السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته احسن الله اليك I personally want to memorize mutoon because I feel like it will be a good way for me to retain knowledge. So given this, what books from the academy & in general would you recommend. Because I don't think ppl do like manhaj al salikin cuz of length.

What do you mean? Yes, people do memorize Manhaj al-Salikin. Manhaj al-Salikin is very beneficial to memorize as it is easy and short. If you want, you can also memorize the 40 Nawawi Hadith and Umdat al-Ahkam. These are extremely important. If you don't want to memorize Manhaj al-Salikin, then memorize Umdat al-Ahkam instead. What you can concentrate on is Kitab al-Tawheed, but without the issues (the Masa'il), because those are easily forgotten. I actually know one of the sheikhs who said that he memorized them and then forgot all of it. meaning the Masa'il. I would also recommend: 1. Al-Aqida al-Wasitiyya 2. If you want to memorize something in Mustalah al-Hadith, you should memorize Al-Bayquniyya or Nukhbat al-Fikar.