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Review I was going to write a proper review of this book but I've forgotten what I wanted to say.
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Reading notes This is kind of a mash-up book, science and self-help. I usually dislike self-help books but this one was interesting because it wasn't going on about mnemonic training but how to make a memory in the first place (rather than forgetting) and how to optimise studying to fit in with how the brain works. I hope I remember the advice :-)

Short-term memory is stored in the hippocampus, should you treat this organ badly - too much stress bathes it in cortisol and not enough sleep are both very bad - then your short term memory is shot. But if you treat it well and still forget where your keys are it's because you didn't form the memory to begin with.

To form a memory you need to pay attention or else do something habitually. Attention and repetition are key. If you always put your keys in the same place, habituation will have formed a long-term memory, if you put them in different places all the time and have to hunt for them (my son does this) then you need to put your keys down and commit to memory (or your phone) exactly where they are rather than dumping them and moving on.

The best way of studying is to study, self test, have a nap. Repeat, endlessly. Self-testing is another form of repetition and sleep is when the hippocampus clears out and its short term memories moved out to the neurons that buzz around remembering things. The author's husband worked out a very effective way of studying, it might be worth trying.

Study, self-test, have a cup of coffee, have a 20 minute nap. The self-testing and napping both help with making the material a (more permanent) memory, and the caffeine which takes 25 minutes to process will have you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed eager and able to start studying again.

It's a good book, in part because the author is very relateable and hints at a possibly misspent youth (always a plus, one tends to think of scientists as having been nerdy), and also writes very well. It's not a 5 star book, there's not enough either depth or anecdotes, but it is good and I think that just as the author has written some 5 star books - Still Alice in the genre she invented - neurological novels, she will write some top-notch non-fiction in the future.
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Notes on Reading or the art of the freebie as promotion (view spoiler)[When I wrote this, the book has been out 5 days, and looks like a major hit, but is it? The 4.49 stars, from 194 ratings and 155 reviews are ALL with the possible exception of up to 10 ratings/couple of reviews are freebies. They might all be 'honest' and they might all be not, I don't know yet, but I always find such an overt marketing scheme to persuade you the book is FABULOUS and WORTH SPENDING $$$ on kind of offputting.

However, I liked a couple of Lisa Genova's novels and since she is a scientist first, I am interested to read a science book from her not framed as a story, so we will see how this is. (hide spoiler)]