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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

o think if a 10 year old read 10 books at the weekend he / she has no life?

144 replies

Dorange · 19/06/2013 16:27

And if the parent say that the child has time to do other interesting things as well as reading those 10 books on the weekend, it is a lie? And also that the whole library has been read it is probably a lie?? Unless the child is called Matilda, but I don't believe that even Matilda could read 10 books in 2 days.

OP posts:
Nanny0gg · 19/06/2013 16:29

Does it matter?

ImAlpharius · 19/06/2013 16:29

You have not met my 8 year old, War and Peace no but 10 books of a 10 years old age range over the weekend if she was in the mood, No problem and lots of other stuff going on.

Moominsarehippos · 19/06/2013 16:30

Maybe they are very very short books! I can read one a day (and that's around the usual housework) but I am a very fast reader. 5 a day? I wouldn't expect them to remember much about the story.

KnittedWaffle · 19/06/2013 16:30

Who cares?

UniqueAndAmazing · 19/06/2013 16:31

YABU

I can't think of anything that my 10year old self would ever have preferred doing to reading!
anything at all - all I ever wanted to do was read!

hardbeingme · 19/06/2013 16:32

depends on what books and what child i suppose, i used to view the library as a treat and would read all 6 books the day i got them.

As i got older the books got longer so it may have taken longer to finish all of them but even now i have been known to sit up till the early hours to finish a good book.

i luffs reading!

ArthurSixpence · 19/06/2013 16:33

My 3 year old read 8 books yesterday morning. We went swimming in the afternoon. They were short books.

UniqueAndAmazing · 19/06/2013 16:33

eat? only if I can read my book at the table.
sleep? nah, I would read until the early hours
go to the toilet? well, i was hugely constipated as a child, so probably could have read a whole book whilst waiting...
physical activity? nah, I was a lazy child
TV? nope, didn't need it
talking to family? no way!

Oblomov · 19/06/2013 16:33

Unlikely. But, who cares. I am a very fast reader.

learnasyougo · 19/06/2013 16:33

Maybe the kid is going through the whole series of the 'That's Not My..." books.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter. Parents who brag get no more than an internal eye roll from me. Boring. Move on.

Littleturkish · 19/06/2013 16:33

YABU to even care

livinginwonderland · 19/06/2013 16:34

YABU, I read constantly at that age.

ShuddaKnownBetter · 19/06/2013 16:34

YABU and pretty petty.

FirstStopCafe · 19/06/2013 16:34

YABU I loved reading as a child and was very quick. I could get through a few books a day. I also had lots of other interests, played sport etc

BrianButterfield · 19/06/2013 16:34

I could have easily read 10 children's/young adults books in a weekend and had read pretty much all the children's section of our local library at that age. I've never been one for 'playing out' but did have friends and now I'm an English teacher. My fast reading skills (and I do take it in) came in very handy during my English degree. I can read an adult novel in an evening now but on holiday pre-children I could read 30+ books (thank goodness for hotel swap bookshelves!). It's not a lie or an exaggeration, it's just how I am. Why it would bother anyone else I don't know.

CharlieBlanche · 19/06/2013 16:35

Not sure why being a bookworm 10 yo equals "no life"?

FobblyWoof · 19/06/2013 16:35

YABU.

I used to love books (still do but rarely get time/my concentration is gone) and I could easily devour a fairly thick book aimed at teens in a day at that age. I'm sure I'd have had no problem with more if they had been smaller. I still saw friends and did things and very much had a life- thank you very much!

UniqueAndAmazing · 19/06/2013 16:36

It does depend what book you're reading.

I could easily read a 100 page book in an hour at that age.

Matilda is 230, James and the Giant Peach is 150.
Wimpy Kid 207
Malory Towers (1) 181.

NightmareWalking · 19/06/2013 16:36

YABU, 8 books was the limit at my library, got them on a Saturday morning and they'd be read by Saturday tea time when I was 11, I lived to read!

Original poster
Dorange · 19/06/2013 16:38

Huuuum. Didn't realize they could be short/easy books...

OP posts:
imademarion · 19/06/2013 16:42

I can't think of anything that my 10year old self would ever have preferred doing to reading!
anything at all - all I ever wanted to do was read!

Oh, absolutely! The bliss of it.

Wish I still could and am knocking fifty.

Out of interest, why does it matter to you OP?

Floggingmolly · 19/06/2013 16:42

My dd could, and still fit in ballet, tap, drama class and time spent with her friends. No life my arse!

Chandon · 19/06/2013 16:42

Yanbu, it seems exagerated , and OTT, also, why was this mentioned and what point were they trying to make?

Not clever to ask this on MN though, as for MN kids it is perefctly normal to read 5 books a day, which goes with them being super bright Wink...as you can see!

Saying that, it would not bother me if someone told me their 10 yr old read this much. I have a 10 yr old, he would never read 5 books in a day ( unless t is Asterix or Tintin or the Beano) but I don't feel inadequate or lacking because of this.

CMOTDibbler · 19/06/2013 16:42

When I was a child the limit for taking books out was 5 at a time. The first place I ever walked on my own was to the library as I'd read all my books each day. And still had plenty of other things to do.

As an adult, I read faster than anyone I've ever met - about 90 minutes for a novel if I'm undisturbed. The Kindle has made my life much better!

zukiecat · 19/06/2013 16:42

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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