“I read it in one sitting” ...really?!

I can't do audio books. They aren't fast paced enough and I can't focus. I find I've been listening for an hour but got distracted by many thing and have no idea what I've listened to. However i still retain information from books if i read and fold the laundry at the same time for example. I haven't read a paper book for ages though, and it does take me longer when I do.

You're better than me @Offred2. I read slowly and STILL don't absorb it. Maybe I have a problem with retaining information or something.

Come to think of it, I'm the type of person who gets three quarters of the way through a film and suddenly announces 'Oh, I've seen this before!'

Sorry OP, I'm a fast reader too, and can get through an average paperback in a day, easily. It's like my eyes aren't really there and my brain is connecting directly with the book. I'm not even aware of hearing the words in my head.

And despite what you might think, I don't skim. The only books I reread (and not that often) are series like the Patrick O'Brien ones, and that's because what happens in later books can throw a whole new light on earlier parts.

I’m a super fast reader. It’s not really that great or useful a skill. It’s like I can’t not read the words as soon as I see them I know what it says. Does that make sense? Whereas my husband says he has to read to know what it says.
I would take around 2-3 hours to read a novel. I used to always take a few books to my long hospital appointments - even with a drug induced 2 hour sleep I’d read at least a whole book in my day there. The other patients used to find it so funny I’d read a whole book in the time they’d do a magazine and some puzzles.

I do find it harder to absorb an audiobook. It's very slow moving compared to reading and so I don't get as wrapped up in it and lose concentration. When an audiobook works best IMO is when it's first person, so an autobiography or similar. Or I listened to a sci-fi book that was told in the first person and it was so well told that I bought the next two books in the series also in audio format (We are Legion (We are Bob), in case anyone is interested).

I can't read graphic novels at all, my eye tends to skitter across the written bits and I miss most of the drawn information unless I force myself to really slow down.

I read the catcher in the rye in one sitting when I was in bed with glandular fever...other than that no chance! Life tends to get in the way!

Did anyone LEARN to read quickly? Or is it always natural? Or maybe it's witchcraft

Clutching at straws here! I would love to read quickly. Is there a method? A course? A three year retreat? There should be government funding dammit!

Another positive from having less chance of or desire for sustained reading with young children about was that I discovered I liked poetry.

My slower reading has made me a lot more fussy. I'm no longer willing to finish a book for the sake of it.

I can do a novel in a day, easily. Was always a really fast reader - I'm like @Prequelle - I see the sentence and know it. I can go quicker but thats only useful for skimming. I skim work stuff, notes, etc Trouble is I rarely get time to do it for pleasure now :(

I also think the internet has reduced my capabilities in sustained reading and I have been inspired by the 50 book challenge thread to improve matters.

The books I'd been reading had been taking me weeks to get through though. That's how I ended up with a blockbuster from the library!

I do find audio books difficult. I had started to listen while doing tasks but then I think I may have missed bits and have to rewind.

I spent a Saturday afternoon and evening recently reading a library book in one go. My children are old enough to bring me cups of tea to counter dehydration! I did also take a break to make and eat dinner.

However it was a very simply written book and it had been years since I had done this. Mainly due to having young children!

Can't do audiobooks or someone reading something out to me. Drives me mad

I read very quickly. I read a whole book on a flight at the weekend.

Before kindles it was a nightmare packing as I would allow almost a book a day for holidays!

I've done this, I'm a fast reader - the sitting is usually on a beach in these instances, over four or five hours, not in my lunch break!

I cant do it, and especially if im enjoying a book I want to slow down, have seen my dh do it though, he got a book he wanted for xmas one year whern we didn't have family over that year , went to bed with a selection box after we had done santa and breakfast, and read full book by time I had dinner on table, kept saying what a relaxing xmas he had !

yep blackprism hyperlexic here too... I could read adult books at 2.5. A light novel at full tilt would take me about 1-2 hours, depending on length.
I deliberately slow myself down by only allowing myself so many chapters, reading many books at once and interspersing fiction with difficult (philosophy, physics) non fiction, as books are expensive. A book with less than about 300 pages is rarely worth buying as I could finish it on the bus home if I'm not careful. I've been known to buy a book through my kindle, read it and return it the same day for a refund. You have to be careful doing that too much though.

motheroftinydragons I'm like that. I don't like audio books. I need things written down.

I'm doing an extra qualification atm and it's really not suited to my leaning style at all. Too much learning by doing learning through play and learning by talking in small groups, and listening to a lecturer who speaks colloquially and loves idioms. It's also not in my mother tongue, and I really struggle to take in what I'm meant to retain.

I far prefer written materials. I am a visual learner and need to see written words!

I can read a 400 page book easily in one evening. I read 3 last week...
I'm Hyperlexic though and once read 8 books in one week 😂

As I said in a pp, I read fast. I however can't get on at all with audio books though, they irritate me!

It's weird, I sort of just have to see the words and they're in my brain. I don't have to read and process each word of that makes sense?

It's come in handy in a my previous work life where I had to read deathly dull contracts and understand them. Although I always got given the really meaty ones or the bulk ones because I got through them quicker than anyone else so wasn't always a good thing.

DH often comments that I almost ruin books for myself because I read them too quickly. I do reread happily though if I've enjoyed something.

Oh I miss reading regularly, or having hours to spend on a book. Can't wait for my children to be older (baby and preschooler!) so I have time to do that again lots .

I would be interested to know how fast readers get along with audio books though. They must seem ploddingly slow!

For me they are only for when I’m doing something else - gardening, cooking, running, commuting while playing Candy Crush or falling asleep.

I’m an another who skims over the descriptions when I’m reading, most of the time. I’m currently reading Harry Potter out loud to my eldest and now realise how repetitive some of the descriptive passages are. HARRY IS ANGRY AND CONFLICTED WE GET IT OK.

The flipside is that I can reread a book over and over very happily, and will often get more out of it the second time around.

Fast reader here, like others I could easily read a short book in a couple of hours. I've lost the ability to concentrate for a full day (thanks internet) but I used to when I was young. I do skim read but I take it all in, I can glance over a few lines and know what they say without needed to read every word - in fact that would be incredibly boring! A pp asked about audio books - I'm not a fan. I tend to zone out and stop listening, and I never feel I've really 'read' the story - I couldn't tell you what happened the way I could if I'd read it on a page.

My partner reads at talking speed and I have no idea how he reads so slow. No wonder he doesn't read for pleasure.

I do it all the time. I'm a very quick reader though. I do the thing (some people on here may know what I mean) where I see a sentence and it's like I've read it. It doesn't make sense unless you can do it I don't think.