Should you read book summaries instead of whole books?

Book summaries, summary apps and videos as a substitute for or filter before reading.

Axis: summaries are enough … read the whole book

Answers by date: 9 records in 6 sources, newest first; the answers above are the current ones. shift and revise mean the advice changed; tension — speakers disagree.

date	who	answer	source
2021-10-03	Ali	shift: Ali sees reading a book summary, on Shortform, Blinkist or a blog post on Medium, as no different from reading the book, since it gives the main idea; if he enjoys the summary, he gets the book on Audible or Kindle and reads it properly.	How to ‘Read’ 1000 Books a Year 00:07:03
2021-10-03	Ali	When he feels really productive, Ali reads Shortform's detailed chapter summaries in its mobile app, which he says is basically reading the book at 10x speed with zero fluff.	How to ‘Read’ 1000 Books a Year 00:03:53
2021-10-03	Ali	To decide whether to read a book properly, Ali reads its one-page Shortform summary: if he likes it, the book goes further down the funnel; if not, it is scrapped, its key ideas already taken.	How to ‘Read’ 1000 Books a Year 00:01:27
2021-07-23	Ali	Ali read Why We Sleep properly once and now revisits its points through the Shortform summary, his favourite way to read book summaries.	12 Evidence Based Tips to Improve Your Sleep 00:02:55
2021-07-11	Ali	Ali reads a book's Shortform summary to decide whether to read the book, and to revisit the ideas of books he has read, such as Deep Work or The 4-Hour Workweek, instead of rereading them.	How I ONLY Work 4 Hours a Day - How to Stay Focused 00:04:54
2021-03-28	Ali	Ali uses Shortform in addition to reading books, not instead: when unsure whether to read a book he reads its Shortform summary, and if he likes it he reads the book.	My Favourite iPhone Apps 00:06:11
2021-02-14	Ali	Before reading a new book, Ali often reads its Shortform summary first, so that he starts with a big-picture idea of what the whole book is about.	The Book That MOST Changed My Life 00:17:26
2021-02-14	Ali	Ali warns that reading a summary of a book is no substitute for reading the book itself.	The Book That MOST Changed My Life 00:16:56