r/speedreading

I love reading but there is something that sometimes does hold me back and it's not reading fast enough.

Reading 15 pages is more time consuming for me because I tend to really decipher the meaning behind each word and I can't read without having to take notes. I really want to remember every book I read so if in the future I want to know the plot and what I found interesting about it I would know but it's as I said pretty time consuming.

Are some people in the same state as I am ? What do you do to read faster ?

Trying to read faster for years. With 0 speed increases with speed reading methods. I can skim and get the gist sure. Is that the goal? And did I miss understand?

Manually tracking your progress tends to tasking and consistency in tracking could be halt.

Wondering if book summaries are actually useful when you do not have time to read the whole copy. I know you miss the context, but I mostly want to get the key ideas and see what actually works like if the books suit my goal. Has anyone tried that?

Also I did some quick research and apparently this is a form called - book microlearning. But my idea is like making notes, trying what works and if yes, I save the template and read the whole book for more lifehacks

I've been working on a reading app because I realized that most reading trackers only tell you how long you read or how many pages you finished. They don't really tell you whether you actually understood or remembered what you read.

The idea is pretty simple.

- Set a daily reading goal (for example, 10 pages)

- Read your physical or digital book

- End your reading session

- The app uses AI to help verify the session through a short voice summary, a few questions, or a quick reflection

- Over time, it tracks things like comprehension, retention, and your overall reading journey instead of just pages and streaks

I'm trying to build something that encourages people to actually engage with books rather than just checking off a daily goal.

I'm still in the early stages, so before I spend months building it, I'd love to hear what real readers think.

Would you use something like this?

What would make you stop using it?

What feature would make you open it every day?

Please don't hold back. I'd genuinely appreciate honest feedback, even if you think the idea has flaws. That's exactly why I'm asking here.

I (13f) recently did a words per minute test because I've always considered myself a fast reader. The test made you read a short book and answer questions about the book. I scored a 650wpm and got a 98% on the test is that a good speed and understanding for a 13 year old? I also asked chatgpt about a novel i read in less than 2 hrs and it said i read about a 650 -720 wpm speed. I'm not really sure about chatgpt but what are your wpm speeds?