Ok. Where to start? This book is basically a self-paced six-week course, which I completed in the last three months and a half. I embraced the book fully, deciding to always follow its instructions and do all exercises to the best of my ability.
A small Speed Reading FAQ:
A note: when referring to hand movements, I mean a certain pattern that you do with your finger on top of the page of texts, which your eyes follow.
1) Is it REALLY the same as reading?
A) Yes and no. Reading is actually a far more complicated skill than most people believe. What do you consider reading? Speaking every word to yourself? Understanding all of the ideas of the book? Well, depending on your definition, the answer to this question will vary greatly. In short: no, a lot of speed reading isn't really what you traditionally think of as reading.
2) Well, then what the hell is speed reading?
A) You can expect "traditional reading" up to about 800 words per minute (WPM), probably a bit less. This involves linear hand and eye movements (hand movements are a crucial component of speed reading), going from one word to the next and next, then the next line and the one after that. Beyond that, you will probably have to use non-linear reading hand movements: paragraphing, the famous z-movement and criss-crossing. These types of hand movements focus a lot more on grasping the concepts behind a text rather than actually "reading" word-by-word. These hand movements don't have an upper limit, and could theoretically be used for speeds of 6000WPM or more (assuming you could handle such rates).
3) Well, thats nice, but I actually like to enjoy reading. Speed reading would ruin it for me, wouldn't it?
A) Hey, just because you know speed reading doesn't mean you have to use it for every single text you ever encounter. You can always adjust your rate to your reading purpose. I wouldn't speed read a lot of literary texts. However, we spend so much time reading, from emails to studying, that speed reading is too valuable of a skill to ignore completely. Personally, a lot of my reading is non-fiction, and don't tend to read such books for the authors' literary prowess.
------------------------
This is an excellent book. You can progress at your own pace and determine how much you actually want to practice or read (I recommend the chapters in the last two weeks, especially for students). It helped me improve a peak rate of 265WPM in easy texts to about 1000WPM with excellent comprehension, and about 1200WPM with good comprehension. This book really has changed my life. In a heavy day of leisurely reading, I could expect to read about 100 pages of an average book prior to taking this course, now I could easily read a book or two a day. For example, towards the end of the course, I read 170 pages of Hannah Tinti's The Good Thief in 45 minutes.
But do keep in mind that this is not an "easy" course. I spent a total of about 70 hours doing speed reading exercises over the last four months. This is a hands on book, and it will require practice for you to increase your own speeds.
I recommend this book to everyone who, well, reads. Its uses are so diverse and effective that I feel this review and a mere 5 stars will never do it justice.