I don't learn well from books

Just going with the title... I don't do well with books. Over the years I have tried to learn what I can from various books that I have bought or been given but unless I actually try to use the knowledge it just doesn't stick very well. Take JavaScript for example. I can't tell you how many JavaScript books I have read and yet when I sit down to work on something its like I have no idea what I am doing all over again. Over time my prophecency returns and I am not totally in the dark but the deeper understanding (what I bought the book for in the first place) never arives. I maintain a basic knowledge of various subjects like PHP, MySQL, and Javascript that I have to resurect anytime I try to use them. Its simple, unless I am working on something that involves these skills I don't learn anything. And this is my problem. For the past several years I have read countless articles on Ruby. I even bought a Python book. Two languages that I have a real interest in, but I don't have a clue how to go about actively trying to learn them. I am hesitant to got the book route becuase I just don't think it will be successful. Anyone else have this problem? How have you learned? I think I should just sit down and make of a list of stuff to program and then try do to it in each language. Then again this route may cause me to miss something important. Any suggestions? Any lists of basic apps you created while learning?