# Speed Readers? I think not.



## D.A. (Mar 29, 2012)

I'm not a speed reader = I'm a SSR - super slow reader. I like to read every word -- purposefully. For you speed readers out there, who brag about it, aren't you missing something? How long can you muse over a poignant metaphor or burst of lyrical language if you're scanning? Is speed reading genre specific? Or are there people out there speeding reading _Infinite Jest_?


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I wouldn't call myself a speed reader, I read pretty fast I think. And yes, I read pretty much every word. I love to read and I love to read enjoyable books. If I had to skip over lots of stuff, I wouldn't enjoy it and stop reading. I don't scan, I read. 

I wish I could read as fast as some. There are so many books I want to read still. 

The faster I read, the more enjoyable great books I can get to in my puny human life span.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

I read pretty fast and I also don't skip. I sometimes reread portions I find particularly good. Still, I've read about 65 books so far this year. I agree with Atunah, so many books, so little time.


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

I wish I read faster than I do.  Working full time  and having other hobbies,  doesn't leave enough Kindle time for me.  I'm happy if I finish 2 books a month.  At this rate -  not sure if I will ever get thru my tbr list!  hah!


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

When I was a teenager, I took a "teaser" class on speed reading designed to lure in the marks to sign up for a lengthy course (I didn't take the longer class though).  My memory of it is that it suggested that the real blazing speed readers focused on two skills, first on not rereading and going back, and second on recognizing and absorbing words by their "shape", rather than sounding them out.  This was focused on people who read for content, not reading for enjoyment.  I was and am a fairly fast, but not super-fast, reader.  I do some of the going back and rereading when it isn't necessary (sometimes if something is a difficult or unique concept or just unexpected, I think some backtracking is inevitable in reading something for comprehension).  I tried to improve my ability at this at the time by moving an index card down the page as I read, and I think some effort at it helps train your mind to get everything down the first time, rather than go back and forth.  My belief is that this probably improves speed and comprehension, and in moderation doesn't take too much away from the pleasure of reading.  I haven't practiced with the card as I described since I was a teenager, it might benefit me to do it again for awhile!

Based on that experience, my general experience since, and other stuff I've read or had in short training classes, I think that for some people who have worked at it, there are several ways to read.  Some management training classes encourage you to skim non-critical reading material, basically zipping through it and picking out key words, with occasional stops to carefully read critical paragraphs.  This is of course diametrically opposed to what D.A. is talking about, and focusing on every word and (figuratively speaking) rolling them over your tongue like a wine connoisseur.  Other ways to read include reading fairly carefully, which is what I think most of us do most of the time when reading for pleasure and for noncritical stuff at work, and I think this is what most of us are taught in school.  Lawyers do something different yet (or so I hear, I work with lawyers occasionally, but I'm not one, thank goodness) that involves carefully deconstructing things and rigorously analyzing it.

I suspect that most people who haven't had some kind of formal training in different ways to read, or who aren't reading sybarites (heh) read pretty much the same way all the time, modifying the base technique sometimes by zipping through things lightly when time pressure is urgent.  That's what I do, even though I'm dimly aware of other approaches to doing it.  I think few if any readers would claim that the speed skimming is an appropriate way to read for pleasure.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

D.A. said:


> For you speed readers out there, who brag about it, aren't you missing something?


For you super slow readers out there, who brag about it, aren't you missing something in way of all the books you won't ever be able to get to


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

I am not a speed reader, but I do read fast. I read every word, reread particular phrases I enjoy, or highlight them to remember to contact the author about them-or friends- and move on with the rest of the story. I read for four or more hours every day, depending on classwork and home-life.
     Now that my last child has graduated from High School, I have more time to read than when my children were young. I watch a couple of tv shows a week, and a movie once or twice a month. It's too hot in TX for me to be outside for much of the time.

I wouldn't see the point of "scanning" because I enjoy reading. I like to let my mind loose in someone else's reality. I do however get tired of people who don't read as quickly as I do accusing me of scanning, skimping, or speed reading. They don't know me or my reading habits and abilities. How can they possibly assume to know how my mind works? Everyone's mind is different, and each person has unique skills and abilities.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

For those of you who read fast but still read every word, do you _hear_ the words as you read them or just see them and consume them purely visually?

