Fortunately, I can still control my eyes :) I think getting familiar with the structure of the book before further reading could help us determine what to read and what to skip. There’s no reason for me not to learn as much as possible from a book just because some parts of it should be skipped.

So far as the synopses being optional—my eye reads where it looks, faster than I can control. Safest for me to avoid Bauer’s book altogether. YMMV.

So I think we can see them as optional. If we find them helpful, we can read them. Otherwise, we can just skip them. And prior to the synopses there are guidelines on how to read each kind of books which I think will be helpful for everyone. Overall, I don’t think it’s fair to say that it’s an evil book just because of the synopses.

Mina,
I agree with you. I’m a beginner myself, so it takes some time to get used to the style. But I believe it’s really well-worth the time.

Stephen,
I personally see these steps as a ‘best practice’ which have been refined by many people over the years. I think it’s good to learn such ‘best practice’ because finding it ourselves will take too much time. But of course, this is just a suggested way to read a book. We can always read a book in whatever way we see fit.