Thursday 10 March 2011

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Discussion: How Fast Do You Read?

I am in huge awe of my 15-year-old cousin. She's a hugely avid reader. Now I know what you're all thinking, to be a book blogger, surely I'm an avid reader? And I am. But my cousin is avid! She can come and visit my family for a weekend - just a weekend - and will bring about 3-4 books with her. Those books will go with her everywhere. To the shops, to a cafe, to the pub (I owuld like to state here that she doesn't drink at the pub - the adults drink, and so she reads while we're all making fools of ourselves). Depending on the books, she can read most if not all of them while visiting - and we're not talking small little books here; she'll have at least one, sometimes two Harry Potter novels, the brick sized ones. And she'll finish them, on top of everything else we do, normal everyday things. And I envy her.

Me? On a really, really good day, I can read about one book in a day, but that's if it's a book that hooks me in from the very beginning and refuses to let me go. It happened with Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, and I believe it happened with Fallen by Lauren Kate too. But my average is probably around 3-4 days, even if I'm really enjoying a book, sometimes longer. And if I'm not enjoying a book, then it can take even longer, but that's a different story. Yet there are bloggers I follow who can spit out reviews like there's no tomorrow and their life depends on it - and these aren't scheduled reviews, but write-them-as-soon-as-I've-finished reviews, and there are ALWAYS new reviews. I know this isn't a competition, and I'm not thinking of it as such, but I sooo wish I read quicker! Let's face it, I'm going to die one day, and I'd quite like to fit in as many books as possible before that happens, so reading faster would be helpful. But I'm just terribly slow, and it winds me right up! I'm never going to speed read, because I absolutely cannot read by skimming text. I can't do it for one thing, I just have to read every word to know what's going on, and I hate the idea of skipping parts, it seems sacriligious to me.

So how fast do you read? How many books can you read in a week? Does anyone else struggle with slow reading? Please tell me I'm not alone!

26 comments:

  1. I know how you feel, i take about 2-3days to read a book. I wish i was a lot faster though =[ I have dyslexia so that's a big part of why it takes me 2-3days (which isn't really slow but imagine how fast I could read with out it!)

    Good discussion I look forward to what other people have to say.

    KelseyAnne

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  2. You're slower reading time is completely understandable. I'm slow for no apparent reason, and it drives me mad. You read faster than I do with dyslexia! Would love it if there was some way of sorting it without skimming, lol.

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  3. It does depend on the book, my mysteries and YA I usually read them in 1-2 days, sometimes something bigger will take me 2-3 days. I'd love more time to read though. Now that I'm working again I can barely fit in 3-4 books a week.

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  4. Great post! I guess I'm a pretty fast reader, I tend to read a book a day-ish but then I read so much at university it sped me up a bit!x

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  5. I used to be able to consume a book in a day. I still can read quite quickly if I am engrossed. However, I have 3 kids which means I am constantly interrupted while reading. Also, Lately whenever I start reading I end up falling asleep. Doesn't matter the time of day or how alert I felt when I start reading. 10 or so pages in and I start nodding off. Very strange and inconvenient. Not sure what the problem is, probably just me getting old.

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  6. I am not a fast reader either. I think I only read about 30/40 pages an hour (on a very good day) and an average sized book takes me 4-5 days, longer if I'm not enjoying it so much or it has tiny writing so I have to concentrate even more. I've tried to speed read but just don't take any of it in and always end up read the whole page again.

    I wish I was one of those people who could read a book a day too. My ex hubby does it. he comes round to do the school runs on the days I work and goes through my books like fire whilst he's here. That really winds me up as he's usually read all my new books before me :(

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  7. Before uni I could read 3 to 4 a week, but now I'm lucky to finish one in two weeks!

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  8. I wouldn't say that you're a slow reader at all! Some books cannot be rushed, they need to be savored. I normally read about 2-3 books per week, but that's only if I'm really into the story and I have the time. Life gets in the way and it's rare when I read a book in a day.

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  9. Yes, I know how you feel! It usually takes me around 3-4 days to read a book if I read for about 2 or 2 and a half hours a day (which is as long as I can usually read for because I always feel like taking breaks). And I agree, I can't skim a book. I recently realised that for the most part I end up reading some parts of a book really fast and I feel bad about it; thinking i need to reread the book because I haven't taken in absolutely every word. But then again, do people really take in every word or just read to get the gist of what's going on? I wish I could read really fast and still take in every word - if that's possible :S x

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  10. Bella - Oh, to be able to read 3-4 books a week! I'm lucky if I can get two finished in a week! I think work does have a lot to do with. I finished my job last week, and so have a little mroe time on my hands now, but it's a little difficult when working.

    Carly - Wow, that's so cool. Looks like I took the wrong course at uni, then. A book a day would be really awesome!

    Rachel - Wow, falling asleep seems kind of strange. I guess three kids would take up a fair bit of time, and maybe take it out of you.

    Karen - Oh yes, to fins someone who's with me! Isn't it such a pain?! Ooooh, no-one is allowed near my books until I've read them first!

    Sophie - That's understandable. Uni requires a lot of work. But 3-4 a week would be good!

