I take online classes because they require lots of writing and class responses to written questions in the "classroom", etc.

How do you learn best? I would get movies and watch them as you are reading the book, think about differences between the two, why the movie left out a scene or how you would have acted a scene, etc. I would read shorter stuff online and I would take notes in class when others are commenting/answering questions and what the teacher says, etc.

I would kind of outline the plot and learn the details backwards and forwards (which does not necessarily require reading the book straight through, etc.) and just dip into the book at points and see how long before I recognize the scene, think about why the scene is there, etc., in other words, I would "live" whatever book/story while you are studying/reading it.

Look at a comment in a study guide and see if you understand why they said "that" and reword it in your own words and find reasons you don't think it is true as well as other explanations, etc. The biggest reason students get caught not reading a book/only studying published notes is because they do not make what they read "their own", they don't apply it in any way, just take it wholesale and transplant it to their tests/papers as if it is their idea. If you like an idea, you have to reword it so it sounds like you, has your own examples to support it, etc.