It’s a good idea to have different “gears” for reading.
I slow down to my slowest speed when I’m reading poetry. Every word is so carefully selected, so I want to savor them, hear them.
My next gear is for novels – brisk, but I’m not a speed reader by any stretch.
My second-highest gear is for non-fiction. The prose is generally utilitarian, so I want to breeze through it as quickly as I can while getting the ideas.
But my highest gear is for a high-speed reread. That’s when I grab a book that’s on my Personal Bibliography and want to refresh myself on the important ideas, so I can continue to use them effectively in my work. I’ve read them before, so I don’t need to process every word, and I already know I like the ideas, so I’m primed to appreciate them. Spending a week or two on a full reread isn’t always how I want to devote my time, so kicking it into high gear is a great way to reacquaint myself with the ideas without too much time commitment.