I use the Evelyn Wood techniques for topics like this. You'll make several passes through the text with different goals each time. On the first pass you read t

I use the Evelyn Wood techniques for topics like this. You'll make several passes through the text with different goals each time. On the first pass you read the TOC, chapter headings, section headings and so on. You are trying to absorb the structure of the book (or chapter if you want to do it 1 chapter at a time). The next pass you are making sweeping scans of each page, taking in high-level information and building on the structure you've already established. If you've developed vertical reading at all, you can use it for the last pass, or any other technique you've worked up to. One thing to note, I don't use anything besides good old fashioned close reading when it comes to code examples. Dig through them in detail or risk missing the point. Code is not like natural language and you won't get the same benefits from speed reading it.