# Slow Reading...



## Danny McG (Dec 24, 2016)

So I was looking through another site and some member was boasting. It appears he had recently finished reading all 28 of Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth books and it had "only taken him just over a year" . . . . My immediate thought on reading this was "Did you like go and make yourself a cup of tea after every chapter?"      Anyone else feel this book consumption rate
was quite slow going? ( to be fair I only manage around three a week myself nowadays)


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## nixie (Dec 24, 2016)

I suppose life does eat into reading time, everyone reads at different speeds and some can only read at certain times.

I lose track of the number i read in a year, sometimes I can't keep track on how many I've read in the month. I have been known to read upwards of ten in a month other times it's one or two.
Reading speed doesn't matter, it's the reading that counts.
Although if you are a slow reader how can you get through all those books on your reading list and authors are very inconsiderate they keep releasing new books


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## LittleStar (Dec 24, 2016)

There are so many books that I would love to read, but I have to admit probbaly quite unusually for a writer I'm not a very prolific reader. 

This year I have read:- Jo's Inish Carraig, Brian's Chronicles, Marie Brennan's A natural history of dragons, and betaed a couple of other Chrons works. there might be another one or two in there somewhere (can't remember if the shock of the fall was this year or last) but not many more.

When reading regularly I'm not very quick anyway, and maybe a book every two weeks is about my pace. Though really caught by a book and I'll maybe get through in a week if it isnt a doorstop. but I'm well aware I'm quite an anomaly in our circles!

Listening though is another matter, my 9-5 gives me about 6-7 hours of time to myself and my brain, and a couple of years back I listened to upwards of 150 books in about 6 months. I haven't done it since as I've been writing more, but I'd love to get back there again


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## Theophania Elliott (Dec 27, 2016)

Depends... my husband and I both love to read, but I read over 100 books this year, but my husband only managed about 20. That's because he has to bring more work home with him than I do, so I have more time to read.

Of course, this bloke may also have been reading other things besides Alan Dean Foster. 

Then, of course, some people who seem to read particularly quickly are actually just skimming; maybe this guy is the opposite - a detailed reader who could probably describe everything about the books.

Horses for courses...


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## Lafayette (Jan 1, 2017)

This is a list of books I've been trying to read for the past six months. I have a bad habit of starting to read one, then get distracted by life and/or another book, then go back to it a month or two later and try to remember what I already read. My excuse for this bad habit: I want to learn something and I'm a sucker for what I think may be a good book.

Flight of Elves, Schizophrenic God?, The Ballad of Bob Dylan, Gathering (Chronicles of Empire 1), Kin of Kings (The Kin of Kings Book 1), The Destroyer, Rise of the Flame, How to Slay a Dragon, Stalin's Hammer, The Enemy of an Enemy, The Curse of Chalion, The Runes of Earth and the Lord of the Rings


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## Foxbat (Jan 1, 2017)

I'm lucky if I get through one a fortnight and I've never understood how people can enjoy reading so quickly. If I have a fine bottle of wine, I like to savour it, let my mouth absorb all the different tastes. Same with a book. After reading one, I like to pause and think about what I've just read.

Gulping down your food means you miss too many subtle flavours. Literature is no different in my opinion.


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## Paul_C (Jan 1, 2017)

I mostly read for 1/2 hour to an hour before sleep unless I'm at my Dad's, so don't get through lots of books - can't say it bothers me though.


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## Overread (Jan 1, 2017)

There are multiple factors to reading speed.

I find a few thing common to me are;
1) I can't read easily if I've not got dedicated time to read - that is time where I'm not going to be or have the chance of being interrupted. This is very true during the main part of the day; if there's others around ora chance of being interrupted I find I just can't get lost in a book.

That said sometimes if I'm in a situation like travelling by train, I can actually read - yes there's a distraction coming but its a known time slot; or at least a roughly known one. Then again I often end up enjoying reading something like Discworld books which are very easy to pick up and put down around distractions or interruptions. 

2) Imagination - sometimes I find that I read slower because I go over scenes in my head a lot. Dreaming up battles and such or events that are depicted in words.

3) Fatigue - being tired affects concentration and if I can't casually concentrate well on a book it makes it hard to get absorbed into the story and instead it almost ends up like skim reading an article or journal. You pick up the important bits ;but lose the fluff and story and narrators voice in your head. That, to me, is a problem because then the story isn't a story its just words on a page with information within them. That's not what I want from a relaxing fantasy read.

