The Student Room Group

Skim the whole book or thoroughly read part of the book?

When reading a book, especially one that you want to include in your personal statement, would it be alright if I just read a chapter that I am really interested in or would it be a better idea to lightly read the whole book?
Blurb usually does it. Funny how I stressed about it just like you because people on TSR talk rubbish about how serious it is. Don't worry. Just have a rough idea of what it is about. It is more important to have one key/vital point about the book that is relevant to your chosen subject.
(edited 5 years ago)
It would be better to read the whole book because you may get asked questions about anything.
Personally, I would thoroughly read the whole book.

If you go to the extent of writing it in your personal statement, interviewers could ask you about it and will expect you to have been really interested in it. Many people will reread any books they’ve mentioned in their application so they have a really good knowledge of it and fresh ideas.

If you really don’t want to do that, you could skim the whole book AND thoroughly read the section you’re interested in.
Reply 4
Both. Skim enough to get the gist and then if there was anything that stuck out to you go back and read the chapter you're interested in.
Reply 5
I skimmed and thoroughly read parts of the books i read. I didnt have any interviews though so i wasnt really worried about getting asked about any of them but make sure you know generally what the book is about and read bits of all of it.

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