To wonder how people read a book a day

[Walkingatmid]

Or 100’s of books a year?

I used to read LOADS but not so much anymore as I'm always so busy with work. On holiday, I could easily read a book a day. I only took a couple of books with me on my last holiday and regretted it.
I'm trying to read a bit more again now, I've set myself a target of 2 books a month for this year.

I'm an all or nothing reader. I'll read constantly for a few weeks and then completely stop for ages. If I come across a book I really don't like, it seems to disrupt my flow and I don't pick up another one for a while.

I'm a slow reader. My husband is a fast reader. I realised that I tend to read each word, put the emphasis on the italics and pause where the commas are whereas he just skims the while text and gets the information.

I'm the same as you. I can scan factual texts really quickly, gleaning the salient points but with novels I just need to read every single word to experience it properly.

I can read normal text very fast (and was a very early reader), but when I'm reading something "worthy" I have this thing where I feel I have to digest every single word and it slows me right down. I think it's psychological rather than cognitive, and perhaps also linked to concentration. Is this remotely familiar to anyone and is there a way to improve it?

I think I read faster than average. When I was at school and we were doing that interminable thing of taking it in turns to read out loud round the class, I would be pages and pages ahead by the time they got to me 😂

I can read on part of my commute, so have about an hour and 20 minutes a day then, plus half an hour at bedtime. My Kindle tells me the average length of time a book takes to read and it's normally about 6 hours. I could easily do that in a day if I wasn't at work!

Edited to add : I probably read three books a week as I'm commuting three days a week, but read more if I'm particularly enjoying something, less if I'm not 😂 I've never actually counted 🤷

If I could spend all day reading then I would get through a lot more books but I usually only read for about an hour each evening, and average a book and a bit each week, so about 5 hours per book on average. I read fast but I also tend to reread parts over and over (not on purpose, I just realise after a bit that I've read the same sentence 10 times. No idea why I do this! Its like a mental stutter, also happens with my inner dialogue) which adds on time.

I've read two books over the long weekend - it would have been more but I was busy at work so just reading in between the patients needing me.

I've always been a fast reader and it was incredibly useful when doing my medical degree and post grad qualifications. I can easily get through two or three fiction books over the weekend - I like crime/thriller type books. I spend a great deal of my working life reading scientific papers so refuse to spend my free time reading anything too heavy. Besides A level English Lit managed to put me off classics for life.

I've got some time off this week and was hoping to sit around and read but the combination of having to fire the cleaner for unreliability and, in a weak moment, promising my partner I'd help him with something he needs to do for work, means that I'll be cleaning and making notes on transcripts from the covid inquiry instead 😬

Yes, I think it's quite common to read different "density" texts at different speeds. My kindle app has wordrunner which shows one word at a time and a set pace (that you set) so it's not possible to jump around on the page, or slow down. I don’t use it much for fiction but it's handy for denser work texts, where I need to get an idea of the shape of the overarching argument rather than absorb every word. I'm sure there’s other speed reader apps available.

For physical books, running a ruler down the page has a similar effect. Your eyes keep pace with the ruler.

In either case, I find that after a couple of pages, I can discard the guide and keep going at the same pace without it, but need to get past that first inclination to slow down.

I'm a very slow reader. I love books but am often too busy to settle down to read. I get books out from the library but it'll take me a couple of months to finish them.
I'm assuming people who read a book a day don't have young kids 😂

I read fast, and I read a lot. I spend most of my free time reading, and have an audiobook on the go when I'm walking, shopping, cooking, cleaning etc..its something I really enjoy, so I spend a lot of time doing it. People I know who read less generally spend their time doing other things which they find fun like listening to (or playing) music, playing computer games, watching TV or films or plays, making art or doing crafts or playing sport. A lot of what I read is no more worthy than watching something entertaining on TV - I just find it easier and more relaxing to read a book than watch a TV programme.

My only skill in life is I can speed read. It helps me absolutely zero way in my
life what do ever

except I did work as a VIP guest list thing where I had 1000’s of people in guest list ans could work through them fast. Other than that it’s done bugger all!

however I can read a book in a few hours. I don’t do this much anymore I guess but if I find one I love i will.

not read much good stuff recently though

Yes, I have the same mental stutter. Good description!

Glad its not just me!

I was reading my father’s history and archaeology books at 9, I would often read a book while walking home from the library and go back the next day to change it.
My mother despaired because I always had my head in a book.
I have never re read a book in all my 70 years.

I think some people just naturally are fast - I'm not sure that its a skill so much as maybe just brains working in different ways?

I've always been really quick (easily read a chick-lit type novel in an afternoon on the beach) and I can still remember my Dad who takes months over a book doubting I could possibly have read what I said I had. I can remember him fascinated and quizzing me on one of the What Katy Did books when I was little and then being baffled that I could answer his questions and had really read it that fast.

I'm not sure I could do it with a book that I was less interested in or was maybe more serious and complicated though as my mind would wander. I think I have to be really engaged to storm through!

what are you doing the rest of the time? @orangeleopard

I read fiction fast and I love reading. I have 2-3 hours' commute 5 days' a week and I spend some of that time reading, I also read 20-45 minutes before bed most evening (typically nonfiction, so much slower reading speed), and sometimes at other times when alone pn the bus or metro or waiting for someone/thing, and we also have reading time on Sat. and Sun. where all of us in the family read our own books, usually for 30-60 minutes. So yes I do get through books quickly. I get them from 2 different libraries, and we also have a book box at work we can borrow from for free (changed every 2 months').

It's not difficult, some books are easier than other, for instance War and Peace took me over a week but I can read a chicklit in a couple of hours

Im a fast reader and can easily read a book in a day if I make the time. I don’t have kids or anything else taking up time in the evenings so if I want to I can read uninterrupted. In reality I don’t read very often at all because sticking the TV on is less effort but I will often have a few weeks where I get an urge to read and will read 4-5 books a week before I lose the urge again for a few months.

No, I just read very quickly, and am a fast absorber of text, with a good memory and a capacity to grasp plot, character, subplots etc. I’m not rushing. My natural reading / comprehension mode is just extremely fast. I used to get very frustrated in primary school when we had to share reading books with another girl, and I loathe audio books, even when speeded up — far too slow. I do also reread old favourites all the time, but I will remember passages, character names and plot points from novels I last read in the 1980s. I’m a strongly verbal rememberer, with almost no memory for numbers.

As a pp said, on a solitary holiday, I could easily read three or four novels in a day if I wasn’t doing much else. And with great pleasure. I might read a novel before getting out of bed on a weekend morning.