I question the value of services like Blinkist. If you reduce a book to a five minute gist, what does the reader gain? Maybe a "huh, neat" at best. What is remembered? Are there any lasting takeaways? Padding popsci nonfiction with anecdotes is as old as the genre itself. Comprehension requires time and variety, and all those stories and asides can help reinforce and round out the message.

If you're just looking for the point or thesis of one of these books to satisfy your curiosity, you obviously don't need to bother with however many hundreds of pages there might be, especially if you view reading as a chore.