How do I organize my readings

I have tried a variety of ways to organize the learnings from my readings (be it books, long web articles, research papers) from using a python script to save my Kindle highlights to Notion to generating granular & personalized summaries using LLMs. After so much trial and error, I have settled with a setup that works great for me. This setup relies extensively on open-source tools and I think this could work for anyone.

What devices do I use for reading?

Windows Laptop, Android Phone, Android eink tablet (Boox Go 10.5)

Which software do I use?

For reading:

In computer, I use Zotero's inbuilt reader. I think it's the best.
In my eink tablet, I use Boox's inbuilt pdf reader that is Neo Reader.

For document management:

I use Zotero for maintaining all the references and also storing the files. Zotero Connector is a browser extension that makes it super convenient to copy the articles and pdfs from browser to Zotero. Zotero on their free plan have 300 mb free storage but if that's too less for you, you can use any of the webdav services as storage for Zotero that provides for generous free plans (I use Koofr).

For notes:

I use Obsidian for note taking. Further, I have also connected my Obsidian and Zotero to import my annotations from Zotero using the Obsidian Zotero Integration plugin. This is helps in maintaining all the notes in a single place for quick and easy reference.

Why do I prefer an Android eink tablet over a Kindle?

I used my Kindle for around 9 years before I switched to Boox and my Kindle still works great. I got Boox mainly for writing and taking notes. But since I started using Boox also for reading, I haven't touched my Kindle at all (sorry kindle 🙈). I find the reading experience in my Boox superior to Kindle especially because of the more versatile annotation capabilities that is afforded with the pen usage. Further, the Android ecosystem makes it so easy to customize the reading system to my exact needs since I can easily connect to so many open source apps such as Zotero and Obsidian.
Also, unlike Kindle there's no lock-in and the flexibility of .md files in Obsidian also allows one to easily move between services and allows one to leverage the latest technologies more flexibly.

What's my reading flow?

flowchart TD
find_reading[Find a reading] --> add_zotero[Add to Zotero]
add_zotero --> decide_device{Reading Length}
decide_device --> |Short Reading| laptop[Read with Zotero's reader in the laptop & take notes in an Obsidian note]
decide_device --> |Long Reading| boox[Download the reading to Boox with Zotero app]
boox --> boox_read[Read with Boox's Neo Reader and take notes in an Obsidian note]
boox_read --> import_ann[Import the book from Boox back to Zotero to import the annotations]
import_ann --> import_ann_ob[Import the annotations from Zotero to the Obsidian notes]
laptop --> import_ann_ob

Why not an iPad or normal Android tablet?

Eink is so much better for the eyes. There's a very big eink community on reddit for more info.

Where do I get my readings from?

I get access to most of my readings including digital books through my university library. But even if you don't have an university account, there are so many other good options to get your pdfs and epubs from. Recently I bought a book from https://bookshop.org/. Unlike Amazon, this service is DRM-free -- meaning that the the buyer gets to own the digital copy of the book and can read it with any service.

Why did I give up on the LLM book summarization?

My goal to try using LLMs for summarizing books for being able to make the reference process more efficient. I thought I could get to the relevant chapters quicker if I have their summaries. But I was missing something important in this process -- the practice of recalling that helps in making the ideas more concrete and connected in our brains. I think forcing myself to make more annotations and taking notes is helping with absorbing the reading more than simply relying on the LLMs for summarizing the text. Using Zotero and Obsidian also helps me create cool notes like this that I can show off :P