I never thought I'd dread bedtime stories

I've been working with my kindergartener on reading. For those of you who have experienced the agony of a child who is learning to read, you'll relate.

We were reading before bed, which is a pattern I started in utero. Our kids have more books than the school library. Yet, no reader. So, we work on it before bed. He's definitely a phonics kid-- and he sounds out all the words like they must teach him to do at school. So, we read. It's excrutiating. I mean, I'm thrilled at how much he's progressed since starting school, but by the time we finish a sentence, even I have no idea what it meant. I have to go back and reread the page, just to get a concept of what the book is about. But he's trying. Really he is.

I have a friend whose daughter is a speed reader, and I'm totally jealous. I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I literally do not have any memories of learning to read. I read at 3, and had a mostly-photographic memory, so if I learned a new word, I remembered it. This does not seem to be my son's learning style. I get that. Everyone is different.

I'm just trying to decide if my kid is normal, or if he's struggling more than he should. Have you felt that way with reading, or math, or whatever? I think of him as such a smart kid, but the reading is slow going. What should I do next? Help.