The answer is simple: increase your reading speed to your physical limit. That way, the choice between quality/quantity lessens. It's well worth your time to spend 15 minutes a day for a month on a speed reading program that will likely about double your reading speed.

Many studies have shown that you actually remember the most when you are fully concentrating on the act of reading and are reading near your peak speed. Most people's "thinking" speed is much faster than their "reading" speed. By actually increasing your reading speed, you improve your brain function and recall by not giving your brain time to wander.

As someone who plans on being an academic (and I hope a scholar), I need to be familiar with a very wide variety of literature, both in my primary field and also in related disciplines. I aim for 100-150 pages per day. As far as memory goes, other than truly concentrating on the text, there's not a whole lot you can do to remember more. You can take notes, but I find that I simply transfer my memory onto paper (or hard drive) that way. Sometimes if I'm struck by something, I'll just put the book down, pace, and try to put my thoughts together.

Another thing: I don't read all books the same way. If it's a field I'm not very familiar with - say economics - I'm reading fast and trying to get a good summary. I don't even have the requisite ability to know whether it's worth hanging on the author's every word. Once I've read a dozen books or so in the same subject area, I start being more selective in my authors and spending more time interacting with the details of their works. I'm really sick of one-author scholars, who pretend to be experts in their field, but don't really know first-hand the different approaches to their subject matter and are really just vomiting Barth or Van Til or whoever back into their pages.

One final idea for increased comprehension and enjoyment - read with other people. You remember and grow a lot more when you're actively articulating your thoughts to others and processing theirs in return.

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Charlie Johnson
Downtown Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, student