How fast do you read?

[StephenQueen]

Well, it's true that I see words moving around when I'm tired, I thought everybody would experiment the same... isn't it?... this is the fact that OpenDyslexic helps me to minimize...
hmmm, may I be really dyslexic...

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by StephenQueen

Well, it's true that I see words moving around when I'm tired, I thought everybody would experiment the same... isn't it?... this is the fact that OpenDyslexic helps me to minimize...
hmmm, may I be really dyslexic...

I don't experience moving words, even when I'm tired. I just cannot concentrate anymore. (I'm not dyslexic).

[StephenQueen]

Well, lets see, may be not moving, but they try to slide to the left or the right... I think this is because eye muscles relax and each eye is pointing wherever he wants... I think. What I think it happens to me is not moving words but tiredness. And I experiment it much less with a comfortable (for me) font. In example, years ago discovered (working to much) that Verdana or comic sans allowed me to to feel less tired, all my computers ended up with Verdana which I consider a bit more elegant than the other.
I don't really notice any evident symptoms, beyond mental fatigue, that occurs far later when reading with a font of my choice.
May be not dyslexic, may I be finicky, but I really notice the difference, and enjoy reading much more. I even improved reading comprehension, I rarely have to come back to reread now, what happens to me more frequently than I wanted with other fonts.

[Katsunami]

It depends on the book, author and thus writing style. I'm much slower with classical Victorian fiction than I am with pulp fantasy Dungeons and Dragons shared world books.

For a normal modern fantasy book that is not too extreme with regard to character and location counts and uses normal(ish) names (I'm looking at YOU, Tad Williams...) I average 30 pages per hour according to my e-reader.

However, I've been using the Page Count plugin for ages, with my own settings. I counted the number of characters per page in 5 paperbacks, 5 trade paperbacks, and 5 hardcovers (back when I still had many paper books) and used the average as characters/page in the Page Count plugin. It turns out that one of "my pages" is about 1.5x longer than a normal paperback page.

I read a "300 page book" (my page count) in about 10 hours, and those books are normally ~450 pages, give or take 30 pages, as a paperback.

So you could say that my "average cruising speed" for modern paperback fantasy books is about 45 pages/hour; some books I read a bit slower, some books I read a bit faster.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by artekxp

I have never read many books in my life until I got an eReader. Slowly I am getting faster and wonder how fast do people read on average? Seems like I am consuming 250-350 page novels in about two weeks. Is this a good pace?

Read at whatever speed you find enjoyable. Who cares if someone else reads faster or slower?

Lee

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by leebase

Read at whatever speed you find enjoyable. Who cares if someone else reads faster or slower?

Lee

Agreed. My husband reads very slowly, I tend to read quickly. Who cares? Some books require more focused attention, some I speed thru. Who cares?

My husband was never a hobby reader, until we got Kindles. I'm just happy he enjoys reading now. I don't care how fast he reads.

[kyrilson]

Originally Posted by leebase

Read at whatever speed you find enjoyable. Who cares if someone else reads faster or slower?

Lee

Totally agree. I've never understood the obsession with reading speed. To me reading is something I do to relax and enjoy life. It's a not a race. The end of the book isn't going anywhere.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

I do remember burning through the SRA's comprehension booklets, and being finished with all the levels well before the rest of the class. I don't remember what grade, 3rd or 4th? The teacher gave me real books to read while the rest of the class did the SRA stuff.

I had the same experience. Back then in the Netherlands we had 8 reading levels (classes were "group 1 to group 8'; you start in "group 1" at 4, finish "group 8" at 12, and then you go to high school). I finished all 8 levels in late group 4 or early 5 and was allowed read "normal" books. (After the teacher approved them, obviously.)

[catsknit]

Originally Posted by DNSB

As the likely person being referred to, I would object to your statement that I "claim" an incredibly fast reading speed. Ghod knows that when we did some reading speed tests in high school, I had to take repeat the tests multiple times with different texts before the proctors agreed that I had no previous knowledge of the texts and that my comprehension level of ~93% for the material was correct.......


However, I have to agree that whatever speed someone is comfortable reading at is the best reading speed for them.

I read very fast compared to everyone I know in real life. I have no idea how many wpm or ppm b/c I have never been tested or tried to figure it out so I don't know whether i'm anywhere in your ballpark or not. I have figured out that the reason I am able to read so quickly is that I do not read individual words or even sentences; I am able to look at an entire paragraph and read the whole thing almost instantly. This does not work well with large amounts of dialogue back and forth and definitely not for nonfiction school-type reading. But I can read a novel like that and easily have 95-100% comprehension of the book.
I've never come across anyone else who reads paragraphs like this and I'm just curious if you do it as well?

I work full time and usually read for almost an hour at lunch and then 2-3 hours in the evening after supper. Most days I will start a book at lunch and finish it at night - 300-350 (hardback) pages or so. Today's book was nonfiction but it was autobiographical and written as a story so it read like a novel.

I read fast b/c I can and b/c I am eagerly anticipating the ending - I read a lot of mysteries so I get hooked and want to know the outcome. But I agree that reading is best done at whatever speed is pleasurable to you and allows you to be absorbed into the meaning of the book.

and I never set out to become a fast reader; I just read and read and read, as a child, teens and on into adulthood. At age 60 I've had a lot of practice over the years

[catsknit]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Depends on the book, and the content. I can't read a book like Jane Eyre fast, the wording and sentence structure needs more attention than a 220 page piece of lite fiction that was written by a 21st century "book-a-month" author.

