Cover Image: Speed Reading

Speed Reading

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Member Reviews

I enjoyed the tips in this book. As a fast reader, I was fascinated by the author's explanation about how we process reading. I had trouble with the visual range/peripheral vision exercises and definitely want to practice more. I found space reading to be successful for me. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to give speed reading a try!

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I found this book about Speed Reading very useful, as it is full of really interesting tips and techniques which can help us to train ourselves to read faster and have better memory and comprehension of what we are reading. The author says that if we practice these techniques then we can easily read a 200 page book in 1 hour. I am not at that stage, but I have been able to read faster since reading the book. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

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Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

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I have always been a speed reader. I really enjoyed learning more about comprehending and retaining more from speed reading. It was really interesting.

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Too many books and not enough time? Kam Knight explains the tools and tricks you need to begin speed reading. With short chapters and practice exercises, Knight teaches you how to retrain your brain to read faster without sacrificing your reading comprehension. Although I'm a naturally fast reader, I would love to be able to read even faster. Knight's book was a perfect explanation of how to read faster - usually by focusing on space or chunks of text and removing sub-vocalization. His methods definitely work and I could see an immediate improvement. Unfortunately, the book won't automatically make you a speed reader - you have to actually practice the skills over time.

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I read a lot of books, so reading a book about speed reading seemed like the perfect idea. We can all learn something about reading techniques, and this book shows exactly that.

This book shows you exactly how to improve your reading speed, which will help you to read even more books.

In this book, there are some very good tips to improve your reading speed.

Everyone should give this book a read. No matter whether you read every day or every once in awhile, this book will help you to improve your reading speed and your enjoyment as you read.

It will, of course, take some time to imply and learn these skills, but they truly help.

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Speed reading is one of the subjects, where research is widely done and the skill itself is explained and broken down for you as a person who is trying to learn a new skill but requires very serious internal work and restructuring of already existing cognitive structures.
Unfortunately, this book as others I read on a subject, helped me personally to skim and not internally rebuilt by cognitive structure to really speed read without compromising quality and value of information, but that is a totally my problem and does not mean it will not help whoever is trying to do speed reading.

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The book is hands-down the best collection of speed reading tips and methods I have come across. It mentions some famous techniques while including original content, and it is split into small digestible chunks with exercises and advice. This is the only book you need to read about speed reading.

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A toolkit to help us learn more efficiently in the information age

There are some useful techniques in here but no short cuts. New skills take time to learn and you have to invest time in the practise drills to acquire them. We’re all different and some things may work for you while others don’t but you can mix and match to suit yourself and try different things over time. You may also find that different techniques or combinations work better for you with different types of reading materials so some trial and error may be involved in getting the best result for you.

I was given this book from the author via netgalley only for the pleasure of reading and leaving an honest review should I choose to.

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As a avid reader and reviewer this was a great tool for me. This is a great asset for teachers and students alike.

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Rating 3.5 stars

It's an interesting book and has helped me somewhat change how I approach text/reading, though I know it will take me a long time to retrain myself to read in these new ways as the brain wants to read in a conventional way all the time!

I received this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

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Pros: helpful tips to improve speed reading. It provides drills/exercises to implement what you are learning in each chapter. Easy to understand.

Cons: more exercises with questions and answers would be beneficial to test comprehension.


I would recommend this book because I genuinely think that if you follow the instructions you will reach your goals. It’s a very short book with clearly structured chapters. You really can’t go wrong if you buy this title.

Fun and entertaining book that encourages any person of any age to improve reading and comprehension while studying or reading while in the train or plane.

Long lasting skills for life. Fast delivery and it reads well. Congratulations to the author! I am sure many people will learn new tips and others will refresh old knowledge. In both cases, this is done effectively and in a lightweight manner.

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An interesting read with lots of hints and tips for increasing reading speed. I'm a fast reader anyway, so don't feel I benefited hugely from this, but I did enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you NetGalley for a look at this book. I wasn’t really sure as to what to expect from this book. I was mainly curious if it would give more ideas on how to speed read. It is set up into sections with drills. It did refresh some of what I was taught in school many years ago. I liked the comprehension section, I find that many times I gloss over and don’t fully comprehend. This helped.

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Do you want to learn speed reading?
Then - speaking from personal experience - this book is the perfect introduction!

DID YOU KNOW THAT ...

… EVERYONE CAN LEARN SPEED READING ?

Some people assume that speed reading is hard to master and thus not within their reach.
With just a few interesting examples Kam Knight shows us that our eyes and mind process information at a high level on a daily basis and thus already have the ability to read fast.
Becoming aware of this, helped me to gain confidence in the many tips given throughout the book.
And it's true when he states that:


… SPEED READING IS ABOUT MAKING SLIGHT SHIFTS IN YOUR READING HABITS ?

The key to speed reading is adopting new habits that speed you up, while reducing habits that slow you down.

There's only one catch: old habits can be hard to break.
Even when a behavior isn’t working and a better way exists, habits will make it difficult to apply.
That's why this book contains practice drills, which involve repeating a routine over and over again, until the body develops a rhythm and habit for it.

