Thank you for sharing this, I'm often curious about what other people's reading experiences are like. I've always been a slow reader, and when, as a kid, I tried to learn more about "speed reading," or asked friends how it was possible for them to read a novel in one day, they'd describe reading somewhat like you do. I.e., they would sort of scan the page, taking in a line of text at a time, basically. This is possible because you can understand all the words and sentences without actually having to say them in your head. So I'd try this, read a page or two trying to scan quicker than I can speak, and would realize after 2 pages I had no idea what I was reading.

I don't know if it's a cognitive issue or what, but I simply cannot read text faster than it would take me to say it. So, I don't move my tongue in my mouth or anything, but I essentially read words as though there were a voice in my head saying them. And, maybe for this reason, I really enjoy reading out loud, and find (as OP describes) it helps me focus and get absorbed in what I'm reading.