The other angle is that fatigue tends to result in very short reading time before you give in. So one can find that a few pages is all that gets read; and because it was read whilst tired most of that in turn is forgotten so you end up re-reading half of what one read before. A nightmare and also, again, breaks the immersion within a book .


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## zlogdan (Jan 6, 2017)

I read 35 books in 2016 so I am always amazed by people that can manage ~100. I think I could have read more if I didn't waste time with my nefarious vice on TV Shows heavily supported now by Netflix and Youtube but honestly I try not to push myself much too hard because I always read for leisure.

I suspect that Language might be a very important factor for me although I still have not measured how fast I read a book in my native tongue ( Portuguese ) compared to how long I take to read "in English" books ( I have to do that  due to unavailability of titles I want to read in Portuguese so I am most of times reading in English. Ok price counts too ) because sometimes I read pages or chapters twice.


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## DrMclony (Jan 7, 2017)

My reading slowed to a glacial pace this past year. Other things to do. Besides, I don't want a divorce before an anniversary...


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## AnyaKimlin (Jan 7, 2017)

Personally, I can read a novel in 2-3 hours so lots of people are slow readers in comparison.  Until I was 21 I read at least one book a day and I could read 4-6 during the school holidays.

Like with writing some people read slowly and others read fast - it doesn't really matter.  My best friend is a slow reader but he doesn't write so he probably reads more books than I do these days.  My daughter reads a chapter here and a chapter there.   She'll start the year with a stack of books and dip into all of them as she feels the mood.


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## TheDustyZebra (Jan 7, 2017)

I used to go through a book every day or two, but these days I'd be hard-pressed to make it through those 28 books in a year. Between work and editing and kids with their schools, I hardly get to read anything that I'm not also editing.


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## HanaBi (Jan 7, 2017)

During my teen years. and early twenties, I could probably get through 2 or 3 paperbacks per week. Back then (1980s), there were fewer technological distractions, and in the UK at least only a handful of TV channels to watch. Therefore, reading was far more fulfilling and engrossing thanks largely to a simpler, less distracting lifestyle.

By the time I reached my 30s and a career in IT, reading paperback fiction was a rare thing, given that I spent more time working my through technical books revolving around operating systems, software, networking et al. All very heavy going, to the point I was getting through one or two books per month.

As for actual speed-reading: depends on the nature of the book. But generally the first 30 or 40 pages will dictate how engrossed I will become. And I have noticed preferring old-school paperbacks over ebooks, despite the versatility of the latter.  There is something quite satisfying about turning a physical page that also helps focus my mind into the unfolding story line.


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## Overread (Jan 7, 2017)

Another random thought - are books today bigger and longer than they were in the past?

No two books at the same, I've got some which are 1000 pages long and others only 300; however some are smaller and some bigger; the print size also varies book to book as well.


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## DrMclony (Jan 7, 2017)

Overread said:


> Another random thought - are books today bigger and longer than they were in the past?
> 
> No two books at the same, I've got some which are 1000 pages long and others only 300; however some are smaller and some bigger; the print size also varies book to book as well.



Definitely. Somewhere in the late 80s huge books began to become less of an aberration and more of a norm. If I trawl my book shelves for SF of the fifties, sixties, and even seventies, the selection is dominated by shorter novels around 50k words, some as short as 40k. The seventies and eighties saw that start to grow, but it was not until the nineties and onwards that the current and by comparison enormous tomes became the norm. Big books always existed, but they were much less common.

Sometimes I see people saying a shorter than 80k book is not long enough to be a novel. Those people need to understand that the market has changed but the definition has not. That said, the market may have changed, but I believe it will change back in time. And just because the market is dominated by larger books, does not mean it will not accept and welcome shorter works of quality. If Heinlein's longer works could be accepted and successful when the amount his publisher demanded cut was more words than the average novel of it's time, there is always a chance for success for any novel of any length, provided it is written well and to the length the story requires.


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## AE35Unit (Jan 7, 2017)

28 in a year doesn't seem slow to me, in fact that would be a good rate for me! Takes me ages to read books nowadays.  Too many distractions


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## RX-79G (Jan 14, 2017)

Maybe he doesn't like reading Alan Dean Foster books.


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## AE35Unit (Jan 14, 2017)

RX-79G said:


> Maybe he doesn't like reading Alan Dean Foster books.