At best I am an average reader, speed-wise, and likely below average on these boards; but I "hear" every word I read -- at least when reading for entertainment -- and as such am limited to essentially the speed at which I could read out loud (perhaps speaking somewhat faster than I normally do  ).

While I wouldn't mind being able to read faster, I do love hearing the words in my head and would not want to sacrifice that just to read more -- especially since I have enough trouble these days finding new books that really satisfy me.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

When I am reading as fast as I can, it is more visual. When I am reading a favorite book or passage, I intentionally slow down and sound the words out to enjoy their "flavor," if you will allow.  Most of the time, it is somewhere in between.


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## LunaraSeries (Jun 19, 2011)

I agree. I'm a medium speed reader. I find if I go too fast I miss the visuals the author is trying to paint.  Getting the gist of a page or paragraph isn't enough.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

I read a lot, but not especially fast.  I also like to read every word and enjoy the language.  Different texts are read at various speeds.  I can scan fast paced action books or YA, but I tend to like them less for the practice.  Speed doesn't make writing better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

I don't hear the words in my head. Never have, unless I consciously decide to read them "aloud" (but in my head). When I hit a phrase or paragraph that really hits me (or confuses me), I stop and re-read it "aloud" (in my head).


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

I hear the words in my head, and can't imagine reading any other way.  When I was learning to read, I sub vocalized the words, and my first grade teacher would swoop down on me when she caught me doing it in class.  I had to work to stop muttering the words under my breath, but it is good that she was attentive enough to notice what I was doing and correct it!  I'm sure that background is at least part of why I hear the words decades later.


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## sheiler1963 (Nov 23, 2011)

I took one of those classes that The Hooded Claw spoke of in high school. I don't remember the numbers other than I was about at the 1/2 way point between a 'speed reader' and the normal reader.
Stories are things I can soak up and read a few lines at a time. It's like I point my eyes in the middle of the paragraph and it just sinks in and I'm immersed in it. I'm not really *reading* it, I'm there like a fly on the wall sometimes, or sometimes actually living through a character. When I read stories seeing the word 'cat' brings up a mental image of a furry feline. Seeing the word 'hat' brings on the image of something worn on a head. Therefore 'cat' and 'hat' as rhymes made no sense to me when I was a kidlet.
Other things I read are tedious and with these I have the attention span of a gnat. These things would include stuff like instructions for filling out my tax forms, un-effing my computer, printing off a boarding pass for a plane, sending in a rebate form and all manner of other mundane things....for these I have to check each and every line over and over again, line by line


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

I'm a natural speed reader.  I do not skim, I read every word.  For me, I think it's because I started reading early, and the more I read, the faster I got it.  As reading comprehension tests have shown over the years, I do not miss anything when I read.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

I'm a fairly slow reader and often go back to reread portions, either to help me better understand what's happening or because a particular page is so good I want to read it twice. 

But some of my friends are super fast and they like to scan and skip sections, even when reading their favorite books. It's just how they do it. When I discuss a book with them, they always seem to have a good understanding of what happened in it, so I chalk it up to faster brains.   Many of them read way more than I do, so maybe it's a habit developed by the heaviest readers to help them whittle down those massive TBR piles.

Oh and yes, I do "hear" the words when I first start reading a book but once I get immersed in the action I no longer hear them and it becomes something more like a movie, where I'm taking information in but am not aware of it as words.


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## Sarah Peters (May 12, 2012)

I read really fast but don't realize it. I read every word and savor it. I see a little movie in my head and understand everything I read. My friend's make fun of me because I have a different book everyday (sometimes every other  ). But with life being life I am getting more busy than ever and I can't read as much. Reading is like breathing to me and comes very naturally, yet I re-read books or phrases that I love often in between my billion other books. If anything, I force myself to put down I book and try to take more that 1 day to read it so I can mull over things over that happen in the book and try to guess whats going to happen next. I never feel like I am missing anything because I will read a book about as many times as their are books in that series times 5. I really like to read.


