Is anyone here skilled at the technique of 'academic reading?'?

I've learned in a summer literature course a technique of reading tremendous amounts of material is called: 'academic reading.' One reviews bibliographies, table of contents', and reading largely for general content. I'm still stuck, however, on reading every word for comprehension. I have a fall semester course starting this week. It has ten books and lots of outside reading, (journals, JSTORE, etc.) I don't think that I'll have enough time to read using the 'standard' method. Any suggestions?