Speed Reading: How To Read 3-5 Times Faster And Become an Effective Learner (Positive Psychology Series Book 6)

I'm quite surprised by the amount of 4 and 5 star ratings for this book. At best the book is just a cursory, verbose and unsubstantiated look at speed reading. At worst, it's something you will pay money for when free apps and blog content go into far more depth.Publishing Quality:The book appears to be self-published and there are numerous poorly constructed (which the author admits to and jokes about), low-resolution graphics. There are even graphics of text-only which the author decided to still use as an image (i.e. low-res) rather than typed (i.e. clear) text.Editing Quality:The book is riddled with mistakes. I'm not even sure whether English is the author's native language. Roughly half the content is written in a broken, choppy and inefficient tone much like you would expect to see from a student fairly advanced in writing English as a second language. Aside from this the text is ripe with examples of verbose language, passive voice, grammatical mistakes and simply constructing sentences poorly. Examples: "While reading, so often you will have to deal with technical terms...", "I remember the times when I used to curl on my bed...", "Do you have an idea of the ways by which you can increase your speed of reading tremendously?" I picked those three just by turning to random pages.Sales and Click-bait Content:Pages 5, 6, 77, 86-99 are a sales pitch for other content by the author. Most of the pitch consists of content descriptions and incentives to visit the author's websites. The author's MO seems to be "gain a cursory knowledge about a topic that's easy to write about in a verbose, subjective and surface-level manner and package it up into a "book."Speed-reading Content:The books is supposed to be about Speed Reading and comes in at exactly 100 pages.Pages 7 - 21 are an introduction, history, debunking myths, environment and preparation. Most of the content that does not involve techniques for speed reading or objective statements otherwise is filled with weak anecdotes and no references to supporting content.Actual techniques do not start until page 22 and stop around page 70. In short, the techniques are to stop articulating words aloud or in your mind, to practice doing this daily and then to try to expand this concept into skipping unnecessary words and reading multiple lines at once. The author provides several exercises, all seemingly made up by the author and without proof or research that the exercises even help to become a better speed reader. None of the content is supported by references. Some things that were particularly disconcerting: the author describes an "exercise that will strengthen muscles inside your eye sockets", another exercise involves tracing the symbol for "infinite" with your eyes, another involves having a friend move objects around your wall in your peripheral vision while you identify object details (no I'm not kidding), and another has a warning to stop if your are getting headaches. Again, none of this content is substantiated with sources and the author does not appear to have any qualifications other than an ability to research content and rehash it.Pages 70 onward are almost laughable as the author discusses the importance of diet, sleeping, focusing and staying hydrated in relation to speed-reading and everything else in life. "Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate" the authors screams. I suppose this content could be appended to the end of every non-fiction book if one needed another 30 pages of content for filler.Overall:This book was a waste of time and money. I hope my review deters others from making the same mistake. Speed-reading is a real and achievable skill. There are many free apps and blog posts that provide far more value than what content the author managed to lump together in this "book."

I’ve always been fascinated (and somewhat jealous) of people who can speed read. It’s like they just devour every page before I’ve completed my first paragraph.Thus, ever since I first came across the concept of speed reading, I’ve been trying to learn it to the best of my abilities. However, it proved to be more of a hassle than I’d thought. Back then, I didn’t have any reference point, no information on how to actually take on this task of learning how to speed read.With that being said, I’m so glad I stumbled upon this book by Tuchovsky. In this book, the author does a marvelous job of conveying everything you need to know in order to learn this amazing ability. Initially, you’ll learn about the history of speed reading and about popular myths surrounding the phenomena. Then the author moves on to address subjects such as how to prepare for this task, how to measure your reading speed, various techniques that are essential, mistakes to avoid, and also special tips for when it comes to speed read on tablets and computers.Moreover, there is an invaluable list of resources at the end of recommended reading for anyone interested in learning how to speed read.A great read!

Comprehensive guide. The authors makes a progressive attempt to cover as much as possible in this guide. As a voracious reader, I am proud of my reading speed by the author has shown me some really amazing tips to increase my reading speed even further.Ofcourse there are numerous books in speed reading and each one of them are different. I am glad I found a lot of new information in this book.Throughout the book, there are a lot of paragraphs that were worth highlighting. There were also links to resources like a couple of youtube videos that will further help a reader to take full advantage of this speed reading guide.Worth the read. I am happy about it.

This book was amazing. Very easy to read, formatted as a guide and well spaced between techniques. Amazing "MSPaint" figures Ian!There is much advice in this book that could be multi-purposed, besides just writing about speed reading, the author also points out great habits that can help anyones personal life, for more purposes than speed reading. Definitely would recommend to anyone looking to improve the quality of their life.I'll be looking forward to reading more from this author!

This is an awesome book. It’s got everything you need to get started at increasing your reading speed. I’ve been doing the exercises religiously and am noticing some marked improvement in my speed and comprehension. Understanding subvocalizing and how it really hampers your speed was a realization for sure. I mean if you say every word in your head you can essentially only read as fast as you can talk!! I also liked the fact that the author goes into how a good diet, proper hydration, and a low-stress lifestyle will keep you mentally sharp and will help in your progress…great holistic advice. So if you want to read faster I’d definitely give this book a chance! It definitely helped me.

I like the author's enthusiasm for his subject and his gift for encouragement. Having his books proof-read would make them easier to read.I've wanted to learn speed reading for a long time, but I realized I don't have the determination to do the exercises he recommends. It's not the book's fault, it's my own.

I increased my reading speed to twice and hope it will increase when I practice the tricks more. This book doesn’t only provide theories it also gives practicals that a reader can practice to increase her speed. I am impressed the way the book has unfolded the tricks and tips that a reader will not lose interest till the end and my advice is, don’t just read the book and leave it. Practice what the author has advised and you will surely get a higher reading speed and in result greater interest in reading.

I enjoyed this; as a dyslexic with not brilliant eyesight I have tended to listen to books more than read them. I have the ability to listen at speed and retain most of what I hear. But this book has triggered a curiosity in me to see if I can begin to speed read with understanding.I read this book today and have downloaded the mindfulness ebook given as a free gift to readers and will start with that one to see how I go using techniques from here.

It felt more like a self help book than a speed reading book. the last 20% of this book are marketing the authors other books. the 15% before that is all self help tips, and the remainder of the book does not have many speed reading exercises. I bought the kindle edition which makes performing some of the exercises very difficult as when you click on the reading text to make it larger its very unclear. saying all that it is (was at the time of purchase) cheap. I would not recommend this book as it doesn't compare well to other speed reading books I have read

I'm currently struggling to read this book as there are so many grammatical mistakes and poorly constructed sentences. There seems to be some good information here but I would suggest the author get an english-speaker to check the writing (maybe not by speed-reading it!) as it come across as unprofessional. (I would quote examples but rightly I can't cut and paste from the Kindle program).

Ian has produced a very compact practical book on speed reading giving you many methods and useful ideas. Covering a wide range of areas although I do feel like some may have been left out, but perfect for a novice like me who wants to consume all the knowledge I can get my hands on. My first and only speed reading book and it did the job very well! Thanks!It would pay for him to slowly proof read the book and sort out a few grammar mistakes and also the presentation of the book could be improved.

Very brief. Has some useful exercises and tips in there. There is a lot of rambling though. It could actually be a lot shorter than it is.