Customer Reviews

Power Reading : The Best, Fastest, Easiest, Most Effective Course on Speedreading and Comprehension Ever Developed!

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

First of all, this book did help me read faster. I have always been a fairly slow reader but now I am able to control my speed more easily. However, everything I learned from this book could have been summed up in two instructions:

1. Always use your finger or the end of a pen to guide your eyes by pointing it under the words you are reading. (This really helps to make you conscious of the speed at which you are reading, which is surprisingly important.)

2. Every day, read something you chose for 10 minutes at your normal speed and mark where you started and finished. Then try reading that exact same passage in 5 minutes. (This will help you get used to reading faster than you would normally be comfortable with.)

That's it! That's all you need to know. If you buy this book, you will get those two VERY useful pieces of instruction along with 192 pages of poorly written fluff and common knowledge.

An example of fluff: all of Chapter 8 is devoted to telling the reader that he/she can use a pen or a pencil to guide his/her reading instead of his/her finger. Instead of spending one sentence telling the reader this, HE USES AN ENTIRE CHAPTER. How could he fill up an entire chapter about this? Good question. He uses sentences like these to fill up this useless chapter: "I prefer to use a ballpoint pen or a mechanical pencil with the tip retracted. You don't want to mark up your book needlessly or carelessly: they're much too valuable." Despite it being obvious that you don't want to draw on your book when you're using your pen to guide your eyes along the text, he feels the need to reiterate three paragraphs later: "Remember, don't mark up the material, because it can make later reading difficult for you or someone else."

[...]Take heart, though, I suggest you save your time and money by following the two steps above. It turns out those two steps are all you need to have "The Best Course on Speadreading and Comprehension Improvement Ever Developed!"

This is a great course in a book - I wish I had taken it while in school. My reading and studying would have gone much faster and better.

It was so easy, it only took a few weeks, and now I'm reading more than twice as fast with better comprehension in pleasure and technical material.

It was important to me that the author covered the entire field of reading from increasing comprehension to speedreading, from history to perception, and from fiction and religious reading to technical reading and study and test-taking methods. This information allowed me to see not only why I was reading the way I was, but gave me the motivation to improve my reading speed and more important, my comprehension.

Also, Rick the author, tells you about the techniques used in many other methods, and how and why over the years he evolved and uses the natural, simple approach he does. He starts you with comprehension first, and then gradually increases your speed. I really like Rick's approach, which is having me practice in my own materials and then encouraging me to go out and learn more about reading and speedreading. Plus, Rick cites many other authors and books and he gave me all the resources - he made it very easy since he included a full bibliography and index. This course is very complete!

I highly recommend this book, Power Reading, to everyone if you want to speedread and remember more.

I am extremely pleased with the results I got from this reading course.

When I began the course, my goals were in terms of

1) Comprehension: to maintain or slightly improve the level of my comprehension,

2) Speed: to double my speed while maintaining the level of my comprehension,

3) Other: to be able to comprehend a vast variety of technical or arcane materials.

During the mid-course exam, I was reading 125% faster.

As I finished the course, I felt comfortable not only with the absolute increase but also with the now excellent level of my comprehension.

The most striking thing about this course, I think, is the recognition that one can read - or one can read more effectively. I could compare it to brushing your teeth: everyone does it, somewhat at least, but some people know how to clean their teeth more effectively than others.

This reading course has given me both the understanding of the mechanisms as well as the tools (the use of the regulator, for example) to determine at which level of speed and comprehension I chose to read.

Power Reading is well organized, easy to read. Having been in the educational business for quite some time, it amazes me how little emphasis educators put on a basic skill such as reading.

But this will change, of course, since I will implement Power Reading in my teaching. I will not rely on elementary school teachers to improve students' reading skills, or hope that some Freshmen English instructor picks up the slack. This semester, I teach a course on "Women in Antiquity" in which each student has to read and review one scholarly book. Before the end of this semester, I will have incorporated Power Reading in my teaching so that my students become power readers who have a choice at which speed or comprehension level they read.

I enthusiastically recommend Power Reading to any teacher or student.

Before I go on, let me just say that I _do_ think Ostrov's "Power Reading" system works. This book is full of good, practical advice, and sets demanding but realistic goals for people who want how to learn faster. I am around 2 weeks into the program (I am doing it slowly, so actual time has been longer), and do feel that it is helping me.

My problem with the book is that it could easily be summarized into a book 1/4 of its size. It seems that about 70% of the book is made up of Ostrov's admonishments to stick with the course, to follow his directions faithfully, etc. etc. Another 15% is spend explaining Ostrov's explanations for _why_ his system works. The actual methodology of "Power Reading" and the drills needed to develop it could probably fit onto a large folding circular, though this obviously wouldn't be commercially viable.

So in any case, you are getting about three quarters pitch and simplified science, and one quarter methodology. Even some of the bits about methodology seem a bit unnecessary. For instance, Ostrov has a section on "how to read newspapers and periodicals" which exorts the reader to "read between the lines" when reading newspaper articles for comprehension. He even has a section on how to read emails and memos! I honestly don't think that stuff like this is necessary.

