Rating: 
Summary: Same old, same old
Review: After reading all the reviews, I was eager to get this book. All the blurbs suggested a new approach. This is the old Evelyn Wood system of hand scanning repackaged, where you use a crutch (finger, pencil, etc) to increase your speed. The trouble is that such a method actually slows down your progress in the long run. I wish I had known this was just another hand-scanning methodology. I'd have passed on it. I liked "Triple Your Reading Speed" by Wade Cutler better.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book for Any Professional or Student
Review: As a professional programmer, engineer and physicist, I have to do a great deal of technical reading in order to keep current in my fields. As a result of doing the Power Reading course as laid out in the book, I have greatly increased my ability to read faster and comprehend more. It has been a tremendous benefit in my work and professional life. I highly and enthusiastically recommend Power Reading to any professional or student.
Rating:
Summary: As a librarian, I highly recommend it!
Review: As a teacher, parent and librarian with 20 years of experience in libraries, I highly recommend Power Reading and want to let librarians, teachers, parents and students know about this valuable reading and research resource and opportunity. I personally have experienced a reading speed increase of more than 65%. And, I have doubled the amount of books I can read and review! Professionals as well as students will benefit from the 30-day course that is logically laid out with 10 minutes a day of reading and 5 minutes of practice using materials from the reader's school or work. Just think what a difference even fifteen minutes a day of effective reading could do! Then add to it the techniques for reading different types of materials, better comprehension and retention and study. Chapter 25 includes the best explanation of research I have ever read. And the CD really helps! What makes Power Reading better than its competition is that it includes much more than just speedreading techniques. For example, it concentrates on comprehension improvement first. Most importantly, it hopes to educate our young people and citizens to read and understand more to help them make a difference in our world. Power Reading works and I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Good advice- too wordy
Review: Before I go on, let me just say that I _do_ think Ostrov's "Power Reading" system works. This book is full of good, practical advice, and sets demanding but realistic goals for people who want how to learn faster. I am around 2 weeks into the program (I am doing it slowly, so actual time has been longer), and do feel that it is helping me. My problem with the book is that it could easily be summarized into a book 1/4 of its size. It seems that about 70% of the book is made up of Ostrov's admonishments to stick with the course, to follow his directions faithfully, etc. etc. Another 15% is spend explaining Ostrov's explanations for _why_ his system works. The actual methodology of "Power Reading" and the drills needed to develop it could probably fit onto a large folding circular, though this obviously wouldn't be commercially viable. So in any case, you are getting about three quarters pitch and simplified science, and one quarter methodology. Even some of the bits about methodology seem a bit unnecessary. For instance, Ostrov has a section on "how to read newspapers and periodicals" which exorts the reader to "read between the lines" when reading newspaper articles for comprehension. He even has a section on how to read emails and memos! I honestly don't think that stuff like this is necessary. In all honesty, I cannot blame Ostrov for writing his book like this. This is in essence a self-improvement course written in book form, and from what little I know about self-improvement courses, a major component of them seems to involve inspiring faith and confidence in those who are taking the course. This book follows that model. If it was only a few pages long, it wouldn't be commercially viable, and a lot of people would likely dissmiss Ostrov's system, which is both simple and elegant. In short, based entirely on consumer interest, I would say you should ... read it straight, take notes summarizing the methodoly and drills, and follow Ostrov's course over the timeline that he lays out. If you accept on faith that the system works, then it won't be necessary to look back at the majority of this book. If you have money to spare, and simply want to make sure Ostrov gets his due, then by all means buy the book.
Rating: 
Summary: It worked, but did I need the book?
Review: First of all, this book did help me read faster. I have always been a fairly slow reader but now I am able to control my speed more easily. However, everything I learned from this book could have been summed up in two instructions:
1. Always use your finger or the end of a pen to guide your eyes by pointing it under the words you are reading. (This really helps to make you conscious of the speed at which you are reading, which is surprisingly important.)
2. Every day, read something you chose for 10 minutes at your normal speed and mark where you started and finished. Then try reading that exact same passage in 5 minutes. (This will help you get used to reading faster than you would normally be comfortable with.)
That's it! That's all you need to know. If you buy this book, you will get those two VERY useful pieces of instruction along with 192 pages of poorly written fluff and common knowledge.
