*** > What's The best way to turn any book into a Second Brain of insights that you can grab off the shelf at any time? > >Book-reading influencer [Alex & Books](https://alexandbooks.com/) walks us through his note-taking method for physical books (hardcover or paperback) ### How to capture book notes? By creating your own custom table of contents inside the cover As you read the book, when you find something interesting such as subjects, ideas or observations you found most impactful, then do the following: - Highlight it. - Go back to the front cover of the book, then write down the page number and why you found that interesting (preferable, in a single line). > [!INFO] > As you are reading the book, you are taking down the lessons and then organizing them. The book become the notes themselves. ### What to do when you finish the book? [[Distill (find the essence) | Distill]] the information. On the inside of the back cover, write down your interpretation, which is how you're going to apply those lessons: - What lessons did I find important - What did I want to apply that I haven't yet applied Write down the date you start the book (on the front cover) and the date you finished (on the back cover). > [!INFO] > You can have a snapshot of who you were and what you found valuable > at that time. You could reread it, jumping around based on your custom table of contents. ### When to take book notes (and when not to)? Wait till you finish the page, before you start highlighting, otherwise you kind of find everything interesting. If you don't want to break the reading flow, then you can also bookmark the page, or put a mark (a start, for instance) next to it. Once you finish the chapter, take a few minutes just to write it down quickly ### How to take your physical notes digital? Wait a few days to cool off, then go back to it and revisit the back cover, where it's the lessons and actionable advice. Try to find three lessons and three pieces of actionable advice, that are worthy to turn into a [[What a Knowledge asset is | knowledge asset]], then [[Organize (save for actionability) | organize]] them in your [[Building a Second Brain | second brain vault]]. *** **References**: - [Taking Book Notes (How to Start)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fES9ZrLXY9s)