Teach Yourself Speed Reading

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive book on speed reading
Review: I found this book to be the most insightful and comprehensive book on the topic of speed reading that I have ever read. The author advocates a 5 step process for reading that will have you reading more quickly and effectively in no time. She addresses points in a clear and concise manner that other authors on the topic glaze over, and there are several exercises throughout the book to help you solidify your new skills.

Most authors on the topic jump right into the mechanics of speed reading and focus on increasing the number of words per minute you can absorb, Tina Konstant addresses the true goal of speed reading: processing and retaining information more quickly. She gives clear advice on how you can improve your memory, concentration and vocabulary. These necessary skills are just as important to speed reading as the techniques on which other authors focus.

The one area where I think this book could use some more "meat" is in the study skills section. For a good read on how to use the skills you learn from this book in your education, refer to the Evelyn Woods 7 Day Speed Reading book. However, in terms of general "how to" on speed reading and retention, I could not recommend a better book than Konstant's. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Misleading and Ineffective
Review: I purchased this book because the book I wanted was out of print (Speed Reading by Robert Zorn) and because this book was written recently. I figured I would give this unrated book a shot.

Well after reading the book for a day I realized it was not what I was looking for. This book instead of focusing on the subject of speed-reading decided to spend time on irrelevant topics.

To show my point here is the table of contents:

(1) Introduction (2) The Five-Step Reading System (3) Speed Reading (4) Developing your Vocabulary (5) Concentration (6) Memory (7) A Book is a Book is a Book (Reasons for reading books) (8) Your eyes and effective reading (9) Distractions and Solutions (10) Real World Reading (11) Working and studying for a living (12) Useful information

Notice how there is only one or maybe two chapters that focus on speed reading. There has to be at most only 30 pages of Speed Reading information... but that is a generous estimate. Also the methods Konstant teaches are ineffective and vague. She promotes the use of a pacer in the reading process, which is a bad ineffective method to gain speed in reading.

If you are interested in learning to speed-read then I suggest you pick up Robert Zorn's Speed Reading. Since the book is out of print you might need to do some searching in order to find it.

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive book on speed reading
Review: I read this book and found it to be very insightful. While there IS only a small portion of the book focused on the specific topic of technique, the author does a good job of pointing out that there is more to speed reading than eye-hand movements. Memory, concentration, and vocabulary drive not only how quickly you can read, but also whether you will remember the content.

I have read several books on this topic, and this book is the best by far at defining not only the HOW of speed reading, but all of the related disciplines required to make your reading time more effective. I highly recommend this book.