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## Not Here (May 23, 2011)

I just don't see why people care either way how others read. We all read at our own pace. Nothing to brag about on both ends of this and I'm certainly not going to jump to any assumptions as to how much people take from it. Mainly because I don't really care. They want to skim then that's on them.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

I zone out when reading, reality just fades away. I get totally engrossed in whatever it is, to the point that if someone in reality wants my attention, they have to touch me. Really fabulous books play in my head like a movie as I read them. This is one of the reasons that typos and poorly worded sentences jar me badly while reading, they pull me completely out of my zone.


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

Bethany B. said:


> I just don't see why people care either way how others read. We all read at our own pace. Nothing to brag about on both ends of this and I'm certainly not going to jump to any assumptions as to how much people take from it. Mainly because I don't really care. They want to skim then that's on them.


Seriously.


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## Alle Meine Entchen (Dec 6, 2009)

BTackitt said:


> I zone out when reading, reality just fades away. I get totally engrossed in whatever it is, to the point that if someone in reality wants my attention, they have to touch me. Really fabulous books play in my head like a movie as I read them. This is one of the reasons that typos and poorly worded sentences jar me badly while reading, they pull me completely out of my zone.


the same for me, but I read all the time as a kid and I still read a lot (but not as much since I have small kids). It boggles my mind when I come across someone who doesn't read as fast. Dh is dislexic and he doesn't believe me when I read at my normal speed. He thinks I skip and skim too.


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## Sarah Peters (May 12, 2012)

Just because your dyslexic doesn't mean you cannot read. I am dyslexic too, but I had 2 tutors when I was little. Now I am a great reader but I suck at writing. I agree though that when I really get into a book, but there are a bunch of typing errors and grammar problems, I totally disconnect to that book and can't really get back in to it for a while.


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## ChrisWard (Mar 10, 2012)

D.A. said:


> I'm not a speed reader = I'm a SSR - super slow reader. I like to read every word -- purposefully. For you speed readers out there, who brag about it, aren't you missing something? How long can you muse over a poignant metaphor or burst of lyrical language if you're scanning? Is speed reading genre specific? Or are there people out there speeding reading _Infinite Jest_?


Haha, a mate offered to lend me Infinite Jest last weekend. At the speed I read (about a book every two months) it would take me years. I read roughly 40 pages an hour, I just have hardly any free time.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

D.A. said:


> I'm not a speed reader = I'm a SSR - super slow reader. I like to read every word -- purposefully. For you speed readers out there, who brag about it, aren't you missing something? How long can you muse over a poignant metaphor or burst of lyrical language if you're scanning? Is speed reading genre specific? Or are there people out there speeding reading _Infinite Jest_?


Nope, don't think I'm missing anything. I don't really enjoy musing over a poignant metaphor or a burst of lyrical language. I'm a plain Jane kind of gal. That sort of thing doesn't do much for me. Sure, I'll pause now and then when something hits just right (a nerve, an emotion, a perfect description) but I have no desire to wallow or be swallowed by it. The real thing moves me when I'm hiking or enjoying life, but I don't need a lot of it in books and actually avoid overly descriptive or flowery language in my reading. I simply do not enjoy it in books.


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## Todd Trumpet (Sep 7, 2011)

"I took a speed reading course and read 'War and Peace' in twenty minutes. It involves Russia."

- Woody Allen


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## Beatriz (Feb 22, 2011)

Atunah said:


> I wouldn't call myself a speed reader, I read pretty fast I think. And yes, I read pretty much every word. I love to read and I love to read enjoyable books. If I had to skip over lots of stuff, I wouldn't enjoy it and stop reading. I don't scan, I read.
> 
> I wish I could read as fast as some. There are so many books I want to read still.
> 
> The faster I read, the more enjoyable great books I can get to in my puny human life span.


I'm a pretty fast reader but there are some books that are just oh, so exquisite you want to savor each and every word, and for those rare books, gems really, I read them very, very slowly, loving every minute of it and blessing the author.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

NogDog said:


> For those of you who read fast but still read every word, do you _hear_ the words as you read them or just see them and consume them purely visually?


