Book · 2014
Make It Stick
by Peter C. Brown
Three cognitive psychologists spend a decade in the lab proving your rereading habit is a waste of time and testing yourself is what actually works.
What does Reddit think of Make It Stick?
Five recognized mentions across three subreddits isn't much traffic, but the excerpts on display are unusually aligned on what the book is actually about. r/getdisciplined's top comment (↑37) makes the retrieval-practice argument almost word for word, that rereading is one of the great learning myths and recalling material before you look at it again works better, without naming Peter Brown or the book anywhere in what's shown. The next r/getdisciplined comment (↑33) does name it directly, pointing readers to Make It Stick as the source for that same claim. r/productivity's single mention (↑25) calls it a summary of what the research on learning says, credited to Brown by name. r/booksuggestions adds two lower-upvoted mentions (↑3, ↑2), one calling it explicitly "a great read." Nobody here argues about the book's substance; the small disagreement, if there is one, is that a lot of what people credit to the book they'd absorbed already without knowing where it came from.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Retrieval practice beats rereading
- · Spaced and interleaved practice over massed cramming
- · The findings travel in study-tips threads before the book gets credited
- · A small but consistent footprint across productivity and discipline subreddits
Common praise
- + r/productivity's top mention (↑25) calls it a straight summary of what the learning research actually says, not a self-help gloss on it.
- + r/getdisciplined's highest-upvoted comment (↑37) makes the book's central claim, that rereading is a myth, before the book itself ever gets named.
- + r/booksuggestions' shortest mention (↑3) just says it's "a great read" and links straight to the page.
Common criticism
- − Five mentions is too small a sample to separate the book's specific arguments from generic study-tips consensus that predates it.
- − The highest-upvoted comment in the sample (↑37) never names the book at all, so its endorsement has to be inferred, not read directly.
- − None of the displayed excerpts mention a chapter, example, or specific study from the book, so what's here reads closer to 'the idea it's known for' than a review of it.
Who it's for
Cramming the night before an exam and wondering why it never sticks? This is the book behind advice you've probably already half-absorbed from a study-tips thread. r/productivity treats it as a research summary rather than a motivational read, so approach it that way instead of expecting a narrative. Want the technique without the book? r/getdisciplined's top comment (↑37) gives you the retrieval-practice argument in three sentences and never mentions the author. Committing to the actual text mostly buys you the underlying studies, not a different conclusion.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Make It Stick?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“Repetition is actually one of the most ineffective ways to learn, it’s one of the great myths of learning. Doing things like recalling it before you reread and putting it in your own words is more effective This is a really cool topic and worth looking into if you’re a student. The “learning how to…
“A good book to read on this topic is 'Make it stick' The Science of Successful Learning. The book talks about the process of learning with …
“I highly recommend the book ***Make it Stick***, which summarizes what the research on learning says. It's by Peter Brown. There are summaries of it on youtube which may be enough information.
“I've read *Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning*, a book that explains what science knows about learning efficiently. It's a great read. [](
“Make It Stick
Convinced? Pick up Make It Stick
What else does r/booksuggestions read?
Other books mentioned in the same sub, ranked. Shared-sub overlap with this title breaks ties.
Make It Stick — frequently asked
Does Make It Stick actually say anything new about studying?+
Not obviously, based on what's shown here. The highest-upvoted excerpt in the sample (r/getdisciplined, ↑37) states the book's central claim, that rereading is one of the great learning myths and active recall works better, without mentioning the book by name at all. That suggests the idea had already spread past the source. The book's actual contribution, per r/productivity (↑25), is compiling the research behind that claim.
Who recommends Make It Stick on Reddit?+
r/getdisciplined and r/productivity carry the highest-upvoted mentions, both crediting Peter Brown by name and describing the book as a synthesis of learning research rather than a productivity manifesto. r/booksuggestions adds two lower-upvoted mentions, one of which just calls it "a great read" with a link. All five recognized mentions in this data agree on what the book is; none contest it.
Is Make It Stick worth reading if you already know about retrieval practice?+
The data can't answer that directly, no excerpt compares reading the book to already knowing the concept. What it does show is that the idea travels well without the book attached: r/getdisciplined's top comment (↑37) makes the same argument without naming Brown or the title anywhere in what's shown. If you already have the concept down, the book's value here looks like the underlying studies, not a new conclusion.
Is Make It Stick the same advice as spaced-repetition apps?+
Overlapping, but not identical based on what's here. The excerpts describe active recall and putting material in your own words rather than flashcard scheduling specifically, r/getdisciplined's top comment (↑37) frames it as a study habit, not an app feature. None of the five mentions in this data name a specific spaced-repetition tool, so the book and the apps look related in principle but aren't treated as interchangeable in this sample.