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What are your reading habits like?
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Ivy
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Nov 22, 2024 08:41AM
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One interesting experience I had with audiobooks is that, over time, I started feeling like the normal listening speed was too slow, so I gradually sped it up. At one point (after quite a few books), I realized I was listening at 2x speed, and I could even switch between perceiving it as fast or slow. I think this might have something to do with how the left and right sides of the brain process information. Just to be clear, I don’t speed through books to rush them—I love immersing myself in them.
My husband didn’t quite believe I was fully paying attention at first, but I could always recount everything in detail. Somehow, the way I absorb the content has changed. I once heard an interview where a man shared a very similar experience.
I don’t usually talk about this because people might think it makes me seem superficial, but for me, it was such an interesting discovery. I think it might be somewhat similar to speed reading in a way...
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Can you help me understand? :D
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I’ve only ever heard of one other person who experienced something similar, so luckily, I’m not completely crazy! It reminds me of that spinning dancer GIF, where you see the figure spinning either clockwise or counterclockwise depending on which side of your brain you’re using. I think it’s a similar phenomenon. :D
It was just an interesting experience. What about you? What are your reading habits like?
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As for Morwen’s question, I think this topic touches on something really personal—how we experience stories. Audiobooks for me are more about the mood than the speed. When I get fully immersed, the pace becomes secondary, like how some people savor their coffee while others gulp it down—it’s all about what works for you!
I’ll share my reading habits in more detail in a bit, but I love how this conversation shows how diverse our experiences with books can be.
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Meanwhile, my laptop is on with a map of the Wheel of Time world. I like knowing what’s happening and where on the map—it’s all part of the experience. To set the mood, I play music on Spotify that matches the book’s vibe. And after every chapter, I have a full-blown discussion with ChatGPT about what’s going on. You could say I’m immersed.
On my commute, I switch gears to audiobooks (because let’s face it, commuting needs all the help it can get). Since I travel a lot for work, it’s a great way to spend my time.
Oh, and here’s one for the horror fans—I also love reading horror stories during thunderstorms. I head up to the attic, light a candle, and let the rain and thunder set the scene. Maybe that’s normal? I’m not sure. My wife doesn’t seem to mind—she just likes seeing me reading and having fun, so I guess I’m in the clear!
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Walter wrote: "Wow, Sophie, your reading and audiobook habits are fascinating! The way you described adjusting to 2x speed over time and perceiving it as slow or fast depending on focus is so intriguing—it sounds..."I usually only read books on my mobile phone or laptop. When I was a kid I used to read paper books because my dad bought them, but now it seems strange to me to buy them. They take up a lot of space, they're too expensive, and the paper is made from trees, and that's killing the forests.
As for audio books, they're definitely not my thing. Firstly, I can't do two things at once. I'm more likely to stop what I'm doing and freeze like a meerkat on a hill, listening intently to the damn book. Secondly, I'm a pretty fast reader, and I read faster with my eyes than those audiobook makers read with their mouths.
As for my bad reading habits, I like to chew something while I read, like sweets or nuts. I know it's not a very healthy habit, but I think my brain and my teeth just work in the same rhythm.
Sophie ⁺✧₊ wrote: "set myself up at a window seat on the second floor with a caramel latte ..."
Well, a caramel latte would be good for me, too. With a slice of cheesecake.
Walter wrote: "I’m currently reading The Wheel of Time, and with the sheer number of characters, I’ve turned my reading sessions into a whole operation. I always keep my phone nearby with the Wheel of Time Compen..."
Either I have a very good visual memory, or it's the fact that I started reading Wheel of Time as a child, but I never had to keep that map in front of me. I remember it to this day, lol.
Anyway, they're great books set in a great fictional world. It's so convincing, vast and varied, just like the real world.
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That's why I started listening to them while I go on walks, routine walks in places that I can see without actively watching cause I need to focus on one main sense at the time and, well, I'd not be able to pick listening while at home. I'd have to play dead for that.
