. . . and you have a deadline to get it read, like a book club meeting, you may need to resort to this “formula” I was recently given for an abbreviated read of a book.
1. Read the first and last chapters.
2. Figure out how many pages are in between.
3. Divide those pages by the number of days you have until you need to have the book read. (I would vary this a little to make each day begin at the beginning of a chapter. It seems like the beginnings of chapters tend to do some summarizing and also tend to provide key information.)
4. Each day, no matter if you were able to entirely finish the pages “assigned” to the previous day or not, start on the first page for that day and read as many of that day’s pages as you can.
If you do that each day, when you arrive at the day you should have the book read, you may not have read every page of the book, but you will have a pretty good feel for the essence of the book.
Of course, this is certainly not the way to “savor” a book, but, especially when you belong to a book club, I can picture it being a tool that might come in handy sometime!
Now, excuse me, I have to get back to reading — book club is in two days!
Add Humor and Faith....mix well 
I know myself well enough to know that that formula would never work for me. Years and years ago, they tried to teach me speed reading in school. We were to let our eyes move down the center of the page, picking up the words to either side in our peripheral vision. I could do it, but I always found myself going back and rereading the page anyway, just because I didn’t want to miss a single word. I’ve always been that way. I have to read every word of a book, including acknowledgment, prologue, epilogue, and upcoming books from the author. I know…I’m weird. But I don’t want to miss anything!
Linda — When I said this little trick doesn’t let you “savor” the book, I had no idea to what lengths “savor” could go! You mean there are people who actually read the prologue and epilogue?! 🙂
You’re right. Don’t even try this — it would just frustrate you!
I’m the kind of person who typically reads and then rereads paragraphs.. sometimes pages, because I choose the wrong time to focus on the book. I typically read at night when I’m tired. And so I’ll doze through a paragraph or let my mind wander through a page or two. When I pick up the book next, the text is totally foreign to me. I find I have to turn back a page or two to refresh. The best time for me is to read is on a lengthy bus or train ride. It would be foolish of me to even consider a book club. I can just never do required reading. I hope it works for you though.. let us know! 🙂
Hilary — I have trouble concentrating on reading something that is even a little bit dry, and have always wondered if I am possibly ADD. But, give me an intriguing mystery, and I can read forever, and grasp it pretty easily. I guess I’m a selective reader! I’m as intrigued with Linda’s description of speed reading as I am the “formula” I had been told about. I’ll probably try them both!
hallo ich suche adult mütti die mich als adult baby erziehn sollte ich bin helmut und wohne in deutschland in NRW gronau konnen sie mir helfen eine richtig erzieherin zu finden die adult baby erziehn kann nicht die mann ginga nicht eine wo man auch hin fahren kann ohne anmeldung ich hoffe bekomme von ihnen ein nachricht bitte in deutsch schreiben danke