I can skim read almost anything ( Gomez reckons books are wasted on me since I read them so fast) but I only retain that which interests me.With respect to technical stuff, I go through them a sentence at a time with the doohickey in front of me....still can't set the damn VCR though, but that's okay because I have a teenager in the house to whom it actually matters.....and maybe that's why I don't retain it, I know I don't have to?

And books in the bog would make a good thread...and yes, I have Heroic Failures in mine as well as diverse Les Barker's.