When I recommend a book to clients, I encourage them to read it three times.
First, read it through as you would any book.
When you have finished reading it the first time, immediately turn back to page one and read it through again. Only this time, study the book like you were in graduate school and your entire grade was based on how well you know the material. Get out your highlighters, take notes, look up the references and endnotes. (I usually take my books to Kinko’s and have the spine sliced off the book and holes punched in it for a three ring binder. That way I can place my notes in the binder where they make the most sense to me.)
Having read it through twice, put it on a shelf for 6 to 9 months. Then read it through a third and final time. You will be amazed at what you get out of this third reading.
(Bibliotherapy is the use of books in therapy.)