Reading Speed?

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by Grace Elliot

I can speed read - but don't enjoy doing it - I much prefer to savour the story.

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

30 pages per hour or more. Because I'm always backtracking and reading parts at least three times.

Same with me. At work, I zip through by necessity, with the speed reading techniques I learned at university decades ago.

But at home, I'm a slow reader - 30 - 35 pages an hour. I reread passages, double back, etc. I also hear the dialogue in various voices Why rush - savouring the writing is a big part of the joy for me.

[FanciFreez]

Just got home and back on the forum for a few, but thanks for all the replies so far.. very interesting.. I kinda read like Victoria and Grace and others as well... I just skimmed the posts .. but thanks again..

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by ApK

Depends what information you're trying to glean.

When people ask me how long I have been playing guitar, I used to respond "Do you mean in years, or in hours?" Because if I just said how many years, it would seem my level of playing was lagging WAY behind what would be expected. If I tell them that I only put in maybe 4 or 5 hours of practice across each of those years, things seemed much more in line.

IOW, reading speed in hours might suggest we should be getting through far more books per year, and so we must not like reading very much, rather than taking into account how much reading time is available to us.

Apples and oranges! A major difference.

[ProfCrash]

I took the test 576 WPM 45% accuracy. Sorry, but reading stats requires note taking. I got all of the none number questions correct. As a dyslexic, the numbers are something I genreally skim over unless I really care and I didn't care enough for this to not skim over them.

[latepaul]

I scored 311wpm and 100% accuracy. Which surprises me because I track my wpm on a per-book basis. According to that I average 227wpm and have gone as low as 170.

I'm ambivalent about reading speed. On the on hand sometimes I feel it would be nice to get through my TBR pile a bit quicker. On the other, 8 hours of reading a good book is 8 hours of pleasure so if I'm enjoying it why not savour it, why reduce it to 6? Of course that argument falls apart when the book is not that good but not bad enough to abandon.

[Catlady]

I have no idea, and I don't care to know. I'm reading for pleasure, not because I have a deadline to meet.

[Sydney's Mom]

For a novel, I read between 60 and 80 pages an hour. So 350 page book would take 5-6 hours.

[BexBits]

Originally Posted by FanciFreez

Just curious how long it takes for you devoted folks and bookworms lol. here to read a average book? average being 350 pages ..I know there are a lot of varibles, but curious of other enthusiasts habits of reading books, speed, time etc..

I usually figure on reading three to five books a week depending on how much reading time I have.

[4691mls]

It varies by the book. I think it depends on how much of the book is action, characters talking, descriptive passages, etc.

[Yolina]

A 350 pages novel takes me 5-6 hours to read, a bit longer for non-fiction.

[Antoinekamel]

Depends on my state of mind. If the books does not rises emotion in me but I want the information, it's about 7-8h for 400 pages. If I appreciate the emotion in each phrase, longer. I can't precise though.

[exvaxman]

There was a speed reading camp years ago in upper Wisconsin. They had many of the top readers. I was ranked in the top ten, but was nothing compared to the top "speed reader". I was there to see her read a 15 page time magazine set up as every page was put onto a display that was set up to display everything, then a shield came over to block it. 15 pages next to each other. There was a "start" and she said " stop" before the unit dropped. 90+ % comprehension. Awesome.

To this day I get upset if I can't read a novel every day. In 2nd grade I was reading 8th grade level, and upset that the then mechanical displays were slow.

My wife was so happy when the origional rocketbook came out because every time I went for a business trip, she was sent UPS boxes of used books I bought at book stores. The rocketbook was slow for me, but got much better. I spent much $$$ for the color soft book/RCA 1200 later on.

Truly not bragging, this is a curse. I only keep and store cookbooks. My wife and kid are nowhere close to my reading ability. My son really is upset when I read a book he has been assigned in an hour and question him.

[GeneS]

For fiction, a 350-page book will take me about 5 hours in total. Depending upon time available and interest, I may finish the book in one sitting or it may take two or three weeks. During a 6-week period of surgical recovery, I averaged more than one book per day. On the other hand, it took me about 17 years to complete Les Miserables.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by exvaxman

There was a speed reading camp years ago in upper Wisconsin. They had many of the top readers. I was ranked in the top ten, but was nothing compared to the top "speed reader". I was there to see her read a 15 page time magazine set up as every page was put onto a display that was set up to display everything, then a shield came over to block it. 15 pages next to each other. There was a "start" and she said " stop" before the unit dropped. 90+ % comprehension. Awesome.

To this day I get upset if I can't read a novel every day. In 2nd grade I was reading 8th grade level, and upset that the then mechanical displays were slow.

My wife was so happy when the origional rocketbook came out because every time I went for a business trip, she was sent UPS boxes of used books I bought at book stores. The rocketbook was slow for me, but got much better. I spent much $$$ for the color soft book/RCA 1200 later on.

Truly not bragging, this is a curse. I only keep and store cookbooks. My wife and kid are nowhere close to my reading ability. My son really is upset when I read a book he has been assigned in an hour and question him.

That's quite interesting actually. I often lament not being able to read more books in a shorter amount of time. It's not a serious lament - and is usually followed up by pining for the ability to download books directly into my brain. However, I always end up wondering if being able to consume novels that quickly would impact my enjoyment of them.

You seem to be close to a case study on this. Because you have so little time to savour the reading (ie. it's over so quickly) is the memory of the story enough for you?

[ApK]

Originally Posted by caleb72

I always end up wondering if being able to consume novels that quickly would impact my enjoyment of them.

The few books on speed reading technique I've looked at over years all seem to agree that the techniques are not intended to be used for pleasure reading.
Perhaps there are people out there who can get full enjoyment out of a novel when using the techniques, or perhaps there are other speed reading systems that are intended for pleasure reading, but that doesn't appear to be the norm.