This is a very good question. I do read fast and for the most part, I read everyone word when I'm reading for pleasure. If I start skipping over sections, it's usually because I'm not all that wrapped up in the book. I think how I perceive the words varies depending on the type of book I'm reading. I don't really sound out words as I read - it's more of a simple recognition of the word as a whole. Sometimes, I perceive the book as a narration with the voices in my head telling me a story (Not the scary voices - the nice ones). Other times I perceive it as full visuals. When the book is perceived as words on a page without any kind of voice, then I'm most likely not going to finish it as it's just not working for me.

Now, Sometimes I will stop if a passage is particularly well written and just enjoy the words (Let out my inner English Major for a moment) but for the most part, I read for the story and not the artistic merit. I have re-read some of the books read in school as literary fiction and I re-read them for the pleasure of their company but since college I've really never returned to reading a book for the metaphorical content and literary merit. If its there, then GREAT, but that's not why I read a book.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Beatriz said:


> I'm a pretty fast reader but there are some books that are just oh, so exquisite you want to savor each and every word, and for those rare books, gems really, I read them very, very slowly, loving every minute of it and blessing the author.


Oh, I do the same. Savor each word in some segments. I just don't do it slow. I still read fast. I can't read in slow motion. I still love ever moment of it, just not slow. I can't even listen to audiobooks as my inner voice is faster than the narrator and then I drift off.

I was trying to put in words how reading feels to me since others have described it. I don't have a voice really. I don't hear the words in my head when I read. I am kind of _in_ the story. I am there and living it. Not exactly like a movie, more like an experience on a different level. When I watch a movie, I am still mentally there for everything else going on around me. When I read, I am just gone from the here and there, I am emotionally and intellectually on a trip. My brain is in the story. 
I can snap out of it and 2 hours are gone and I have to pee 

I don't know how to describe that, but that is why I love reading so much. And they must be good books, so I can go "there". Wherever there is. Some books just don't do that for me and then I drift, read a sentence and look up, look out the window, just get bored. Then I need to just stop with that book.

I can go back and enjoy a section again, its like rewind of my brain I guess


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

D.A. said:


> I'm not a speed reader = I'm a SSR - super slow reader. I like to read every word -- purposefully. For you speed readers out there, who brag about it, aren't you missing something? How long can you muse over a poignant metaphor or burst of lyrical language if you're scanning? Is speed reading genre specific? Or are there people out there speeding reading _Infinite Jest_?


I'm a pretty fst reader. And I enjoy the way language is used in telling a story, but not for its own sake. I enjoy the language for the way it invokes the story. One of the things I love about the Kindle is that I can highlight passages that strike me so I can find them later.

Betsy


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

To the question of whether I hear words or consume them visually:  It's visual.  I know this because while I know the meaning of a lot of words, I don't actually know how to say them.  I don't try to pronounce them as I read them.  My husband frequently corrects my pronunciation, and I also tend to use words he's never even heard of (and then he looks them up because he's pretty sure I'm pronouncing them wrong!)  

People often complain about complex names in fantasy and while I don't like them all that much, I don't really care. I don't try to pronounce them.  If the name is Xechse, that becomes "X" in my mind and the rest of the letters just don't matter to me.  If the author was trying for a lyrical name, it's going to be lost on me.


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## Jon Olson (Dec 10, 2010)

I am not a fast reader, but I agree with Hooded Claw. Pulling content out of a book, especially nonfiction, is different than reading for pleasure. Speedreading, I think, is like watching a movie in fast-motion. Who cares?


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

I am a fairly fast reader and I actually have to force myself to slow down to enjoy some books a bit more. 

However, there are exceptions in my ability to read fast - after reading in English for over 2 decades, it is still a bit harder for me to process some sentences and paragraphs written by some (not all) Canadian, Australian and Irish authors. It's not only because of the "slang" - there seem to be unpredictable varieties of grammatical preferences and the sentence structure that really slow me down.  I wonder if American and British readers have the same problem. Probably not, it must be easier to absorb effortlessly all the regional differences in your native language.


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## Pawz4me (Feb 14, 2009)

I'm probably somewhere between average and fast when it comes to reading speed.

I'm amazed that some people don't hear words as they're reading them.  I do.  It's like I'm reading aloud silently (if that makes sense). I just assumed everyone read that way, but now I'm puzzling about how one could not hear them.  Very interesting.


