Fast Way to Read a Book

These are some of the methods that can help you to read books quickly.

For books with facts, try this method:

Mental Mindset:

- You're a detective. You're finding clues and extracting information. You need to use your mind as a weapon.

- You're not hunting for every word, but ideas. 

- Every book has one or several ideas, and a lot of filler material.

- Ignore the fluff and get to the meat (or for vegans, ignore the meat and get to the tofu and vegetables) 

Focus:

Know what you're looking for first before you start.

Questions: 

- Read them first.

The 5 W's and How 

- Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How

- The basis of every question. 

Key Areas and Locations:

The Back Cover: 

- Gives a taste of what the book is about.

Table of Contents: 

- It's the bare skeleton of the entire book. 

- Read this to know what topics the book covers. 

- If you find the main idea, read this chapter first if possible

First Chapter:

-It'll tell you what the book is about

-Sometimes summarizes all the other chapters in the book.

First and Last Paragraph of Every Chapter: 

- You'll get a snippet of what the entire Chapter generally talks about. 

Skimming each Chapter:

Speed: 

- Use a pen or finger to trace quickly through the text. 

- The eye can latch onto the speed of it and quickly keep moving.

Key Words: 

- For each sentence and paragraph, pick out the important words, not every word. 

"The girl ate delicious hard candy," would be "girl ate candy."

People, Dates, and Places:

- Remember these are important.

- Give yourself more time to remember these.

Get the Idea:

- After every page or few pages, recall what you remember. 

- Go back and poke at the Key Words in the chapter if you need to.

For books with stories, try this method:

Mental Mindset:

You are either a part of the play of characters, or watching as the audience. Use your eyes to look into their world, and visualize it. Usually you have to read stories from start to finish since they contain a chain of events.

Focus:
- The Timeline, World, and Characters.
- Character beliefs and attitudes.
- Challenges.
- Lessons.

Speed:
- Trace the book as you read, so your eyes can follow the movement.
- The language and ways of writing are usually more elaborate and creative.
- Slow down for comprehension (or if you really like the writing).
- Speed up for easier text (or skim through uninteresting parts, take the idea, and keep going).

Listening:
- Audiobooks and Text-to-Speech programs are good for this.
- More attention and less distraction.
- Go faster than normal speed.
- Keeps you going so you're less likely to back track.