Seems quite normal to me. Been a long time since I've been able to read a book in less than a week!


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## RX-79G (Feb 19, 2017)

AE35Unit said:


> Seems quite normal to me. Been a long time since I've been able to read a book in less than a week!


The secret is to put a pencil in your teeth so your lips don't move.


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## PizzaCaviar (Feb 22, 2017)

AnyaKimlin said:


> Personally, I can read a novel in 2-3 hours so lots of people are slow readers in comparison.  Until I was 21 I read at least one book a day and I could read 4-6 during the school holidays.



What kind of books are we talking about here? Do you mean to say you used to read 4 to 6 books a DAY?

I mostly read science-fiction in English, which is not my native language, so my pace is something around 30 to 40 pages per hour. It is about half as fast as I read in French. But the thing is I don't pay that much attention to it as long as I am enjoying the book. I just use it to know if I have enough time to finish a chapter or get to a point in the book before I get back to my life. Actually, if I find myself looking at what page I am at I know I am thoroughly enjoyed what I am reading.

Last year I had set a challenge of 20 books on Goodreads and found myself to have finished more than 40. I have not been reading for a long time so I was quite pleased with that progress. But again, speed is not of the essence here. As it was mentioned earlier, I like to think of it in term of appreciation so I enjoy taking my time and soaking up a masterpiece. The only thing that might sometimes bother me is that I have to chose carefully what I pick up as my "to read" list seems to be never ending. But I make up for it by dropping something if it gets dull after a couple of chapters.

And I guess every reader is faced with the same issue, we can never read everything we want.


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## zlogdan (Feb 22, 2017)

Hi Pizza, you have kind of summarized my reading habits above with your comment except that I didn't read more than 40 books last year just 35  ( according to Goodreads but for a person like me who was reading  3 or 4 fiction non technical books before 2011 I think it is a tremendous improvement  ) and my native tongue is Portuguese.


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## AnyaKimlin (Feb 23, 2017)

PizzaCaviar said:


> What kind of books are we talking about here? Do you mean to say you used to read 4 to 6 books a DAY?



Novels, non fictions, poetry, plays etc.  Something like Les Miserables or War & Peace would take longer than say Jane Eyre.  But I could read six airport style paperbacks in a day before I had children.


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## Phyrebrat (Feb 27, 2017)

Truly stunned - not to mention envious - at all you fast readers. 

I'm lucky to manage one a month. Usually I get one done in 6 weeks. 

*TDZ* sent me _Beach Music _by Pat Conroy as a Christmas present. I'm loving it but am on page 82 - and there are 700+ pages. 

Do you fast readers take it all in? Do you scan? How can someone read so fast?

pH


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## TheDustyZebra (Feb 27, 2017)

Phyrebrat said:


> *TDZ* sent me _Beach Music _by Pat Conroy as a Christmas present. I'm loving it but am on page 82 - and there are 700+ pages.



So I don't have to send you a book this Christmas, then? You're all set?


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## AnyaKimlin (Feb 27, 2017)

Phyrebrat said:


> T
> Do you fast readers take it all in? Do you scan? How can someone read so fast?
> 
> pH



Yes - I perhaps don't luxuriate over every word but I take enough in to enjoy and get the nuances of something like Sunset Song and remember in detail scenes from Jane Eyre which I read when I was seven or quote from various books I've read.


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## The Big Peat (Mar 7, 2017)

I can't say reading speed is anything particular to be proud of or obsess over other people's but, for what its worth, no, that's not fast. GoodReads tells me I'm already at 30 books this year. That's not counting DNFs where I got a long way in and critiques/beta reading.

That seems to be in the fast lane but I'm not quite sure how I do it tbh.

Part of it's I've had a lot of free time recently.

Part of it is I'm rarely that far from a book. I've _Journeys _open in Kindle atm, if I'm watching TV I'll also be reading something, if I'm on my way somewhere there's a good chance there's a book in my pocket.

Part of it is that as a history student and written data sorter, I've spent the last 10 odd years ploughing through the written word pretty much every day. But I was quick as a child too.

I guess by most standards I am something of a scan reader but I'd back myself that I take in as much detail as the next person.



LittleStar said:


> There are so many books that I would love to read, but I have to admit probbaly quite unusually for a writer I'm not a very prolific reader.



Not sure about that. I know a few authors who say they don't read much and given how much time writing takes, and how busy modern life it is, I'm not sure what else people who read frequently, write well, and work demanding jobs do. Certainly can't be sleep!