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## sheiler1963 (Nov 23, 2011)

I *hear* words when they are part of a dialog being spoken by a character. The rest of the time I have pictures in my head.



MariaESchneider said:


> To the question of whether I hear words or consume them visually: It's visual. I know this because while I know the meaning of a lot of words, I don't actually know how to say them. I don't try to pronounce them as I read them. My husband frequently corrects my pronunciation, and I also tend to use words he's never even heard of (and then he looks them up because he's pretty sure I'm pronouncing them wrong!)
> 
> People often complain about complex names in fantasy and while I don't like them all that much, I don't really care. I don't try to pronounce them. If the name is Xechse, that becomes "X" in my mind and the rest of the letters just don't matter to me. If the author was trying for a lyrical name, it's going to be lost on me.


 This is true for me. There are many words that I read and understand, but rarely or have never heard spoken aloud, and yet there meaning is clear to me. The same is true for complex names. The example above would just create a picture in my head of the character w/o a pause in my reading.



Alle Meine Entchen said:


> the same for me, but I read all the time as a kid and I still read a lot (but not as much since I have small kids). It boggles my mind when I come across someone who doesn't read as fast. Dh is dislexic and he doesn't believe me when I read at my normal speed. He thinks I skip and skim too.


I read a newspaper every day during my break times at work and it used to drive me to distraction when people would come up and start trying to read over my shoulder. I would be done with an article and then feel as if I had to sit there patiently while waiting for them to finish.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

Jon Olson said:


> I am not a fast reader, but I agree with Hooded Claw. Pulling content out of a book, especially nonfiction, is different than reading for pleasure. Speedreading, I think, is like watching a movie in fast-motion. Who cares?


I'm sorry you think speedreading is like watching a movie in fast-motion. Because, for me, it's not. It's just the speed at which I read. I don't scan, I don't skim. I read. I just read at a faster rate than some other people. I don't think I'm a better reader or a worse one. Just a different one.


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## JETaylor (Jan 25, 2011)

BTackitt said:


> I zone out when reading, reality just fades away. I get totally engrossed in whatever it is, to the point that if someone in reality wants my attention, they have to touch me. Really fabulous books play in my head like a movie as I read them. This is one of the reasons that typos and poorly worded sentences jar me badly while reading, they pull me completely out of my zone.


I'm very much like this - but I also read fast. I read the unabridged version of The Stand in one day. I can consume and comprehed information very quickly but I'm not a true speed reader. And when I'm in a book - forget it - the world could crash around me and I wouldn't be any wiser until I finished the book.

Both of these attributes have helped quite a bit with the day job too. I'm one of those annoying people who don't have a backlog of emails even though I get from as little as 50 to upwards of 200 a day - read, responded and filed.


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## Verbena (Sep 1, 2011)

I'm not a speed reader,too.
I think I only read 10000 words an hour.Perharps,it can experience more fun in these books.


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## morantis (May 8, 2012)

I can speed read, but for me it is a tool to be used when I need to.  If I am going over some tech data or re-reading a script that one of our authors has written, then I scan it.  If I am reading something for pleasure or to fully ingest it, I read slower.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I think there's a distinction between being a fast reader and being a 'speed reader'.  As far as I know 'speed reading' is a specific skill that very few do naturally. . .but that can be taught pretty easily to most readers.  It's designed to let you absorb meaning from a lot of text efficiently.

Some readers just naturally read fast -- or slow -- and which it is isn't really important.  I'm pretty sure I read at different speeds depending on what and why I'm reading.


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## Seleya (Feb 25, 2011)

I am a naturally fast reader (took a test, my normal speed in English, which isn't my mother tongue, is 562 words per minute with full text comprehension).
At my normal speed, when I read I _am_ in the story. It is difficult to explain, I neither hear the words or see the scenes as a movie (sometimes I'm not even conscious of what language I'm reading in), if anything I experience the story with myself inside it as an observer, in the meanwhile I am 'dead to the world' if anybody needs me they have to touch me otherwise I don't hear or see them.

I skim only if the book doesn't really engage me, and in that case I'm fully aware of my surroundings, I can speed-read if needed but I only do it with things I _have _ to read (mostly books or papers I need for work).


