My parents have given me many great gifts.
One of the best was teaching me to read at an early age and building motivational structures to make sure I did it heavily.
For reasons I don't fully understand, I came out something of a speed reader. My mom first noticed it when she gave me Ben-Hur as a kid and I gave it back to her the next day. At first blush she thought I just hadn't actually read it, but on interrogation I was able to narrate the plot and characters back to her.
I've read thousands of books at this point, I think - I didn't keep careful track of what I read from about seventeen through thirty-six (in Pennsylvania, where I was homeschooled, keeping a reading list was an important part of our yearly school district review process, so lists from that era probably exist if I can track them down).
I'm starting to track what I read again, in part to keep track of what I'd recommend my kids read (and at what ages). I may even manage to reconstruct some of my reading records from the past.
I also hope my ability to chew through text rapidly and effortlessly may help other people cull through the infinite pile of written words in this world just a bit, avoiding the pointless things I've plowed through in favor of the best.