Learning new habits is much easier.
Some of the discussed strategies are applicable without much effort and their effect is immediately noticeable.


… PEOPLE FALSELY ASSUME THAT SLOWER READING MEANS BETTER COMPREHENSION ?

That may be true in some cases, but in most cases, the factors causing slower reading also cause lower comprehension.
As a child we learned to read word by word.
But by making simple shifts in the way you look at words – such as looking at spaces, chunking and reducing the habit of subvocalization - you can speed up your rate significantly. And even when you're reading faster than is comfortable, you can still grasp the meaning. To see this for yourself, you can take a look at my <a href="https://world-of-tau.blogspot.com/2021/11/speed-reading.html">blog article</a>.


… WE FORGET UP TO 80 PERCENT OF WHAT WE HEAR, SEE OR LEARN WITHIN A FEW HOURS OF HEARING, SEEING OR LEARNING IT ?

This applies to reading as well.
Kam Knight gives several interestings tips to avoid this phenomenon.

In fact, he gives lots of advice about several topics.
This book contains 5 sections (pre-reading, speed reading techniques, enhancing the techniques, improving comprehension and additional tips) and every section contains 3 chapters that delve deeper into specific subjects.
The presentation is very to-the-point which is why this book is pretty concise in comparison to similar books. But that's also the reason why it resonates with me: no superfluous blablabla, only interesting and hands-on information.


… YOU CAN ENHANCE YOUR CURRENT READING SPEED WITHIN MINUTES OF READING SOME OF THE CHAPTERS ?

This proved to be true in my case. And apparently lots of other reviewers had the same experience.

At a certain point Kam Knight says: "With commitment, there is no doubt that you will develop the ability to read a 200+ page book in one hour!"
The key words in this phrase are "with commitment".
Some people expect to be able to read at an incredible speed just by reading this book. As mentioned earlier, you'll have to break old habits and this takes time and perseverance. So don't expect to immediately read a 200+ page book in one hour.

But if you're prepared to practice a lot, I'm convinced that there's plenty of room for continuous improvement.
And what nicer way to do so than reading lots of books of your 'to be read'-list?
At least, that's my plan for the coming winter months 😉


*Thanks to NetGalley, Kam Knight and MindLily.com for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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This was an interesting read. I don't remember where I read it, but the only "speed reading" tip I knew was to read the first and last sentence of each paragraph. As I have way too many books on my TBR, I thought this might give me some great tips.

This book breaks down the different types of texts that you may be reading, and whether or not speed reading will work for it - for example, textbooks vs pleasure reading. As 99% of my reading is for pleasure, speed reading would not work. I still read on to see what was said.

Each chapter breaks down a different method to help you speed read. It gives you practice tips and examples of text to understand how to do it. While it was not easy for me to catch on to, as with anything in life it will be easier with the more practice that I do.

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As I found myself starting to be swamped by university assignments and reading list, I asked myself "Is there a way to read all this material faster, without forgetting everything the second I look away?".

This is what led me to this book. If I have to be honest, I didn't find the groundbreaking techniques I was hoping and looking for. It might be because I picked up the right reading style with the passing of years. Despite this, I still think this is a great book for those who don't really have any type of technique while reading or are starting highschool and want/have to read faster to keep up with all subjects.

I appreciated the neat structure of the book, which started with pre-reading activities and ended with activities meant to help retain the material. Other two elements that struck me positively were the practice drills and the fact that comprehension wasn't completely set aside.

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Practical book which explains about the benefits of spped reading, situations which you can use and then how to use it. This book has picked up most of the major researches done in speed reading and combined it into a single place where you can read it, the practice drill at the end of every chapter was very helpful and a good summary on the 'How To' part. The book emphazises on helping people pick up more than a word in a single glance and has provided usefull practices to follow to improve on this.
Its a decent enough book to read, recommended for students and professionals alike, it will at least offer you a new perspective on those who would want to either improve on their reading speed or on their reading comprehension.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me an opportunity to 'speed read' through the book in exchange for my honest feedback.

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An very interesting read that is filled with lots of tips and exercises to help build memory skills. I am already a very fast reader but was interested in any building skills that can help push me more. I did enjoy the exercises in the book and will continue using and practicing them.

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I picked up this book in the hope that I would learn something about speed reading. Speed reading can be useful in many situations. Professionally, when I read articles or research papers, I would like to go through them faster. The same applies when I read for fun. It would be nice to read faster so that I can read more books!

Kam Knight brings a not-too-long book about speed reading and shares some techniques and tips that will help you understand it better. The book is made with research behind the techniques and concept of speed reading. You can practice the art of speed reading by following the advice and tips given by the author. There are also some exercises that you can practice.

The book has exceeded my expectations and has taught me one or two things that I will remember. I recommend it for people who are interested in the concept of speed reading, and for those who read a lot, for work or as a hobby. This book can be useful to learn how to read faster and more!

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