How fast do you read?

[Kythe42]

Well I'll keep that in mind if I ever find myself short of books to read. I'm probably already set for the next several years and my tbr keeps growing from free indie givaways on GR and other sites plus I find freebies on ereaderiq.com

[A book away from an episode of hoarders]

Personally, I go through spells in my reading. I often read three or four books a week but lately I've been reading one or two books a month. Just been doing other things. *shrugs* I can read up to 100 pages per hour on a good day.

Sometimes I will actively subvocalize while reading if I am really loving the story and want to savor the words.

[Chris]

I tend to read about a 400+ page book per week. I would read a lot more if allowed, but work, familial obligations and my own writing must come first. :)

[D.L.]

I must really be a slowpoke, ha! I think the most I read in a year was about 20 books, and only because they were a series. I juggle a lot during the week and have very little free time. I don't even watch much TV. I'm not bummed about it. I'm just saying this because I know people can relate, or need someone who can. I actually read pretty quickly on a real page-turner, but some books I find myself reading some passages over just to get what the heck is going on. I guess my average per year is about 6 books.

[Thomas]

I'm actually quite slow at reading, but I attribute it to many distractions within my day. Work, family and hobbies will do that. I recently finished a 300+ page book but it took me almost 2 weeks to do so because of all the outside noise.

I'm not one to skim the descriptive parts because I like attention to detail. I like to close my eyes and be able to picture exactly what's happening, or the location, or other fine details. It also slows me down, but it's how I enjoy written story.

[[deleted user]]

If I get to kick back and read [which is rare, but often enough I can consider it a possibility], I can read as much as 200 MMPB pages in 1 day.

[Tia]

On a weekend day where I have nothing else to do, I can easily cruise through 400-500 pages. Just this last weekend I started and finished two books in one day.

[Markus]

I occasionally read as much as 300-400 pages in one day (all depending on the book, of course), but even then I spend half the day doing other things, so I don't really know how much I'd read in a full day of non-stop reading.

[Adam]

I read very slowly. It has taken me many years to read at what I would consider a more normal speed. Depending on how "high" the language use is, it can take me up to a week or two to read a 300 page book. It used to take me a month. Written at a Young Adult level, I can probably read a 300 page book in a week. There are some books that I've gotten really into and managed to read in three days. But for the most part it takes me a week to finish a book.

I literally have to read every single word in a book. If I don't I get confused and words start moving around, so I need to focus pretty hard on the written words so they don't start moving around in my head and make me really confused. It's a very painful thing to have this problem, because I love reading so much. But my girlfriend pointed out that this might not be a bad thing because I seem to remember what I read very well for a much longer period of time.

[Melinda]

I subvocalize too. To make matters worse, I tend to proofread and critique, so I'm quite slow. I don't know if I have EVER read a whole novel in a single day. 2-3 days, yes, but usually it's more like 2 weeks.

I think people who can read a normal-sized book in 3 hours have to be skimming at least sometimes, or never stopping to ponder. And they have better attention spans than I do. :)

Here's the math: if you can sustain 250 words per minute (average reading speed), a 70,000-word book should take you about 4 hours and 40 minutes of continuous reading.

I think you should read at the rate and in the style you want to read. :)

[Sherjav]

Markus wrote: "I occasionally read as much as 300-400 pages in one day (all depending on the book, of course), but even then I spend half the day doing other things, so I don't really know how much I'd read in a ..."

400 pages a day? Do you subvocalize when you read?

[Jack]

I have everyone here to thank for learning the word for what I have always used to explain my slower reading style "subvocalization."

I should also add that there is nothing wrong with it. However, I read enough to know that my subvocalization speed will vary based upon the written text itself. I have plowed through 3 400+ page books over a couple of days before, but that was due to the style of the text. Then, I had a 250 page book that took me 2 weeks. It all depends on how hard it is for my voice to add a narrative and how hard it is for my mind to turn that narrative into a mental image.

[Ken]

It depends for me.

I can read a book a day if I have nothing to do.

But that's hardly the case. Usually, a week or two to finish a book between all the other things I have going on.

[Sparrowlicious]

It really depends on the book for me. Not only the formatting is important for me (I'm short-sighted and even though that shouldn't be a problem while reading it does tend to get one), but also the book as well. There are books that are 'easy' to read and/or books that interest me so much that I spend a lot of time a day reading them. When a book is hard to read it takes me much longer, no matter my actual reading speed.
I know there are online tests to figure out how fast you read. One of those always puts me somewhere between 200 and 300 words per minute. Oh, I don't know. I'm usually able to read about 20 pages on my way to and from work (that usually takes me about half an hour, about 20 minutes of it actually reading time). So I guess I can read about one page a minute?
It really, really depends on the book.

[C.T.]

I read at a decent pace but when I get busy I always end up taking long breaks from a book. I've done this with all the books I'm currently reading, but I have plans to set up an 'appointed reading time'. Hopefully that will help me progress.

[Kateb]

I speed read: at one time at uni (many years ago) we were tested for speed and comprehension. I was the fastest in a few hundred people. I am not saying this to skit, I am going to tell you the down side of this.
I get so excited and carried away with a book I skim, yes I know the general concepts and actions. But I can always re read the book a year or two later and find extra things I missed while reading quickly.
My sister who reads a lot slower than I, tells me she can never re read a book as she read all the details the first time.
Since I am retired I read about 4 books a week, since I go out most days. The plus side is I get to enjoy a great read again in a few years time

[Dionne]

I read pretty fast if its a book I'm enjoying. Most of the time I keep reading and then it's over. I've finished it and that's in like a day. Other times I slow down. Actually I'm trying to slow my reading down to two days. Not happening. *sigh*