Speed reading is like going to a museum and power walking past the works of art. Completely pointless and no fun.

If you really like a book, it's like eating a delicious dessert. You're not going to pump it, you're going to take it slow and enjoy it.

About our time overall, Thomas Ligotti has a great line: “in the end, we all use our time the same way: all up.”

I used a 50 pages a day for 50 days reading challenge to start the process of turning my self into a reader. Just completed it yesterday September 17 2026 having read 2947 pages and a total of 10 books. Today I will be starting a new challenge to read 90 minutes a day for 90 days. 30 minutes to a nonfiction book and 60 minutes to a fiction book.thanks for the inspiration to become a more active reader.

30,000 words per minute is laughable. That means he's claiming he could read The Hunger Games in 3 mins 20 seconds. There's a term for that, A GODDAMN LIAR!

There’s certainly a sweet spot. Too slow and I begin to have trouble visualizing entire scenes or my mind will wander. It took me a long time to realize I just needed to speed things up to improve comprehension.

I also find in a long book series I can read much faster by the 3rd book. I guess because I’ve picked up on the author’s style and idiosyncrasies (e.g. Nynaeve’s braid tugging in WoT ceases to be multiple words and can be instantly recognized).

33:48 Pausing! When you mentioned pausing it reminded me of how I enjoy falling asleep while I’m reading.  I’m serious. Not joking. Falling asleep is something I enjoy doing while reading. And falling asleep does constitute a pause. And then I wake up still holding the book at the correct page. The dream state adds to the enjoyment of the book. Reading can be great for falling asleep, as opposed to looking at your device which will keep you awake. That’s how relaxing and enjoyable reading out of a real paper and ink book can be.

Your Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows example really shows why speed is not everything. Much of the pleasure of reading comes from the way it fills out time and the other things that share the same window of time. The cup of hot chocolate enjoyed with a book. The lazy days of a childhood summer, when you could read for hours and not worry. The people who shared the reading experience with you. There is more to reading than just reading.

Understanding trumps all.

I am happy to be a slow reader now. I found speed reading very useful and practical at work but it did make it difficult to switch that off when reading at home, which impaired my comprehension and enjoyment.

My goal is to read one paragraph at a time. And when I start with that mindset, I end up reading more. Maybe sometimes one sentence at a time. Meaning I am not thinking about how long the book is. I want to dwell in each idea. Live there. Before moving onto the next. And that can make things slow at first. But then things start to speed up. Or appear to speed up—get faster. But, as you said, speed is not the goal. But what I am thinking is, if I start slow, things seem to go faster, a few pages down the road. But I am not making speed my goal. But on the other hand, since I consider myself to be a slow reader, I’m happy that my pace is increasing.

I don't understand speed reading. But some people read faster so it seems like they read more than others. I personally think it all relief in if you like reading and if you are reading what you like. It's gonna take longer if you find the book boring or don't like it. A lot of DNFs will make it seem like you're not reading much, either. Just read what you like at your own pace and read what you like/how you like.

This was one of the reasons I stepped back. I rushed through Project Gutenberg because I wanted a base of knowledge.  I get obsessed easily, so my answer to OCD is to step back.
I’m now in a safe place. I don’t want to gobble. I want to absorb.

Steve Donoghue reaction incoming!

Thanks for making such a great point!

I've only been able to read one book without subvocalizing, and I think it was a combination of several factors. The first was that I'd been trying with very limited success for several years already, the second was that I had just started learning a language with a different alphabet than English and noticed that I instantly recognized these new words without having had time to subvocalize them, and the third was that I was reading a book that started strong and then flopped, so I decided to try to read it without subvocalizing and because I cared so little about what happened or what I remembered, I was able to just let go and do it.

The strangest thing was that as I read that book, with no words in my head, I was both understanding everything that was going on and having an incredibly intense vision of every single scene like a movie in my head, and my imagination is almost never that intense while I'm reading, and I finished the book (350 pages or so) in something like three hours. It is possible, and it was an intense experience that felt completely wrong at first, but I haven't been able to do it again, I think mainly because even after having experienced it, I still can't convince myself I'll actually remember what I've read.

I've never thought seriously  about reading faster but i find a straight edge helps me focus.

I have a confession. I’ve taken a speed-reading course from a book I bought a while back, now before you start throwing stuff at me know that on some level it helps to get the gist of things faster, especially info dumps and textbooks however with fiction, especially fiction you are right Randy. You don’t enjoy it. I tried speed reading The Neverending Story and while I remember some things, I missed a lot. When I listened to the audio version I picked up on a lot more detail. Now I want to read the book again slowly and with feeling.

Excellent video Randy! I need to apply all of these ideas. This should be taught in elementary school when learning to read.  I wish I found this 40 years ago! Cheers man!

The main thing I noticed when going faster is that the highs and lows of the story beats were shaved off.  I lost emotional depth.

Great topic!