An example of fluff: all of Chapter 8 is devoted to telling the reader that he/she can use a pen or a pencil to guide his/her reading instead of his/her finger. Instead of spending one sentence telling the reader this, HE USES AN ENTIRE CHAPTER. How could he fill up an entire chapter about this? Good question. He uses sentences like these to fill up this useless chapter: "I prefer to use a ballpoint pen or a mechanical pencil with the tip retracted. You don't want to mark up your book needlessly or carelessly: they're much too valuable." Despite it being obvious that you don't want to draw on your book when you're using your pen to guide your eyes along the text, he feels the need to reiterate three paragraphs later: "Remember, don't mark up the material, because it can make later reading difficult for you or someone else."
[...]Take heart, though, I suggest you save your time and money by following the two steps above. It turns out those two steps are all you need to have "The Best Course on Speadreading and Comprehension Improvement Ever Developed!"
Rating:
Summary: I enthusiastically recommend Power Reading
Review: I am extremely pleased with the results I got from this reading course. When I began the course, my goals were in terms of 1) Comprehension: to maintain or slightly improve the level of my comprehension, 2) Speed: to double my speed while maintaining the level of my comprehension, 3) Other: to be able to comprehend a vast variety of technical or arcane materials. During the mid-course exam, I was reading 125% faster. As I finished the course, I felt comfortable not only with the absolute increase but also with the now excellent level of my comprehension. The most striking thing about this course, I think, is the recognition that one can read - or one can read more effectively. I could compare it to brushing your teeth: everyone does it, somewhat at least, but some people know how to clean their teeth more effectively than others. This reading course has given me both the understanding of the mechanisms as well as the tools (the use of the regulator, for example) to determine at which level of speed and comprehension I chose to read. Power Reading is well organized, easy to read. Having been in the educational business for quite some time, it amazes me how little emphasis educators put on a basic skill such as reading. But this will change, of course, since I will implement Power Reading in my teaching. I will not rely on elementary school teachers to improve students' reading skills, or hope that some Freshmen English instructor picks up the slack. This semester, I teach a course on "Women in Antiquity" in which each student has to read and review one scholarly book. Before the end of this semester, I will have incorporated Power Reading in my teaching so that my students become power readers who have a choice at which speed or comprehension level they read. I enthusiastically recommend Power Reading to any teacher or student.
Rating:
Summary: This is super stuff!
Review: I had gone through umpteen books on speed reading before laying my hands on this one. Recently, i completed the "Norman Lewis reading and comprehension course" 'n boy...was i disappointed. I began at 250 wpm and finished at 260. I completely lost hope that i could ever push my reading speed beyond 260 words pm. I always wondered how could people read at 800 or 1000 wpm. Was it really possible for a book or course to make a person read at this level or was it just a gimmick to sell stuff?? This book has changed my whole preception of speed reading and comprehension. This book is basically a 4 week course. I've already completed 2 weeks and am cruising around 500 to 550 words per minute with super comprehension and guess what?? the best part is yet to come!
Rating:
Summary: This is super stuff!
Review: I had gone through umpteen books on speed reading before laying my hands on this one. Recently, i completed the "Norman Lewis reading and comprehension course" 'n boy...was i disappointed. I began at 250 wpm and finished at 260. I completely lost hope that i could ever push my reading speed beyond 260 words pm. I always wondered how could people read at 800 or 1000 wpm. Was it really possible for a book or course to make a person read at this level or was it just a gimmick to sell stuff?? This book has changed my whole preception of speed reading and comprehension. This book is basically a 4 week course. I've already completed 2 weeks and am cruising around 500 to 550 words per minute with super comprehension and guess what?? the best part is yet to come!
Rating:
Summary: This book has helped dramatically
Review: I hate all those books with the insane claims about reading a page in a few seconds. This is not one of those. It is realistic, but still very easy to read and use. At the test in the middle of the book, my reading speed was exactly doubled, and I was comprehending everything that I had before. If you are looking to improve your reading speed or understanding, buy this book, although you might want to go for the one without the countdown timing CD.
Rating:
Summary: Why did I wait so long?
Review: I have been meaning to try something that would improve my reading speed/comprehension and am I glad that I did! I purchased this book, read it, and did the exercises. My reading speed went up from 239 to 385 words per minute. And my comprehension got better. I wish I had done this course many years ago since it was so easy and straightforward.
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