The Bookshelf: Nov. 10, 2016

Trib+Edu is joining with respected books authority Kirkus Reviews to bring you select reviews of books of note in the field of education. For more book reviews and recommendations, visit Kirkus.com.

LANGUAGE AT THE SPEED OF SIGHT: How We Read, Why So Many Can’t, and What Can Be Done About It

by Mark Seidenberg

Reading is something that we almost always do at a subconscious level: we do not think about it, and for good reason, since we need to concentrate on the result — the content of what we have been reading, that is — and not the process. ... Much of the author’s research, and a sizable portion of this book, concerns dyslexia, a phenomenon that turns on anatomical properties of the brain in which “signal propagation between and within regions seems to be…noisier” ... Broader familiarity with the science of reading, he suggests, would be of use at the policy level as well, since so much of it is based on assumptions concerning problems of social engineering — poverty, household makeup, and so forth.

For the full review, visit kirkus.com.