u/Deep_Fisherman6655

Hello guys,

I have started the habit of reading books more consistently from three years ago and for a very long time I was dealing with a BIG problem.

I mostly like to read self-improvement and psychological books such as (48 laws of power, Originals, How Not To Be Wrong, etc) and my goal from these books was to improve my daily life. But unfortunately I noticed that about one or two months after reading the books, I can't remember much from them 😞. This was very sad as I felt like either I am stupid or reading the books is useless.

Does anyone else having the same problem or I am really stupid?

Hello,

I am a 22yo undergrad and started to read more books (mostly self-improvement ones) since 2022. My main goal from reading these books is to be able to use what I learn from them later in life but there is a problem!

I recently figured out that about a month or two after I read them, I can't recall most of the topics I read in these books which was very disappointing!

Does anyone else has the same problem or I am alone????

I was wondering if you guys have any other technique to remember them? A technique that actually works? Not like read the whole book again and again 😂 (too time consuming)

Hey everyone,

I'm a 22yo CS undergrad at UWaterloo with a pretty hectic schedule. Back in 2022, I started reading heavily to improve different areas of my life (productivity, finance, psychology). But I noticed a frustrating pattern: a month after finishing a book, I couldn't remember most of the core takeaways.

Re-reading took too long, and I never actually went back to look at my physical notes.

To solve this for myself, I built a side project called Bochord. It’s a lightweight app where I log my reading notes, and it pushes a couple of my own custom takeaways back to my phone as daily notifications. Using spaced repetition this way has actually kept the concepts fresh in my mind.

I recently integrated an LLM API to help parse key points from different angles based on user interests, and added an auto-summarizer for audiobooks.

I just released the base app for free on iOS to get some real-world feedback. As my first public side project, I’d love to hear what you think—especially regarding the UI or any features you think a reading retention tool is missing.

(Note: The base app/manual notes are free, but the AI features hit an external API so they require a subscription after a trial period to cover token costs).