Very true. I love most of the classics but due to vast differences in wording and sentence structure from modern English I tend to read those slower. Dickens (paid by the word) takes longer than Stephen King. And don't get me started on Victor Hugo!

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by catsknit

I am able to look at an entire paragraph and read the whole thing almost instantly. This does not work well with large amounts of dialogue back and forth and definitely not for nonfiction school-type reading. But I can read a novel like that and easily have 95-100% comprehension of the book.
I've never come across anyone else who reads paragraphs like this and I'm just curious if you do it as well?

I work full time and usually read for almost an hour at lunch and then 2-3 hours in the evening after supper. Most days I will start a book at lunch and finish it at night - 300-350 (hardback) pages or so. Today's book was nonfiction but it was autobiographical and written as a story so it read like a novel.

Much the same here. I generally allow about 1.5 hours for a full length novel.

Originally Posted by catsknit

I read fast b/c I can and b/c I am eagerly anticipating the ending - I read a lot of mysteries so I get hooked and want to know the outcome. But I agree that reading is best done at whatever speed is pleasurable to you and allows you to be absorbed into the meaning of the book.

and I never set out to become a fast reader; I just read and read and read, as a child, teens and on into adulthood. At age 60 I've had a lot of practice over the years

Again much the same. My parents told me how I was reading cereal boxes when I was just shy of 4 years old mostly by watching my older brother learning to read. After more decades than I care to think about, practice is paying off.

Forgot "Never trust anyone over 30" and replace it with "When I'm 64".

[Sirtel]

I don't think speed reading has anything to do with experience. I read when I was 3 years old and read adult novels when I was 7-8. And I have read every day since then. But my reading speed isn't anything close to a book per hour, nor do I read paragraphs at a glance.

Extraordinarily fast reading (without taking speed reading courses) seems to be an inborn talent, like many other talents.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I don't think speed reading has anything to do with experience. I read when I was 3 years old and read adult novels when I was 7-8. And I have read every day since then. But my reading speed isn't anything close to a book per hour, nor do I read paragraphs at a glance.

Extraordinarily fast reading (without taking speed reading courses) seems to be an inborn talent, like many other talents.

This is similar to my experience. The first adult book I recall reading was LotR when I was 7 (several years before I read The Hobbit), but my reading speed is simply "fast enough."

[catsknit]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I don't think speed reading has anything to do with experience. I read when I was 3 years old and read adult novels when I was 7-8. And I have read every day since then. But my reading speed isn't anything close to a book per hour, nor do I read paragraphs at a glance.

Extraordinarily fast reading (without taking speed reading courses) seems to be an inborn talent, like many other talents.

You may be right on this. I didn't mean that anyone with enough practice could do it the way I do, only that I do read a lot and it developed over time. My parents were both huge readers as well, and seemed to go through books quickly, but I never had a chance to ask them if they do it like I do, as they passed away before I realized how I do it. My sister hates reading and is very slow; my brother does Ok but is not super fast, but he also has some learning disabilities.

I'm very interested to hear that David does it this way too; now I don't feel like such a weirdo

And again, I do not think anyone should feel 'less than' if they don't read fast, but certainly practice will make one's innate ability work to its best. The only reason I'm glad to read so fast is that there are so many books in the world that I hope to get a chance to read (my list on goodreads is over 700 now). One of the saddest things to me when my mother was dying was when she handed me a book to return to the library that she had been unable to finish. I knew it was the last book she'd ever read, and she died within 2 weeks. I just kept thinking how awful to know you'd never be able to read any more of all those books still out there!
Karen

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by catsknit

You may be right on this. I didn't mean that anyone with enough practice could do it the way I do, only that I do read a lot and it developed over time. My parents were both huge readers as well, and seemed to go through books quickly, but I never had a chance to ask them if they do it like I do, as they passed away before I realized how I do it. My sister hates reading and is very slow; my brother does Ok but is not super fast, but he also has some learning disabilities.

I'm very interested to hear that David does it this way too; now I don't feel like such a weirdo

And again, I do not think anyone should feel 'less than' if they don't read fast, but certainly practice will make one's innate ability work to its best. The only reason I'm glad to read so fast is that there are so many books in the world that I hope to get a chance to read (my list on goodreads is over 700 now). One of the saddest things to me when my mother was dying was when she handed me a book to return to the library that she had been unable to finish. I knew it was the last book she'd ever read, and she died within 2 weeks. I just kept thinking how awful to know you'd never be able to read any more of all those books still out there!
Karen

It may well be that reading speed has something to do with genetics. Most things do, after all.

My parents weren't readers. They read newspapers, magazines and stuff, but rarely books. They liked TV more than reading. My maternal grandmother loved to read, though. But she wasn't an extraordinarily fast reader, just average.

Nevertheless my parents bought a lot of books when I was a child, both adult and children's books. Our home was filled with books and I took to them like a duck to water, without any urging on my parents' part. If anything, they worried I read too much, to the exclusion of many other things.

But I have never been an uncannily fast reader either.