I've already read a couple of books, but they were all light reading or straight to the point. Today I started volume 1 of Capital. I read for about 2 hours and I realized I feel like I can't do this; it's very dense and abstract. Are there any habits, thoughts, or other helpful things that keep you focused?
The thing about academic theory books is that they are work of technical writing, not novels. That means you don’t need to read in order from beginning to end. If the introduction seems dull, skip to the chapters that actually get to the point. If you’re not sure where the arguments are going, read the conclusion then go back to see the reasoning behind it in an earlier chapter. There’s no such thing as spoilers, and no need to keep yourself in suspense, so you don’t need to shackle yourself to novel style reading of one page after the next in order. You can jump around back and forth as you like.