planetlife And taking notes on the side (mindmap or summary and keywords)
the method i use to read fast (it's not speed reading per se) a TECHNICAL BOOK :
- read slowly the intro where it explains what the book is about and note on paper the key points
- read slowly all the toc and note one keyword to summarize each chapter
now you are ready because you know the important parts of the book (meaning you have the all plan of the book)
then fullscreen in your pdfreader (you have to see the full page at once) and one hand on the keyboard on the arrow keys the other for notes taking and for each chapter let your eye glance on the page and focus only on the important keywords. At the end of each chapter : note what is important make a pause, next chapter
stop when you cannot focus anymore, make a pause, come back, don't force it. Do it often, it has to become a habit and after some time (months) you will be able to grokk a book fast
the important part is to read only what matters, the tricky part is figuring what matters in the book : that comes from the intro, the toc and experience