I consider myself to be a pretty good reader but felt that I read slowly, which made me feel a little self conscience. I came across Abby Marks-Beale’s “10 Days to Faster Reading” in a footnote of another book and decided to give it a try.

I was pleased with the results.

On November 19th, I took the first time test. I read 240 words per minute with an 80% comprehension.

Marks-Beale provides the following chart to access your reading level:

100-200 words per minutes = slow reader
200-300 words per minute = average reader
300-400 words per minute = good reader
400+ words per minute = an above average reader

On November 27th (I know, not 10 days- but hey I was learning to read faster), I took the last time test. I read 440 words per minute with a 90% comprehension level. Not bad.

The techniques she teaches definitely work, but the book is really just good, not great. The use of a racing analogy through out the book was more distracting than helpful. Of course, that could be because I have no particular understanding of racing or race cars. Still, to continue the metaphor meant burying her main points deeper in the paragraph which made the book difficult to “Preview”- a technique she teaches in the book.

Apart from the pacing techniques and the bad habits to be aware of there isn’t much else to absorb. I liked the book and would recommend it, if for no other reason than I did increase my speed and comprehension.

Now, I just have to keep practicing and unlearning bad habits.