Best Reader

Best Reader is a speed reading training tool for Windows. It is a program that supposedly teaches you to read much faster by training your sight and consequently your brain into "absorbing" more words per minute.

It comes preloaded with some literary samples, like novels by Agatha Christie. You can load any of those and the application will format the text into a small column (whose size or orientation you can change) and will start highlighting the words that you are supposed to be reading. On the top of the application, there is a bar which sets the speed at which Best Reader goes through the text.

The unregistered version of the application does not allow you to go any faster than approximately 2000 characters per minute, which isn't that fast. By gradually increasing the reading speed and following the tips that the application gives you, you are presumably going to be a much faster reader. Best Reader boasts a table reading mode and a test mode. The latter allows you to test your progress by reading a sample text. Graphically, the application has only a few buttons and no menus. Hitting "Play" and "Stop" controls most of what the application does.