I am a quick reader. I read an awful lot of books per year yet my TBR pile never seems to go down (and my NetGalley percentage never seems to go up). I saw the title of this book and how it could teach me to read a 200 page book in one hour and my curiosity was heightened.
Some of the techniques that are taught in this book are really impressive and when you try them out you see that Kam Knight, the author, is on to something. For me, I found reading between the spaces to be the best technique and I am going to practise that one much more.

Speed Reading is definitely worth reading and giving a go. I plan to and hopefully my TBR pile will decrease.

Speed Reading - Learn to Read a 200+ Page Book in 1 Hour by Kam Knight is available now.

A simple, informative, and well structured guide, complete with easy to remember tricks and tips, combined with simple, yet effective tasks or drills to embed the learning and change in reading habits.

I always thought I could read quickly, but now I know even I can improve and am doing so every day. A must for anyone serious about reading quickly and retaining/comprehending more of what they have read.

Truly full of tips and techniques on how to read faster and more effectively! I never knew about some of them and some are really fascinating such as looking at the spaces in between the words rather than at the words themselves.

I’m not sure I have mastered any of the ways yet but it would be worthwhile to go through the book more slowly this time and try every one of the drills.

A short read that is to the point. The book discusses the main 3 techniques to increase you reading seed; space reading, chunking and removing sub vocalization. It also presents practices to enhance these techniques such as avoiding fixation and regression and increasing the visual range. It also covers other tips regarding previewing methods, reading for main topics, eye health tips and other comprehension tips.
I have found the book and the practices easy to follow. But the to master speed reading, this will take time and a lot of practice.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, I wasn’t expecting much but this book really impressed me and I’m sure it will begin to help with my reading speed.

I’ve tried books like this before and never really found them useful but this one really seemed like it is going to work and help become a faster reader

*a big thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing an arc copy in exchange for an honest review *

I love books, so the idea of learning to speed read seemed like a great idea. I mean, I'd be able to read even more books, and who wouldn't love that, right? I am happy to say that Kam Knight's book does indeed lay out some very clear, easy to follow instructions on how to increase your reading speed. And at the end of each chapter you're given short practice drills, encouraging you to put into action these new skills. Does it work? Yes, I can definitely say what he proposes can and will work for many people. And for some it may be quite simple to pick up and use immediately, while for others, such as myself, it may take a bit longer as I still have some old habits to break, I looking at you sub vocalization! I will say when I put my mind to it and really concentrated on following Knight's instructions there is no question I was reading faster. I definitely wish I'd learned some of these techniques when I was younger. I can definitely see how this would have helped out while in school. I am sure with more practice the act of speed reading will get easier.

I always say it's best to let people form an opinion for themselves and enjoy the process. So please know that in giving this book 1 star, I have some serious reasons. If I hadn't been given an "ARC" from NetGalley, I wouldn't even review it. However, I've agreed to, so here we go.

It's not an ARC as it was self-published in 2018, but is being promoted by BooksGoSocial (a paid book promotion service), so perhaps the author is looking to republish. Regardless, it's only a quick read, and with some of the techniques mentioned, even quicker.

That's the thing, see. It's true that some of the techniques covered can be very helpful. It's certainly down to the reader to test them out and see if they work for you or if the process is even still pleasurable afterwards. The author does mention speed reading is often more useful for academic or work-based requirements, rather than reading for pleasure.

However, the big issue here is that none of these techniques were created by the author (regardless of his apparent trademarking of "space reading") - they've all been around for decades, and yet the author doesn't cite his sources or attribute credit once. He claims that he's spent years researching the methods and makes comments like "scientists say" and "many assert" without once providing a citation. Even Wikipedia provides reference links, and we all know how easy it is to edit that! The author makes huge claims on not only the techniques but the popularity of his own work (which may or may not be true).

Now, this issue is picked up in other less positive reviews and I don't feel it's an unreasonable point to make. However, the author goes as far in his book to mention how his work is "plagiarized a lot" and that "these copiers post malicious negative reviews on [his] book to boost their own sales"...

The sheer arrogance and audacity of such a claim is incredible to me. I cannot say that it never happens, of course - I don't know who posts those reviews. However, neither does the author. Do I automatically become one of those people because I have a negative opinion of his book? The author has put this assertion in the description of his books on Amazon as well as in the actual book itself, and asks readers to follow links to his other work, or to lists of places where you can leave him a good review to make up for all those evil fake ones.

Aside from that, there are a number of places where the author contradicts himself within the techniques, others where he repeats himself a lot, there are a few typos scattered about, and then some really odd phrases (just examples from the intro - "more complex than planets, stars, and even airplanes" or my favourite one, "having a purpose can repair your DNA". I'd love to see the citation for that one). Overall, the writing style is confident and assertive, but ends up not being able to back itself up with quality.

Look, whether or not you feel speed reading is a credible claim, and whether or not it's something you're interested in, the techniques in this book have been bouncing around for years, so you may find them helpful. At best, this book gathers up some of those resources to give you a quick point of reference. So that's about all I can give it a star for.

Other than that, I'm sorry but I have nothing good to say about this book or this author. I'm already a fast reader (although I mainly read for enjoyment) so there wasn't anything new for me here. If you want to give it a try then please do, you may have a completely different experience to me. If the author's personality and the recycling of ideas without citing sources aren't issues for you, this could genuinely be a good read.

Felt like this was a repeat of other speed reading books.
Wanted tips, tho I already read fast.

Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

I love this book. It gives you actual ways to speed read without skipping words. Then, you have exercises to improve your speed reading. This book is interesting unlike many books I have tried to read on speed reading.Thank you for the opportunity to review this book..

Speed Reading - Learn to read a 200+page book in 1 hour is a great book if you want to improve your reading skills.

All my life I have struggled with reading. I’m sure, not being able to read well was a detriment to my grades in school and for most of my life has prevented me from enjoying reading like I do now. I am 72 years old and until I was nearly 50 I could only read word for word and my comprehension was terrible. But twenty five years ago I picked up a workbook that taught me how to read faster. The technique was similar to the technique author, Kam Knight, uses in this book but Knight goes much further. Since I originally started reading faster with the help from that workbook I read, I continually regress to reading word for word. I will find I “read” pages without having any comprehension. Kam Knight realizes the habits the mind falls back upon and addresses every one of them including regression, fixation, daydreaming and more.

Reading this book has refreshed my speed reading and completely addressed my issues that might prevent me from reading to my potential. I have done a fair amount of research on speed reading before stumbling upon this book. I realize there are a number of approaches to reading faster and I’m sure some ways work for some people and some work for others. This book worked for me!

I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. In no way has this influenced my review.

5 Stars for this book.

I love to read, and am always looking to increase my speed with any tricks I can find. In Speed Reading, Kam Knight breaks down some of the science of speed reading, some effective strategies, and practice drills to help you implement the strategies that work for you. I’m already almost doubling my page count in the same length of time!