I think that for me the Buendia family tree was the most helpful tool in the reading. I constantly checked it against what I was reading and made sure I remembered who was related to whom and how they were related. I love this book, but it might be easy to get bogged down in it, although that wasn't my experience. Just remember that it's all circular, it directly relates to the history and culture of Latin America, and it's all about magical realism where what is abnormal for the reader is normal for the characters. That's my two cents!