In all honesty, I cannot blame Ostrov for writing his book like this. This is in essence a self-improvement course written in book form, and from what little I know about self-improvement courses, a major component of them seems to involve inspiring faith and confidence in those who are taking the course. This book follows that model. If it was only a few pages long, it wouldn't be commercially viable, and a lot of people would likely dissmiss Ostrov's system, which is both simple and elegant.

In short, based entirely on consumer interest, I would say you should ... read it straight, take notes summarizing the methodoly and drills, and follow Ostrov's course over the timeline that he lays out. If you accept on faith that the system works, then it won't be necessary to look back at the majority of this book. If you have money to spare, and simply want to make sure Ostrov gets his due, then by all means buy the book.

I bought Power Reading by mistake at the bookstore - meant to get Peter Kump's Break-through Rapid Reading instead - and only had time to return it 5 days later. During the 5 days, I read Chapter 1 and browsed through the rest of the book.

Power Reading is to be done over 4 weeks. There are 4 chapters in the book - one for each week. It covers the same speed reading fundamentals every other speed reading book covers: regulation with a finger, having a purpose, how to approach different materials, high-speed techniques.

What I didn't like about Power Reading is that there wasn't much of anything in there. It talks about things like concentration and comprehension, reading purpose, note taking etc, but only skims the surface. I wanted to know why I should be doing the things it recommends and how they would help, but the explanations in there weren't sufficient to satisfy my curiosity and give me a reason to keep the book.

I returned Power Reading 5 days later, exchanging it for Peter Kump's book. Absolutely no regrets. Comprehension and recall/retention of material are very important to me. Having these while reading at tremendous speeds is a true sign of speed reader. Power Reading barely covered these topics, but Break-through Rapid Reading talks a lot about them and gives you drills to improve both.

If you are a beginner, get Peter Kump's book instead. If you are at an intermediate or advanced level, get Peter Kump's book instead. As there isn't any new information in Power Reading and you can finish reading it in a day, you can save yourself some money by borrowing it from the library instead.

To put it bluntly, "Power Reading" is one of the best courses on speed reading and comprehension available. I can't say that I doubled my speed or anything like that but then again I was considered a fast reader before reading the book and doing the excercises. Still I moved from 450 words per minute to just over 650. The information is up to date and if you follow the instructions exactly then you can achieve a gain in speed and comprehension whether you are a slow reader or already a fast reader. It was fast, easy and effective, what more could you want from a course such as this? It takes thirty days to complete if you follow the book exactly. Whether you read for business, school, or pleasure, the book is highly recommended for anyone wanting to increase their speed and/or comprehension.

Power Reading really works! I didn't think it was possible but after taking the "Power Reading" course, I raised my speed by 150% and increased my comprehension too. The course is very well written and constructed in a way that makes absolute sense to the reader.

I found the CD very helpful in that I didn't have to "distract" myself from the reading drills (which are throughout the book) by stopping my reading and looking up at a clock or wristwatch. In fact, I even tried looking at a clock at first but found I lost momentum in my reading so I immediately started to use the CD which made all the difference. I simply put on the appropriate timing track and concentrated on my reading while the voice on the CD counted down and let me know how much time was remaining. It was just like being in a live class (without the high cost usually accompanying live seminars) and nothing could have been easier! I highly recommend the Power Reading course book and CD!

I own a few speed reading books, and all but one of them (the snake-oily "PhotoReading") are responsible, and instruct you in pretty much the same way. Once you realize what your bad habits are as far as reading goes--re-reading, sub-vocalization, etc.--it is a pretty simple matter to rid yourself of them and notice a sudden dramatic increase in reading speed. At least I did. Getting crazy-fast, though, is another horse entirely, though.

This leads me to what I like about this book. Ostrov doesn't make wild claims about the sort of improvement you will notice, and is very straightforward about the sort of limitations the vast majority of readers will encounter. But he does present a sound system for improving speed and comprehension--and like other systems, it involves (very basically) getting an overview of the material, reading it, organizing information.

My favorite book on the subject is still probably Breakthrough Rapid Reading (Peter Kump). I like the detailed, graduated lesson plans. But there are only so many ways to skin a cat, and Ostrov's little book does it just fine.

It truly did work for me -- I read twice as fast as before I took the course! How? By point out bad habits I'd developed (e.g., subvocalization) and giving me exercises to correct them.

So, what about comprehension and retention? I actually think mine are better than before. Not only am I reading more and enjoying it more, I've learned to adjust my pace according to what I'm reading. Not everything should be read for speed, and formulating a plan in advance is an important part of the program. While I wouldn't read poetry this way, I have been able to increase the quantity of material I read in newspapers, technical, and business publications.

Finally, I was delighted to find the book relatively free of the nonsense I normally expect to see in self-help books.

I had gone through umpteen books on speed reading before laying my hands on this one. Recently, i completed the "Norman Lewis reading and comprehension course" 'n boy...was i disappointed. I began at 250 wpm and finished at 260.

I completely lost hope that i could ever push my reading speed beyond 260 words pm. I always wondered how could people read at 800 or 1000 wpm. Was it really possible for a book or course to make a person read at this level or was it just a gimmick to sell stuff??

This book has changed my whole preception of speed reading and comprehension.

This book is basically a 4 week course. I've already completed 2 weeks and am cruising around 500 to 550 words per minute with super comprehension and guess what?? the best part is yet to come!