# How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler

12 Hacker News commenters recommended How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a practical guide to reading nonfiction and getting more out of books, with some readers finding it repetitive and less useful for certain types of books.

## Why people recommend it

- Practical reading tips and tricks (3 comments): "an excellent and practical introduction to reading these books" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46218186)) "it was such a useful guide for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46224514)) "taught me a lot of tricks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48963343))
- Favorite classic everyone should read (3 comments): "His How to read a book was an attempt at filling in the gap. It's one of my favorite books." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48885698)) "I strongly urge you to read How to Read a Book (by Adler & Doren)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49478636)) "a classic that everyone should read" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49152868))
- Works well for nonfiction (2 comments): "I use Mortimer's system for non-fiction works, which is where it makes the most sense." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48963737)) "Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book addresses most of the first three questions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48885121))

## What people warn about

- Not useful for every book type (1 comments): "in practice ... it's not very useful for the types of book I read" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48963675))
- Repetitive and too long (1 comments): "it is quite repetitive and filled with unnecessary volume" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48885726))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Mindstorms by Seymour Papert](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mindstorms.md): 7 recommend
- [Make It Stick by Brown, Roediger and McDaniel](https://hackerapproved.com/p/make-it-stick.md): 2 recommend
- [The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto](https://hackerapproved.com/p/underground-history-of-american-education.md): 2 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671212095?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780671212094) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler", https://hackerapproved.com/p/how-to-read-a-book/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).