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## Kevis Hendrickson (Feb 28, 2009)

Krista D. Ball said:


> For you super slow readers out there, who brag about it, aren't you missing something in way of all the books you won't ever be able to get to


If there's a place in hell reserved for the slowest reader alive, I've already got my ticket booked.  It's not that I can't read fast. I just don't like racing through pages. I tend to linger over every word and savor each delicious morsel of an author's prose. Now if the book stinks, then I go into speed reading mode and skim along until the book picks up its quality (that is, assuming I bother to finish the book at all).


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## Krista D. Ball (Mar 8, 2011)

My partner is an uber slow reader. To help him with A Dance of Dragons, he's actually reading the ebook while listening to the audiobook.


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## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

Dara England said:


> Oh and yes, I do "hear" the words when I first start reading a book but once I get immersed in the action I no longer hear them and it becomes something more like a movie, where I'm taking information in but am not aware of it as words.


If I'm forced to think about it, I will hear the words. But otherwise I don't. Once I'm immersed in the story, I no longer hear them, I almost don't even see them; I almost forget that I am reading words instead of being present.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

QuantumIguana said:


> If I'm forced to think about it, I will hear the words. But otherwise I don't. Once I'm immersed in the story, I no longer hear them, I almost don't even see them; I almost forget that I am reading words instead of being present.


This is why movies made from books almost always disappoint me. What happens on the screen never comes up to the scenes in my head.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I am hardly a speed reader, but I read fairly quickly.  I don't read to be overly impressed by the language or to ponder a well-done phrase.  I read to be entertained, so I read at a speed that helps me move the story along.


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## dmoonfire (May 7, 2012)

I would consider myself a fast reader (most 300 pages books is a 2 hour affair). I don't skim and I remember almost everything I read. Actually, I have around a hundred book buffer (I have to read around a hundred books before I can go back to the book, otherwise I remember everything).

I think that speed came from the old IBM AT computers. Back in the day, my dad got a brand new computer. I got to mess around, but one of the things I hated was "type" on a file and having to pause. So, I learned how to read without Control-S (pause) and Control-Q (resume). As his machines steadily got faster, I kept up with it until somewhere in the Pentium days which I simply couldn't read without pausing. At that point, I was reading pretty quickly.

I also memorize a lot for my job (I'm a programmer) and for fun (gamer, spell stats, etc).

I think everyone is different and that is fine. It gets anxious when I to talk about a book, but I have to wait the three months for my friends to finish it (one of them read about 10 pages/day). They sometimes caught things I don't get (I have trouble with dense paragraphs of large words) but we can still talk about the books and that's all that matters, right?


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## Katie Salidas (Mar 21, 2010)

I fall into the category of super slow readers. I've never understood how a person can finish a book in one day. It takes me at least a week to read a standard novel. Not that I'm complaining. I do love to savor my stories. I like that a book takes me a few days to get through. That way I don't go broke constantly buying new ones to keep up. LoL.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

dmoonfire said:


> I would consider myself a fast reader (most 300 pages books is a 2 hour affair). I don't skim and I remember almost everything I read. Actually, I have around a hundred book buffer (I have to read around a hundred books before I can go back to the book, otherwise I remember everything).
> 
> I think that speed came from the old IBM AT computers. Back in the day, my dad got a brand new computer. I got to mess around, but one of the things I hated was "type" on a file and having to pause. So, I learned how to read without Control-S (pause) and Control-Q (resume). As his machines steadily got faster, I kept up with it until somewhere in the Pentium days which I simply couldn't read without pausing. At that point, I was reading pretty quickly.
> 
> ...


Yup. So far as I'm concerned, that is all that matters!!!


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## RichardHein (Jun 8, 2011)

Surprised at the "I can't do it/don't understand it, so neither can you" comments. Is it that hard to believe that some people can read pretty fast and have high retention? I admit, I've slowed my reading some over the last few years - mostly because I'm spending time analyzing prose and voice as I read - but it's not uncommon for me to finish 300 pages in 3 hours or so.