    Nikki - Even 2-3 I'd be happy with! Some books do have to be savoured, I agree with that.. I just wish I could savour them a bit faster! :P

    Sasha - I know exactly what you mean! I have to take in every word, or I just get all confused, so I want to read really fast AND every word! Though I don;t think you should feel bad about it if you have happened to read parts fast. As long as you know what's happened, I don't see the need to re-read :)

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  11. It depends on what mood I'm in really. I can pretty much read any book in a day if I read non-stop for hours on end, but most of the time I'm too busy with other things, so usually 2-3 days, but it can be more. I would say I'm quite a fast reader though. On holiday, I can get through a book a day, no problem :P. If it's a particularly long book, however, I do notice I tend to skim over some parts like description, so I go back and force myself to read over it, which takes me longer than it would have in the first place!

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  12. Ahh, so lucky to read to fast. Taking 2-3 days isn't bad. How do you do it?!

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  13. You're not alone, I'm struggling a bit at the moment, and what frustrates me about it is that I used to be very fast. When I was a teenager I would go to the library on a Saturday, get eight books out, and have read six of them by Sunday evening. The other two would be read over the next week after school, and then I'd spend the other two weeks before it was time to go to the library again re-reading bits of the library books and books I owned. To be fair they weren't usually very large books, but still! I read Trainspotting on a coach to France in a couple of hours. I think it's lack of practice, but it's hard to spend as much time reading when there are so many other things competing for my attention. When I was a teenager I only watched a couple of hours of television a week. There was no BBC Four and E4 and broadband internet!

    Last month I finished one book. ONE. SINGLE. SOLITARY. BOOK. I only read one in December as well, and two in January. I really need to be more disciplined and set aside reading time.

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  14. Wow, I'm not so bad as to be reading just one book. I get a few done. I'm not much of a TV watcher, really. It's more blog stuff that takes up my time these days!

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  15. No you're not alone. It depends on what I'm reading as well because as for available time, I don't really have it despite what my review schedule may look like. My solution? I ALWAYS have at least 1 - 2 books with you at any given time and I read anywhere. On break? Reading. On lunch? Reading. Waiting in the car to pick someone up? Yup reading...if at night, with a booklight. ^_^ I've even done the "reading in line while I wait to check out at the store" bit. I'm like you...I want to read so many books and share those experiences, it's the only way I can accomplish it....but you know what? I don't regret it a bit. (Good thing even my pups like to read...or at least be petted while sleeping on my lap as I read... ) ^_^

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  16. I can't read on the go, I don't take things in. If I'm on my own, I can read on a bus or on a tube, but not in a queue. Nor can I fit any books in my handbag, and I refuse to buy a big, massive bag. My work bag fits a book, so when I'm working, I read on my breaks. But still the slowness is annoying! Lol.

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  17. I used to be able to read 1-2 books a day easily depending on how big they were but that was more down to the amount of time I spent reading rather than how fast I actually read.

    I find it quite ironic that I started blogging just to record my thoughts on books I've read but since I now spend so much time blogging I don't even read half the number of books I used to LOL. Not that I'm complaining really because if I didn't enjoy blogging then I wouldn't do it.

    I feel like I've hardly read anything this month but that's because I've been re-reading the Earth's Children series by Jean M Auel & those books are all 700-1000 pages long with very small writing. It's taking me about 5-6 days per book when I usually manage 1 book every 1-2 days.

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  18. It really depends on what I'm reading and how busy my life is. If it's a book I really like or my kids are at grandma's for the afternoon, I can go through a book or even two in a day. If I have a lot going on and it's a meaty book with a lot to think about, it can take me a week. Typically, I read 3-4 books in a week.

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  19. It seems to me that you and I read at about the exact same speed. Really short books I can read in a day. Most other books of average or longer length take me 3 to 4 days and sometimes longer depending on the book.

    ~Briana

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  20. Sarah - Wow, that's a lot of pages. I do find blogging does take up quite a lot of time. Though, strangely, review come to me quicker than other aspects of blogging, such as news posts. But i do enjoy it!

    Vanessa - That makes a lot of sense, but still, 3-4 books in a week! I just can't do it, lol.

    The Book Pixie - Oh, that's great to hear! At least I'm not the only one who has the trouble fitting more books in :)

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  21. You're certainly not alone - I can generally only manage 1 - 2 a week depending on the size and to date have never managed to read a book in a day.

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  22. Oooh, I'm liking the more recent comments! I feel less slow and more normal, haha! :)

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  23. Sometimes 1 to 2, more recently 3 to 4, especially as my book pile changes from my own books to borrowed and review copies. A bit of panic seems to set in.

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  24. Wow, another 3-4! So unfair that I can't do that! Lol.

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  25. I'd say on average, I read 4 books a week, usually more. It depends on my mood. In just over a week, I fiished 9 books earlier in the month because I was on a roll with some fab books. Then I took a break and lost my momentum and now I'm struggling to finish the two books I've started even though they are quite interesting.

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  26. Wooow, 9 books! That's just huge! But I can understand having trouble getting through books, despite them being interesting! Having that trouble now!

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