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## Danny McG (Apr 8, 2017)

Gonna try this . .
Speed-reading apps: can you really read a novel in your lunch hour?


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## Lumens (Apr 9, 2017)

I am probably slower than average. In addition, I can read something and drift off in thoughts while doing so. I then have to go back and reread bits now and then. I am also a slow writer, coincidentally.


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## Pwaa (Apr 9, 2017)

Lumens said:


> I am probably slower than average. In addition, I can read something and drift off in thoughts while doing so. I then have to go back and reread bits now and then. I am also a slow writer, coincidentally.


This sums me up exactly.  I think some of it depends on mood, sometimes I'll tear through pages much faster than expected, sometimes I'll start day dreaming and having to re-read the same paragraph like 3 times.  Sometimes I think it's down to how much I'm enjoying the book (e.g. more likely to drift off if I'm not enjoying it all that much), but even when I'm loving a book sometimes I'll do it.

It's annoying though, because it can take me an insanely long time to read books, especially if they;'re long and I'm not going to have a lot of free time, in fact I hold off reading longer books until I know about about to go on holiday or have a lot of time where I'll be able to read.


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## Lafayette (Apr 9, 2017)

Pwaa said:


> This sums me up exactly.  I think some of it depends on mood, sometimes I'll tear through pages much faster than expected, sometimes I'll start day dreaming and having to re-read the same paragraph like 3 times.  Sometimes I think it's down to how much I'm enjoying the book (e.g. more likely to drift off if I'm not enjoying it all that much), but even when I'm loving a book sometimes I'll do it.
> 
> Your habits and situations are why I like reading more than watching television and movies. Television and movies are a contradiction in that they're in you face and demanding attention right now and yet (scientifically) they are stimulate brains less.


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## tinkerdan (Apr 13, 2017)

I don't think it's a reader fault when this happens::


Lumens said:


> I am probably slower than average. In addition, I can read something and drift off in thoughts while doing so. I then have to go back and reread bits now and then. I am also a slow writer, coincidentally.


:: I refer to this as the needle skip. This is equivalent to a scratch or flaw on the vinyl record where you know you missed something but can't say how much.

So you reach the bottom of the page and think 'what did I just read?'

Since I've been writing I think my comprehension in reading has gone up. I can read easily two books a week and sometimes one in a day, but I have to plan that out because it involves a lot of hours. 

My wife can read 3 books a day and spend quite a bit of time relaying the plot to me so I have no doubts about her comprehension. And her books are long because she searches for long books.

I read slower and unless a book is outstanding I might have to pause several times to shake out the cobwebs. When a book really grabs my attention I can finish it in a day.

I've never been able to finish Dune --the original book in the series--in less than three days.
There are a lot of problems with that book that account for this and unfortunately many of those are what people found to be so fascinating about the novels, so I won't go into it all.


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## AE35Unit (Apr 22, 2017)

That last book of Alastair Reynolds took me over a month! I just don't have the time for solid reading and with a big book it's easy to lose the plot,and then the book doesn't seem that good. Even tho you know it is. I've decided to stick to short story anthologies. Much easier


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## dask (Apr 22, 2017)

Slow reader unfortunately, do the best I can with what I have. When I die my TBR pile will cover more acreage than the cemetery I'm buried in: (


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## pambaddeley (Apr 22, 2017)

PizzaCaviar said:


> What kind of books are we talking about here? Do you mean to say you used to read 4 to 6 books a DAY?
> 
> I mostly read science-fiction in English, which is not my native language, so my pace is something around 30 to 40 pages per hour. It is about half as fast as I read in French. But the thing is I don't pay that much attention to it as long as I am enjoying the book. I just use it to know if I have enough time to finish a chapter or get to a point in the book before I get back to my life. Actually, if I find myself looking at what page I am at I know I am thoroughly enjoyed what I am reading.
> 
> ...



As a child I used to borrow four books from the children's library (the maximum allowed) during the school holidays and could easily read them all and return the next day to exchange them for another four. Of course, they were short books. So I'm not surprised if Anya was doing the same.


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## KGeo777 (Apr 26, 2017)

I am a very slow reader. It depends on the writing style as much as anything. If the author doesn't go for dense description it usually goes faster. Also, I have been reading online more than print books lately and that seems to have an effect on my speed.
I read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and it took me 5 months!


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