Also I'm still in the first baby steps of picking books I've already read, to make it easier. It does help to make longer walks. I find it more motivating than music, as if I like the book, I just want to listen a while longer, so I walk longer. :)
Morwen wrote: "Jabotikaba, I'm with you on the not being able to do two things at once, and audiobooks are a new thing exactly for that (hence my weird personal questions about :D).That's why I started listening..."
Maybe it's all right for you to listen to a book you've already read while you're walking.
But I'm afraid I'll bump into a passer-by or end up in the wrong street if I follow your example. All people are different.
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Morwen wrote: "Ah yes agreed, I am afraid I keep sounding judgy or condescending in my comments without meaning to. If that's the impression I'm giving I'm sorry for that."It's all right. I'm just very careful about these things after a very silly story. It was a long time ago, but I remember it well.
When I was 8 years old, I was coming home from school on the tram and I was reading an old paper book. It was a book about the adventures of a Stone Age boy, translated from French, and it was very good. So I missed three stops and found myself in a completely unknown area.
When I finally got off the tram, I was scared to death and wanted to call my parents. But then I thought they would be scared to death too, so I started thinking about how I could get home on my own. Eventually I realised that I could cross the street and get on the tram on the same line. It would take me in the opposite direction and everything would be fine. So I did it and got home safely.
But since then I don't listen to or read anything when I'm out and about, even though I'm an adult. The exception is cars and aeroplanes. It's pretty hard to miss a stop on a plane, and if you're in a car, it's implied that your friend or family member or taxi driver is driving and will tell you when to get off.
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As for The Wheel of Time, I can imagine starting it as a kid might make the world and characters stick with you more easily—how cool! For me, the series is still fairly new, so I like having tools like the Compendium app to keep track of everything. It’s fascinating how we all experience books in our own ways, don’t you think?
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Morwen wrote: "That story is more interesting and better put into writing than one of the books I'm currently reading :D"Then I should think about writing an autobiography. It would be a story called Crazy Girl in a Crazy World, with a charming balance of comedy and horror. Incidentally, Dandellion in Baptism of Fire suggests that people should write their autobiographies bit by bit, and start writing them when they're young. Otherwise you run the risk of forgetting a lot of important details.
The only problem is that I'm not a writer. But that is not a big problem because there are a lot of writers here and I can always ask them for wise advice, lol.
Walter wrote: "Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I get where you’re coming from about paper books and audiobooks, and it’s interesting to hear how different people approach reading. Personally, I enjoy audiobooks..."
Well, reading Robert Jordan as a kid was really great. My dad liked sci-fi and fantasy, and our house was always full of such books, so I went straight from children's stories to LOTR and A Wizard of Earthsea. As for Wheel of Time, this fictional world literally sucked me in. It has many countries with their own cultures and histories and different nations, and I created many stories about this world and even tried to draw something like manga.
Sophie ⁺✧₊ wrote: "I listened to The Hobbit while walking in the forest, and it was getting dark and overcast, which really set the mood for some parts of the story ..."
If you had got lost in these evening woods, your story would have beaten my humble tram story.
On the other hand, it's a good thing you didn't get lost. Evening woods are beautiful, but they are not as safe as city streets in the golden light of the September sun.
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Sophie ⁺✧₊ wrote: "Absolutely! By the way, your story is anything but humble—I know what you mean, I’ve had a similar experience. When I was six, I ended up in a situation where I had to walk home alone, and all I kn..."That sounds very interesting and I didn't know that. There was a time when I read psychology books, but they were a bit different. Like why people believe in conspiracy theories or like their tyrants or have wars. It was psychology with a touch of sociology and history, I think.
Anyway, it's very interesting. Do these hemispheres switch on in the same way for left-handed and right-handed people?
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As for historical and sociological topics, it must have been really interesting.
I listened to lectures that analyzed how certain childhood experiences of oppression lead to the shutting down of specific brain areas and the loss of empathy, which results in ruthlessness. And all of this is not conscious, but caused by biological processes triggered by mental effects, so the individual has no awareness of it...