I don't read each individual word. I catch a fragment or phrase as a whole. I don't "hear" the words as I read, unless I'm hit with an unfamiliar word - in which case I'll pause and review it. Complex and apostrophe-ridden fantasy names are ignored, and I recognize them by sight, rather than by "sound". There's some exceptionally large fantasy series I've read repeatedly and comfortably, but the first time I tried to have a discussion about them aloud with friends I found I couldn't pronounce a single name, as I'd never sounded it out in my mind. It's all character recognition.

I retain really well. I've never re-read a book and discovered that I'd missed a pivotal sentence or scene. I don't "skim", I just don't read each word. I'm not enjoying the book any less than you because I can read quicker.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I don't think most posters are implying that if they can't do it then no one else can.  

Just as I don't think those who read fast mean to sound defensive when reiterating that they don't 'skim' or that they grasp the content perfectly well, thank you.  

It's kind of like how I know there are people who really like lima beans:  I know this intellectually, but emotionally I can't begin to understand it.    But as long as you don't make me eat them, I'm fine with it.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> It's kind of like how I know there are people who really like lima beans: I know this intellectually, but emotionally I can't begin to understand it.   But as long as you don't make me eat them, I'm fine with it.


Fry them in butter after they are cooked. Yum


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Atunah said:


> Fry them in butter after they are cooked. Yum


No, thank you. They'll still make me gag!  But you go ahead. . . . .


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## Alpha72 (May 9, 2012)

I understand your point, and it is a fair one. Sometimes speed is not the best thing in the world, but I can understand why people would want to go more quickly. There is so much out there to learn and understand. It is definitely an issue.


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

It really has nothing to do with 'wanting' to go more quickly. It's just the speed at which some of us read. I read fast, it's just what/how I do. I would have to *force* myself to read slowly (like when I'm beta reading for someone, which I do for a few folks). But reading fast doesn't mean I don't enjoy and comprehend what I read.  And no, that doesn't make it 'definitely an issue'. Whose issue? It's just how I read. Why does someone reading faster than someone else make it an 'issue' or a bad thing? It's no one else's business, really....


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## Annalog (Dec 28, 2008)

Steph H said:


> It really has nothing to do with 'wanting' to go more quickly. It's just the speed at which some of us read. I read fast, it's just what/how I do. I would have to *force* myself to read slowly (like when I'm beta reading for someone, which I do for a few folks). ...


While reading _War and Peace_ as a freshman in high school I thought that the reason that I could not keep the names of the characters straight was because I was reading too fast. I consciously tried to read slower and found I could not maintain a slower speed. I decided that if I turned the book upside down that it would force me to read slower.  That worked for an hour or so. Eventually I found that I was reading nearly as fast with the text upside down as with the text rightside up. (The same is true for me with mirror text. ) I realized that when I become involved with what I am reading, my mind seems to determine the rate I read; usually the rate is fast and sometimes it is slower. (I also now know that, when reading a book such as _War and Peace_, a "Cast of Characters" complete with nicknames is essential for me as I am not good with names. )

If I try to think about how I am reading, then I do not read as easily. I cannot change my reading speed without thinking about how I am reading so I don't usually think about it; I just read.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I had to think about this a bit more. Its almost like time changes when I read. I mean I read fast, but it doesn't come out like fast forward in my brain to me. Its just like time moves differently when I read. Its just normal to me, but if I were to read out loud as fast as I read, it would probably sound like a fast tape. I just think its so hard to explain, as all our brains work differently and we all read in a different speed. 

Doesn't mean we are purposely speeding through a book just for the sake of speeding through it. Whats the point in that. 
Unless its something I had to do way way back in school where I was lazy and had to do a report on a novel in like an hour.  

But we are talking about leisure reading here. Reading for me transcends time and place. I am just .. there.


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## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

I read at the speed I read. If I deliberately slowed down, I think I would get less out of the story.


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## Margo Karasek (Feb 29, 2012)

I'm a very fast reader. I never skim and I definitely hear the words. But I never consciously made the decision to "read fast." It just happened, mostly in law school. For three years we were trained to read quickly--but thoroughly--because there was a lot of material to get through. Law school is done but I cannot "unlearn" what was pushed on me, nor do I want to. My reading experience never changed, I just get to go through more books.


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