Reading: How do you remember important quotes from books?

[EbookNovice]

Originally Posted by kyteflyer

Wow, I'm impressed. Sometimes I cant even remember what books I read, let alone detail of the content. IOW, I dont remember. Highlighting and screenshotting seems good to me, or if you have a way to export them, even better.

Originally Posted by Geralt

I don't believe him one bit. Not unless he reads 2 books per year.
Probably he remembers the general idea of the content and doesn't care about quotes.

Anyway, I usually just highlight on the copy of the document. Or scribble down stuff, circle a paragraph, things like that. My tablet came with a stylus, so reading a PDF is pretty much the same as reading a paper book in regard to note taking and the bonus is I don't damage the book/document. I usually do this for study. I use ezPDF on my android tablet.
I don't export them, but ezPDF does support that.

Books I read for stories and entertainment I read exclusively on PW2.
Edit: forgot to add.
I don't necessarily consider quotes from novels 'important'. But if I do like some, I usually highlight them on kindle, and if I really really like them, I add them on Goodreads and like them from my Goodreads account.

However, it's safe to say that my favorite quote from Neil Gaiman's American Gods, is not of same importance as something I need to learn to pass an exam or write a paper.

So my question to you is do you need these quotes for study or entertainment?

Thanks for your replies guys! I'll keep doing what I've done recently: Highlight the good paragraphs and screenshot them so I can see the page number if I want to look at it later.

[EbookNovice]

Originally Posted by BookCat

When I did lit at uni, I recorded important passages onto cassette tape and would play these tapes over and over when I was doing stuff like getting ready to go out etc. Eventually, they stuck in my head the way the words of a song do. I suppose the modern equivalent would be to record them onto computer and create an mp3 file to load onto a player or phone.

I'd recommend using the freeware Audacity for this.

Originally Posted by 8andout

When I was at uni, I would take a photo on my smartphone of the relevant page/passage, and also of the copyright page so i could cite it. Often I would do this in the library so I wouldn't have to take the books out and deprive others of them.

Originally Posted by Victoria

I don't find stand-alone quotes meaningful either, and as Xanthe says, maybe it is related to age. If a passage is moving or insightful, I pause and enjoy it. Same with humour - it's part of a whole, and needs the context to be funny. However, I do reread favourite books, so maybe that is a related experience.

I *really * don't understand the e-reader feature that let's you turn on quotes marked by other readers. I can't see how an amalgam of strangers' highlighting could be meaningful.

Alright, thanks for the interesting ideas guys!

[EbookNovice]

Originally Posted by Billi

Because they teach us something about life that we didn't know before? Or they speak out what we've felt since long but couldn't put into proper words? Or are just beautiful or surprising or funny?

If you're interested in quotes you will find many great examples in this thread:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82285

Exactly! Great post brother!

[EbookNovice]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

I go on memory. I enjoy a good turn of phrase, but the only way to tell if it matters to me is to see if I remember it or not. If it really was that important, I'll remember.

Originally Posted by drjenkins

Same here. I don't try to remember "important quotes". I remember "memorable quotes" because they simply stick in my mind.

Originally Posted by V.W. Singer

I don't memorise quotes or mark them. But I remember enough of what I read to remember if something impressed me. If I need to reference it I go back to the book.

Alright, thanks. This is what I'm thinking of doing rather than making highlights and then taking a screenshot so I can look at it later.

Originally Posted by MeSue

I highlight my favorite quotes in Marvin for iPad which syncs them back to a custom field in Calibre, and usually I will also add them to my favorite quotes on Goodreads using a customized search shortcut from the Marvin app.

How do you tell the folder to sync to Calibre?

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

Most of my e-readers allow me to email quotes to myself, which I tend to do. If I can't do that, or if the quote is exceptionally long, I google part of it and look for the entire thing to cut and paste. Years of memorizing quotes have taught me that I often get a word or two wrong unless I copy the quote out first.

I also highlight important quotes, but reformatting and switching devices often makes the exercise pointless.



Harry's question is exactly the sort that drives many English professors mad. A teacher friend was ranting to me the other day about how his students wouldn't stop asking why they had to memorize a poem when they could copy it to their smartphones. "They'll never learn to be eloquent, the inarticulate lemmings!"

Okay, thanks!

[EbookNovice]

Originally Posted by Tarana

My sister is one of those people who can remember quotes. I always thought that was strange. Anyway, I started a book of quotes using a blank book almost 30 years ago. Better than copy and paste since it is immune to upgrades. It is also instantly accessible unless I'm on vacation, which is now rare. I mostly keep humurous or witty quotes. Its what gets me through life.

That's great, thanks for sharing that!

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

It's not necessarily about feeling any more than it is about memorizing another writer's "entire opera." It's about living with certain turns of phrase and modulations of thought until they become a part of your own style and thought.

That's interesting. I never thought about writing in that way before. So, you're saying that memorable writing is like memorable music?

[MeSue]

Originally Posted by EbookNovice

How do you tell the folder to sync to Calibre?

Marvin XD plugin for Calibre syncs all my highlights every time I connect it.

I am hoping eventually Marvin will have a text export for all annotations in its library. Right now it can only export them per book, but for now the Calibre plugin is a decent workaround. Eventually I would like to compile them in some better organized way.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

...how his students wouldn't stop asking why they had to memorize a poem when they could copy it to their smartphones. "They'll never learn to be eloquent, the inarticulate lemmings!"

Does the ability, to have a quote for every situation in life in place, really make one eloquent?
I hate the party guests, who are not able to formulate a thought of their own, but throw in bits of wisdom and some strange anecdotes out of context...
When talking to some people, I often have the feeling all they've ever read is "famous quotes for each occasion" and "human history compressed to 20 pages" and maybe the CliffsNotes of some classics...

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't understand in what way a quote from a book can be "important". Why is it necessary to remember it at all?

I understand where you're coming from.
I rarely use the quote feature.
Only exception:
I've read "the richest man of Babylon" a few weeks ago.
Basically, it's a guideline how to "get rich" in less than 10 steps.
For example "save 10% of your income, no matter how big or small".
I've used the quote features for the headlines and some key points.
Not to quote them in some obscure dialog.
But to get back to the essence of the book in maybe 6 months and quickly re-grasp the concept.
And here actually the quote feature on Kindle Paperwhite was quite handy. I see all the quotes in a single document, instead of scrolling through the original book.
Kind of my self-generated CliffsNotes...

I could use the highlight feature, but I find the highlights less comfortable to manage.
I could use the bookmark feature, but then I'd have to go back to the original book, instead of having all quotes from numerous books in a single place.