carry the argument — with page or location markers you will thank yourself for later. Then the important part: a section in your own words, written with the source closed if you can manage it. Finish by linking outward: which project, question, or existing note does this inform? A reading note with no outbound links is a dead end; one link makes it part of your thinking.

A worked example

An article on spaced repetition might yield: citation plus link; one quote on the testing effect; your own paragraph — "recall beats re-reading; schedule the second pass, don't just save the tab"; and links to [[Exam prep]] and [[Reading list]]. Months later the quote is context but your paragraph is still the useful part — that asymmetry is the whole point.

Reading is not research

One source, deeply understood, is a reading note. Many sources, argued into a conclusion, belong in research notes. Keep the boundary: when a reading note starts sprouting comparisons with three other sources, promote the synthesis outward and leave the reading note about its source.

Keep what you keep

Reading notes compound — a hundred of them is a personal reference shelf. Export the keepers as .md periodically; Markdown files open anywhere, forever. Tag by topic so the shelf stays browsable, and let search do the rest.

Open this template in Typehall

Open this template in Typehall — it creates a new Reading notes note with citation, quote, and takeaway sections ready. Nothing is overwritten; your existing notes stay exactly as they are.

Open the notepad and take notes on the next thing you read instead of just highlighting it.