Does anyone here "speed read"?

This is sort of related to my post asking how many books people read at the same time.

I remember back in high school we had a few classes as part of my sophomore English course about how to speed read, but once those classes ended I never bothered with it again. But when I have several books that I want to read (and limited amounts of time) I sometimes wonder if this might be a solution.

The problem is that I like to read - not just reading for the sake of gathering information. And I'm not sure if I would get the same pleasure "skimming" through books.

Anyway, just curious if anyone else has any thoughts (or experience) speed reading.

Thanks -

Tim

Years ago, adult enrichment type thing at the local high school. Got to be pretty good at it, but when I read for pleasure, I take my time. I think it helps reading newspapers, the web and magazine articles, but I take my time with books.

...to get through a ponderous document. But you can't enjoy speed reading for long, and the retention factor is not too good ether.

We had the same discussion in my school and testing. My speed at that time was 300 wpm with a 90% retention rate.

I can push that higher, but if numbers are involved, I get dyslexia.
I like to read theoretical physics books in general, but I tend to read those slower, because I have to backtrack and think about what they are trying to get across. Fiction I cut through that like a hot knife through butter.

I don't buy hardcover books for that reason. I can't see spending 25 bucks for a book I'm going to finish in a few hours. I wait for the paperback version.




My favorite Future Famous Dead Artist: KarenParker

I speed read naturally. Can't help myself.

That is why I rarely buy a book to read it. I buy it for artwork or reference.
I will spend an hour or so at the bookstore,sucking down coffee and read books through at the store.real fast.
What do you expect for a voracious reader to maintain a reading habit while living on 500 bucks a month?
Speed read freely..Hey I reccomend the good ones to my freinds and they can afford to buy it.

as such, but I normally read very fast. I remember being clocked back in 8th grade (when we did a unit designed to raise reading speed and comprehension) at over 500 wpm, with a very high retention rate. Essentially I and about 4 others who tested equally well, were given a pass on doing that unit.

I can skim even faster, but am not as likely to retain much info.

...My family accuse me of both speed reading and having a photographic memory, though neither is true.We all have limited amounts of time,though I have more since I retired.I always read at a "normal" pace-I just did it all through the day or night till I finished the book or had to work a shift....So I read three to five books a week,and books I liked I reread at regular intervals....those probably came closest to "speed reading"-I knew what were my favorite parts and I slowed down and savored them.As for my supposed "photographic memory" which they blame for my success at trivia games,I have merely read more books than they and many multiple times....Reading was always my love-please don't hate me because I'm good at "Jeopardy".....

Sometimes it'll take me a couple of days to a week to read through a book, but I don't speed read, because I like to disect the material. I write in the margins - notes, questions, comments, etc. - and speed reading does not allow for the best comprehension of the material imo.

I bought Bias last week, and I'm almost done with it. I bought The Republican Noise Machine and started it today; I think I'll be done with it by next week, if I don't get distracted.

300-400 page book in 2 to three hours,tops.
Does that count as speed reading? As for the issue comprehension and digestion I digest it in that time too. my thoughts go very fast and in many directions when I am engrossed,I think it could be the hyperfocus thing in ADHD,I dunno.Sometimes I don't even see the words I read, they just are "absorbed".I don't hear the 'inner narrator" anymore either.. but I rest after finishing one type of a book before I start another that is a very similar type of subject,I give it space like a day or so,to decompress and mull it over sometimes if it was profound..I read alot of non fiction.

I would love to be able to read (and comprehend) at that level of speed.

Tim

That is such a perfect description. :thumbsup:

I can't turn it off. It slows me down & I'm not a fast reader anyway!

as well as if I read it for in-depth comprehension.

Some books/articles I can read really fast (if they're light reading) whereas others I have to read more slowly if I really want to comprehend and integrate the information in it. If I merely am interested in getting the gist of a complicated book/article, I read more quickly. But as a result, I don't process the information at as deep of a level and thus, don't have the understanding I would if I read more slowly and carefully, really thinking about what was being said.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my original post...I always find it interesting to hear about other people's reading habits and preferences.

Tim

It taught how to increase speed without diminishing comprehension. I was already a fairly fast reader but wanted to be faster so I took the course and increased my speed without losing comprehension. I normally speed-read on novels and easy non-fiction but slow down a bit on harder non-fiction.

My advice, at least, particularly in the reading of non-fiction. Whatever is worth reading is worth spending some time with. Think of it as the communicated experience of another soul, letting someone into your mind while simultaneously seeing into theirs. Why was it written? What was the basis of understanding that it was written from? How did the personal experience of the writer affect the choices made in presentation? Are there "blind spots", assumptions, errors and ommissions, cultural biases, etc. Speed reading is fine to cram for exams...but the "good stuff", the authors that stay with you and are worth the effort, read them slow.

But with most non-fiction, I sit down with a pencil and paper and take notes as I read. I read non-fiction to learn. Taking notes is part of learning for me. With a library book, which I have to return, I can go back to my notes when I need "ammunition" later on. With books I buy, I tend to highlight which also isn't easy when speed reading.

and i usually read 3 or 4 books at a time but i have never met anyone who could genuinely read a book by speed reading. I have read a lot of speed reading books and they are helpful on fiction but when you read non-fiction you want to retain all of it and not just the story.

I read slowly, intentionally, and when reading non-fiction tend to take notes as I read.

I *can* speed read. I once consumed four very difficult books for a seminar in a single day, and my retention was excellent over the short term. Today, some 6 years later, I'd have trouble coming up with a single sentence summary of those books beyond what the title and memories of the seminar itself suggests, except for one I re-read, slowly, at a later date.