Book Summary10 Days to Faster Reading, by The Princeton Language Institute and Abby Marks Beale

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of 10 Days to Faster Reading

Do you have a pile of reading material you’ve been meaning to read for ages? Do you feel you could learn more if only you could read faster? In 10 Days to Faster Reading, Abby Marks Beale and the Princeton Language Institute offer a variety of strategies to help you reach your reading goals. By practicing their speed-reading techniques, you can learn new information more efficiently, rid yourself of unhelpful reading habits, and understand the things you read on a deeper level. (Their techniques particularly apply to reading non-fiction books.)

(Shortform note: Speed-reading is a technique that focuses on quickly discerning and comprehending whole phrases and sentences at once. It contrasts with the methods students are typically taught when they’re...

10 Days to Faster Reading Summary Why It’s Helpful to Practice Speed-Reading Skills

Before diving into the authors’ speed-reading strategies, let’s take a look at four benefits of reading faster.

Benefit #1: Improve Your Focus, Comprehension, and Memory of What You Read

According to the authors, when you employ the skills associated with speed-reading, you concentrate more closely on what you’re reading. This leads to better comprehension—if you’re paying close attention to the text, you’re more likely to understand the information within it. Finally, a higher level of focus and comprehension helps you to form stronger memories of what you read.

The Relationship Between Speed-Reading, Focus, and Comprehension

According to some experts, speed-reading improves focus because it forces our brains to absorb a lot of information in a limited time window. With so much to process, we’re far less likely to get distracted, as our brains have to concentrate to complete the task. Additionally, practicing speed-reading techniques frequently is like exercise for the brain, continually improving its performance. This leads to improved information processing and...

10 Days to Faster Reading Summary Strategy #1: Be Selective When Choosing Your Reading Material

The authors note that you can get more out of your reading by being selective about what you read. Before you begin reading any text, the authors suggest identifying why you want to read it and how you might use the information in the text later on. If you can’t answer these questions, skip reading the piece.

Your “why” for reading something will vary from text to text. For example, you might read a book about procrastination to learn strategies for making better use of your time. This information could help you further your professional goals and feel less stressed about getting everything done. Or, you might read a fantasy novel purely for enjoyment—the story expands your imagination and helps you relax.

(Shortform note: Some researchers break the broad purpose or “why” of reading into two main categories: [efferent reading and aesthetic...

10 Days to Faster Reading Summary Strategy #2: Familiarize Yourself With the Content Before You Begin

According to the authors, it’s helpful to briefly familiarize yourself with the content of a nonfiction text before you begin reading in earnest. (Shortform note: In How to Read a Book, Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren describe inspectional reading, a similar process for previewing a text. It’s the second of their four reading levels, and its purpose is to understand the structure and the main points of a text. That way, you have the background knowledge and context you need to efficiently process the information once you start reading the body of the text in depth. They advise setting a target of 15 minutes to gain an overview of a 300-page book.)

In addition to assisting you with Strategy #1, this strategy helps you meet the following three goals:

1) Getting a sense of the structure and topics covered. Almost all nonfiction writing follows an internal outline that offers a map of the topics covered. This strategy takes advantage of that framework to give you a clear overview of what you’re about to read.

(Shortform note: The internal outline is...

10 Days to Faster Reading Summary Strategy #3: Reduce Unhelpful Reading Behaviors

According to the authors, people commonly engage in several behaviors that slow down their reading. One way to improve your reading speed is by addressing three unhelpful habits, which we’ll further explore in this section.

Behavior #1: Mouthing or Speaking the Words

The authors state that one of the main behaviors that slow readers down is mouthing, reading aloud, or silently reading the words in a text at the rate of speech—also known as subvocalizing. The rate at which we speak is much slower than the rate at which we can think and read, so if you’re reading at a speaking rate, you’ll get through a text much more slowly.

(Shortform note: Though reading aloud slows us down, some researchers have found that it has several benefits we miss out on when we read silently. First, studies conducted with different age groups found that people who read a collection of words aloud remembered those words better than people who read the list silently. To a lesser extent, mouthing the words also improved people’s memory of the text. Additionally, some researchers found that reading aloud...

10 Days to Faster Reading Summary Strategy #4: Increase the Amount of Information Your Eyes Take in

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the basic structure and content of a text, decided it’s worth your time, and reduced some of your unhelpful reading habits, turn your attention toward reading the body of the text efficiently. To do this, the authors say you must increase the amount of information your eyes take in at one time.

(Shortform note: If you want to increase your eyes’ ability to absorb visual information, your eyes need to be strong overall. There are many exercises you can do to strengthen your eye muscles, improve circulation in your eyes, and hone your vision. These exercises also decrease your chances of eye strain, which would impede your ability to read. For example, three times a day, roll your eyes in a circular motion 20 times. Widen the circle as far as your eyes will allow. Rest your eyes for 10 seconds, then repeat the process by rolling your eyes the other way. This strengthens...

10 Days to Faster Reading Summary Strategy #5: Read Only Essential Words

Finally, the authors argue that you can read more quickly by focusing your eyes only on the most important words in a sentence. You’ll still be able to understand the meaning of each sentence, but you won’t waste time reading every single word.

(Shortform note: Other speed-reading experts suggest pausing from time to time while reading a text using this strategy. Pausing to reflect on what you’ve read ensures you’re comprehending the text and not jumping so quickly that you’re missing...

Shortform Exercise: Try a Speed-Reading Strategy

The authors offer a variety of strategies to increase your reading speed. Consider how you might apply some of these strategies to get more out of your reading time.

Describe one way increasing your reading speed could benefit you. (For example, maybe you feel out of the loop with new developments in your industry, and reading faster will make advancing your professional knowledge seem less daunting. Or, maybe you want to read articles and books for your university courses more quickly so you can spend less time studying and more time with your family.)