Table of Contents
SUMMARY BOOKS
The best thing about summary books is that they reduce the essential elements of the original book to easily accessible information.
Are you too preoccupied to read every book on your list? Instead, choose a book summary to quickly gain knowledge, prepare for a meeting, or decide whether to purchase the book. Instead of spending six to ten hours reading a single book, you may spend a few minutes to an hour.
Book summaries benefit time-pressed entrepreneurs, busy managers, executives, students, and others.
What are summary books?
To define a book summary, we mean that someone read a book and then created a new product called a summary. A summary is much shorter than the original book and covers the key points made by the author but in the words and sentences of the summary.
A book summary is not plagiarism, nor is it a copycat trying to impersonate the original. Rather, the summary is a new work itself, although it is shorter and credits the original author for the great ideas in it.
Why Should You Read Book Summaries?
People read book summaries to:
- Learn information faster and free up time for other activities.
- In meetings, be informed.
- Make reading lists to help your team grow.
- Motivate yourself to do more and better.
- Succeed in business, life, and school.
In the information age of the Internet, book summaries address our shorter attention spans. Some people today struggle to focus on longer books. We can read more books in less time thanks to book summaries.
What Is the Appropriate Length of a Book Summary?
The ideal length of summary books is determined by reading frequency and goals.
If your goal is to decide whether or not to buy the original book, a few sentences or paragraphs may be all you need to decide if the topic is interesting enough to justify buying the book.
If you want to learn what the author means or the key themes without reading the entire book, a longer summary is best.
Some people want to read a lot but have little time. If your goal is to quickly digest books, focus on a speed reading experience, whether you’re reading, listening to book summaries on a coffee break at work, or using an app between appointments or at home.
What characteristics should the best book summaries have?
Organizing a good summary book is simple. They are easy to read, with few or no images and limited text.
For nonfiction books, the book summary provides an interpretation of the main ideas and themes without the reader having to do all the hard work.
You can get them in various formats. For example, you may prefer to read in electronic or Kindle format, in paperback format, or you may spend a lot of time in your car and need to listen to that information in audiobook format.
Summary books always give you a condensed part of the most interesting and important things the original writer said.
What is the difference between Summary Books and Study Guides?
Study guides or study notes are more elaborate than summary books. The guides, which are primarily aimed at students, aim to add value by providing analysis and study aids. Teachers may also find them useful.
All our books are summary books and, at the same time, study guides. They all include Chapter Analysis, Themes, Symbols & Motifs, and Character Analysis.
Are summary books worth reading?
There are many reasons to read books, but the two most important are probably knowledge and entertainment. Reading is always enjoyed, so part of the reading motivation undoubtedly derives from the latter. However, we often try to select books that we think will be significant. If we were only interested in entertainment, we might stick to milder fiction or abandon reading in favor of film, television, or less strenuous media.
Reading for knowledge is important, but in that case, reading only the summary books is a good idea. Here is the argument:
- Books, like most things, have an uneven distribution of ideas and value. The thesis of a major argument is worth more than the thesis of a minor argument. Without going into so much detail, a summary provides the main thesis and the necessary evidence. Summary books will presumably outperform full books in terms of ideas per hour spent.
- Nobody will read even a small percentage of all books, let alone a significant percentage of truly great books. The marginal value of reading an additional book does not diminish quickly.
If reading a summary book yields a higher concentration of value than reading the full book, it is always preferable to continue reading the summary books.
Discover here our great collection of summary books of the best-selling books internationally