A reading practice I've found useful for the last two years: after I finish a book, I write three sentences — not a review, just the three things I most want to remember. I do this immediately, before I've read anything about the book or talked about it with anyone. The sentences capture the first impression before it's shaped by other people's thinking.

This practice has taught me that my first impressions are often quite different from my considered opinions. Books I thought were important on finishing sometimes don't hold up in memory. Books I thought were minor turn out to be the ones I keep thinking about.

The three sentences also serve as prompts for discussion. When I bring a book to a group, I read my sentences aloud before anything else. The sentences are idiosyncratic enough that they almost always generate productive disagreement.