Dear coders, how do you read books?

There is just no way I can imagine that can help us gain more knowledge but to read a book. Reading is surely more important than practising problems. An effective way to read a book is, however, still mysterious to me. I have tried my best to read some books like Introduction to Algorithm, the 4 volumes of The Art of Computer Programming and some more. The result is always "IT RETURNS NOTHING".

My reading process can be summarised as follow: Firstly, I open the book, read the Table of Contents and the Introduction. Then I come to the first chapter, read word by word to understand the motivation and situation in every sentence. After the first page, I am extremely energetic. After the second page, I feel that the situation in each sentence is no longer interesting and the motivation inside it is decreasing (So is my motivation). After no more than 10 pages, I feel extremely sleepy. I then drop the book, go to sleep and come back to it later. However, I recognise that I have forgotten everything I have read, which means I can never finish a book.

How about you guys? Have you ever been in a similar situation? If yes, what have you done to overcome it? Maybe you think I am just inborn lazy, and maybe it is really true :)). I, however, really want to read more and more. If you know a way, please tell me. I am really curious about the way great people read books.

Thank you very much.