Sophie ⁺✧₊ wrote: "I'm not sure, but probably yes. What comes to mind about this is an exercise, where both arms are moved in opposite directions, circling back and forth, which coordinates the two hemispheres of the..."That's very interesting and it fits with what I've read about the childhoods of dictators and mass murderers. As children they were often either abused or neglected by their parents or bullied by other children.
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I do find that the speed takes some of the voice acting out of the narrator, but I dont mind.
I also read many print books, usually for friends who are wanting me to beta read and make corrections. I spill a lot of red ink on the page, and most things I read this way are not very polished. Most, will not likely be published or become works you know.
Occasionally, a story engrosses me, and for those I make time and look forward to it. This is rare.... I consider myself an author and not a reader. But I am sometimes an editor which requires reading it.
I find it hard to turn off my inner editor, even while reading published works, and I am always looking at the nuts and bolts of a story as well as its entertainment aspect.
Most stories I read are fantasy stories. Sometimes I read stories that are just the trendy one of the day. I find the stories I actually like the most are Classics. Which is surprising to me, as I would never have wanted to read one when I was younger.
Last book I read was Forged in Gold by a new author, Katelyn Schoumaker and the last classic was Pride and Prejudice.
I read slow as well. That's why I don't like series or long-long books :)I don't like reading from computer screen or phone. Mostly I read from my Kindle. I read paper books as well, I get them from the library.
I read both in English and in Russian. When I'm tired of English books I switch to Russian, and vice versa.
I've been reading Russian indie authors for several years, as for self-published books written in English, I've started recently, less than a year.
I don't listen to audiobooks.
I'm a fast reader on my kindle and a bit of a slower reader on a physical book. When my eyes get tired of reading after a day's work of reading, I crave Audiobooks. I find that having a good narrator is an art in itself! And I love to combine audiobooks especially to make other mundane stuff more tolerable, such as cleaning, being stuck in traffic and exercising! :)
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Kristina, I totally understand where you’re coming from because I’ve been there too. Nowadays, I don’t mind if a book is 800 pages long. Switching between two languages is also fascinating to me. Recently, I’ve been paying attention to how my reflexive responses—whether spoken or just in my thoughts—come out in the appropriate language or if I need to switch consciously. It’s such an interesting mental process.
Claire, I absolutely agree about how important a good narrator can be. It’s incredible how they can elevate the experience to a whole new level. If you’d like to share, I’d love to hear how you developed your speed-reading habits. Were there different stages or milestones in your progress? I’d be happy to read about your experience!
Sophie, I think I'm comfortable with my reading speed! I don't like skipping parts, while reading, and notice every detail. I often see inconsistencies or repetitions, and so many book series suffer from these problems. Of course, there are many well-written long books, that are a delight to read. But sometimes I read a book and think that I would write it twice shorter :) Awkward phrasing haunts me in both languages I guess, as they are mixed in my brain! And I will never be comfortable with a/the articles. We don't have them in Russian.
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Sophie ⁺✧₊ wrote: "Jabotikaba, I agree, it’s fascinating how a self-defense mechanism in the body can lead to a loss of empathy and have such significant consequences. While reading another psychologist’s book, I fou..."It reminds me of advice I once got from my cousin, who was much older than me. He suggested that whenever I got angry I should punch a pillow with my fists. The only problem is that it would be a bit weird to carry a pillow around with me everywhere.
Kristina wrote: "Sophie, I think I'm comfortable with my reading speed! I don't like skipping parts, while reading, and notice every detail. I often see inconsistencies or repetitions, and so many book series suffe..."
I also read very quickly and as a child I was always suspected of skipping pages. It really annoyed me sometimes. People thought I was skipping character reflections, long descriptions and things like that. But actually I always liked the character reflections and the long descriptions. If they weren't there, how could I imagine where and why and how the action took place?
As for switching between languages, it doesn't seem too difficult to me. But sometimes I don't immediately understand people who try to speak several languages at once. I have a friend who can start talking in Polish, immediately switch to Russian, and then elegantly finish the very same sentence in Belarusian. My poor brain just can't cope. I speak all three - Polish, Belarusian and Russian - but I don't speak Frankenstein, so be gentle with me.
