Hello~
I’m a sophomore and I have received a 1490 on the October PSAT.
My practice test scores for the SAT were between 1470~1540, and I’d really like at least a 1600 on the test.
I’m confident that I can get an 800 in math if I do not make any mistakes.
However, my reading score varies widely depending on which types of passages come out in the fiction portion; I’m the weakest at it.
Could you please give me tips as to
- How much time should I dedicate to prep per day?
- Which prep books should I get?
- How should I improve my reading techniques ?
Thank you for your help 
You sound a bit angsty.
A 1600 on the SAT is essentially a perfect score. Seeing that you’ve taken the courtesy of testing yourself and got approximately a 1470-1540, that by itself is pretty good, and you’re stressing yourself out. It’s a good range that’ll be beneficial in getting you into a top university (assuming you have other ECs, etc.).
I’m getting offtopic here, but as far as your original question goes. The best way to do well on anything is to practice.
I don’t know what strategies you’ve been using but my preferred way to approach any SAT reading question, regardless of the level of difficulty or what type of passage it is, is to do the following:
- Look over all the questions for the passage. If there are questions with line references, mark them in the passage. (spend no more than 2 minutes annotating)
- Skim the passage, make sure you know what it talks about
- Go back to the questions, and read them.
- Now really read them, make sure you read them to understand what they're asking for.
- Think about the question, and try answering it in your own words first.
- Use process of elimination, don't try and make an answer seem right when it's clearly not.
In most cases, you really don’t have to read the entire passage.
Also keep in mind that you have roughly 13 minutes per passage, I advise that you keep a watch on you or something. If you spend more than 13 minutes on a passage, just move on. It’s better to spend more time on your best passages than your worst.
[QUOTE=""]
Which prep books should I get?
The official practice book produced by CollegeBoard should suffice.
How much time should I dedicate to prep per day?
That’s purely subjective, it’s hard for us to tell you. An hour or so should suffice, but really, you don’t need to worry 
[/QUOTE]
sorry i meant to write at least 1550
Many people/programs, including the Princeton Review book I studied from, say not to read the whole passage before attempting the questions, but I find that I do better with looking at the questions to see what’s needed, then quickly(not too slowly) reading the passage. It helps avoid some of the confusion that comes from trying to pick out answers while not knowing what’s going on overall.
This might not work for you, but it’s just what I’ve found beneficial