Everyday, more reading materials are published, including printed materials and content-based websites. Picking what to read and what not to read is important so you don't waste time on junk text. Besides, reading speed is also very important. I had always been reading at average reading speed of around 200 wpm until I bumped into Scott H Young's articles Double Your Reading Rate and Speed Reading Follow-Up.

Apparently what I had been doing very wrong when I read was trying to subvocalize every word in the text. According to Young, one of the keys to read fast is do not subvocalize the words. After some practices, even though I still subconsciously subvocalize some words, especially names and terms that I am not familiar with, there is indeed a noticeable improvement in my reading rate.

If practicing on conventional reading materials isn't a great help for you, here is an alternative. Indian-based software house Advance has developed Bullet Reader, a speed reading training software built on a new technology called Rapid Serial Visual Presentation to train your eyes and your brain to read faster. Even though Bullet Reader pretty much focuses on training eye movements (which is also another key in speed reading as mentioned in Young's first article) while reading, as it pushes you to read fast, it also leaves you no time to subvocalize the words and helps you to get rid of that habit. What I definitely like is their good choice of texts which are interesting enough to motivate you and keep you away from distractions while doing the reading exercises. In my opinion, it is a really useful tool, so don't hesitate to grab the free trial from their site!

And by the way, if you do enjoy reading, Friedbeef has compiled a list of Top 10 Best Places to Get Free Books.