Hello Obogz
1)IMHO, you can not activate the book by photoreading it multiple times. Understand that activating a book is like getting a trust relationship between your conscious mind and your subconscious mind. Activating convinces your conscious mind that the books is there within you and you know what is there in the book. Photoreading is targeting the subconscious mind only. For you to be able to access the book, both your conscious and subconscious mind should be in harmony with each other.
2)Yes you can. Although I don't know the exact steps to guide you here. Maybe someone more informed in this forum will help you. However, you can start by recognizing and appreciating your feelings. Listening to Paraliminals like Memory Supercharger and Personal Genius. Exercising your imagination. Engaging in conversation with yourself. Listening and trusting to your intuition. But whatever you do, don't try too hard.
3)As Paul describes it very appropriately. You should be in flow state. This is the state when you are fully concentrating on the task (book in this case). You don't want to be disturbed. You are one with your task. This is definitely not close to sleep. In this state your entire focus is within you and you are appreciating your mind. It is like a state when there is no difference between the dancer and the dance. It is like when the driver and his car is one. You are just absorbing your book.
4)As far as your math class experience is concerned, you should know this, our subconscious mind starts working when the conscious mind gets out of the way. That is the reason you have this feeling that consciously I am not able to utter anything but it is flowing or coming from something within me. Your conscious mind has no idea. Yes being in a sleepy state helps, because it is your conscious mind that sleeps and not your subconscious mind.
Further, photoreading is not for lazy people. It is for people who have this never ending curiosity and desire to learn more and more. I hope this helps.
Kind regards
Vaibhav Sharma