my speed-reader is broke

I read pretty fast compared to most people. Probably about a page a minute for normal fiction. My definition of "normal fiction" is made up of a completely abstract combination of variables such as page size, font size, writing style, complexity of plot and general likability of the book, none of which is very well defined in my mind. I just know that when I'm reading "normal fiction", I tend to read about a page a minute. Which is a whole lot slower than some people:

I read fast. Really fast. I read about six paperback pages a minute, give or take.

Her secret is to skip things. I think I do a fair amount of skipping as well, but probably not nearly as much as she does. Anyway, that's not my point. I was reading the comments below her post about speed reading when I came across this statement:

In my limited anecdotal research, I have found the reason why some people read so fast and others cannot is that the latter learned how to read by actually "speaking" the words to what they are reading in their minds, as if they were reading out loud. Those who can read very fast uncoupled that need to "speak" the words in their minds to comprehend what they are reading.

I was stunned to discover that simply reading his hypothesis caused me to start sounding out words in my mind, which momentarily crippled my ability to read quickly. It was frightening. I can't imagine living in a world where general reading requires effort. Yes, some study reading will always require concerted effort to comprehend, but in general I expect words to leap naturally off the page and into my head without any conscious effort on my part.

Now, if my speed-reader has recovered, I'm going to go finish reading The Last Templar. It's in no danger of becoming one of my favorite books of all time. But then, it's a book about modern conspiracies related to the Templar Knights, and I'm not sure that there's ever been a book on the topic that was *really* good, as opposed to just being readable.