How do YOU read opening books?

Loads of ways to look at that.

First there's the format. People use books, PGN files, Fritz trainers, chessable, etc. I personally prefer using PGN files of books, because I find it to be the best of both worlds.

Second is the difficulty of the particular book itself. Play the French is meant for quite strong players. I took a look through it before and it was too much for me too. A much better book in that regard for example is "first steps e4 e5" by John Emms. Gives a defence against 1.e4 whilst also teaching good basics about chess. 

Then there's the argument about whether opening books are a sensible thing to be looking at before being quite a strong player. I think they probably are when they come in a games format rather than just a phone directory of lines. More important are things like endgames though.

First I go through the main line of the game. Then I go back and look at the interesting parts and read the text and look at some of the lines the author gives. There is no reason to go through every line of analysis and get overwhelmed. If you don’t read every note and line that doesn’t interest you, that’s ok.

Also, when I was a beginner, going over games of strong players helped me more than opening books.

I’ve never used a book just used YouTube and trail and error

Opening theory sucks don't study it

Well to be honest, Openings are never theoretical in showmanship .

However, you can say I like to stroke the spine first, and then I kind of smell the front pages .

You're asking the wrong question. At your level, the question you should be asking is "Should I be reading opening books yet?" and the answer is a resounding "No". 

Get the book "Logical Chess: Move by Move" by Irving Chernev. He goes through 33 master games and explains the reason for every single move. This will show you some openings, but more importantly, it'll teach you how to improvise in the opening by following good general principles, even if your opponents don't follow the theory. And then it'll teach you how to play with a plan through the middle game.

Save the study of specific opening lines for when you're at least 1500 rated.

I too agree that maybe the opening books are a bit too early for me. I did order that book (Logical Chess)! however I ordered it on ebay and didn't check where its coming from and its coming from the UK Right now I'm working on Silman's amateurs mind as I am 100% an amateur at chess and its proving to be pretty helpful 1 chapter in. I figured I would be done with Silman's book by the time logical chess arrives (late January - late February) and I'll go through that one a bit more swiftly. I definitely understand that opening theory isn't something I should worry about too much as there are much greater things to learn. However I do want to be a strong Club player at some point since I have my whole life to learn and play this game. Chess is to me now what Starcraft 2 used to be to me the most complex and fun games I've ever played 

I studied openings first when I was a beginner. Every chess game starts with the opening. And I improved a lot. I studied strategy books, I had read Silman Amateur when I got stronger. I haven't read Chernev Logical. 

During the first read through I am not looking at theory, just the flow of the game from both sides and sort of making a mental note to read about moves or strategies I don’t understand. I just find it easier to understand the basics of the game before I dive into the notes while the game is still a mystery to me. But you do you, whichever system works for you.

I merely look at the pictures and spell out the words

Hope this helps.

You sicko!

I am a beginner and understand algebraic chess notation. I am reading The Power of Pawns and encountered the move description Bishop d7-e8-g6/h5, which cannot decifer. In the setup for this move, the Queens Bishop was on c8. 

I don't know that book, but it sounds like the author was trying to say that the c8 bishop can be developed over several moves, first to d7, then to e8, and finally to g6 or h5. This is actually a typical maneuver in the French Defense, once black has pushed his f7 pawn to clear the path.

Thank you Fromper, that makes sense.