How do you read books?

[u/NK_Grimm]

One of the best tips for writers is to read. And that's a general advice, if you wanna do X, nothing's better than seeing X being done. But I wonder, is reading for leisure enough? Or do you actually stop and try to understand what makes the author's writing work that you could implement on your own?

I most often read for leisure. Sometimes I do get struck with "oh this is cool" in terms of writing and take a mental note out of it, but I never stop reading just to scrutinize a paragraph or two.

Sometimes I also get the opposite, "I don't really like this." Not that I deem it bad writing. I'm in no place to judge other writers, but they just fall opposite to what I feel is better or my style of doing it, for what it's worth.

[u/TheFirstLanguage]

The best way to get better at writing is to write. If you like to read, or you feel the need to study a concept, go for it, but reading is not going to make you a writer, no more than watching the NBA is going to make you a basketball player.