Tuesday, August 9, 2011

I'm Fast, But Not When I'm Slow

Davin has called me a fast reader. What he doesn't see is all the time I'm not reading. I currently have six books lined up to read in my immediate pile. I'm halfway through a good friend's manuscript, and I can't seem to sit down and finish it because I've been too distracted and busy with other things that won't leave me alone. I should probably be reading that manuscript instead of writing this post, but I don't think my daughter would let me. As soon as I sit down with the Kindle, she won't leave me alone. This is a problem.

What I mean by the title of this post is that when I finally do get around to reading, I'm fast. Really fast. It's actually getting there that's the problem. Am I the only one in this boat? I usually tell people I'm a slow reader, but that's not accurate at all. Also, it's rare that I read "slowly" because I don't like the book. If that's ever the case, I'm honest with the reader and let them know that the book is slow for me because of certain things. That's the whole point of reading for someone, anyway. As far as published books go, those seem to make it lower on my list if a writer is waiting for feedback on something. Speaking of which I have some reading to go do...

Are you a fast reader? How long does it take you to finish a book on average? For me it's 2 - 3 days if it's a full-length novel. If I didn't have to clean my house, take care of my child, or do anything else, I could probably read one to two books a day.

30 comments:

  1. I'm all over the board. The fastest I've read a novel recently was finishing THE TAVERNIER STONES in one sitting...but I was on a 14-hour flight to Tokyo (to be followed by a 4-hour flight to Manila) so it was easy to stay put and read. Plus I finished a book on the flight before starting TAVERNIER and started a new one after.

    When I don't have the luxurious isolation afforded by intercontinental flights, my reading time slows way down. It's worse now that summer is almost over and football practice for one son, Tae-Kwon-Do for the other, and piano lessons for both have entered the weekly schedule (which still has lawn mowing, exercise, and that damn day job in its bowels...sorry for that mental image, but it's accurate).

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  2. I generally read a book every 2-3 days too--if it's on my Kindle. It's so easy to take the Kindle with me wherever I go, so I take advantage of "dead time" (like bathroom trips or waiting in the doctor's office) to read. Paper books, on the other hand, languish in my house until I have a couple of minutes to look at them. (With a young child, I don't get much sit-down-to-read time.) It can take me weeks or even a couple of months to finish a paper book.

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  3. I read fast when I can't put the book down. I have read books in one sitting, which doesn't go well with my kids. =)

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  4. I read very fast, and I hate it when I'm interrupted, which is why I rarely read when my students have reading time at school (because I have to scan the room for proper behavior at least every 2 minutes, so interrupting my reading would be awful. I grade papers at that time instead.).
    Our school librarian is a great guy and knows lots of ways to get kids excited about reading, but he's not a fast reader. One of the reasons I began a book review blog is because I read so much for him. I can zip through the average YA novel in about 3 hours, so it's a way to relax in the evenings for me.
    Adult fiction of average length usually takes me 3-6 hours. For example, when Jurassic Park first was released as a novel, I read through those 400 pages in 4 hours because it was such a fast-paced book.

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  5. I'm a fairly fast reader, at least that's what I've been told.


    I have very little reading time anymore, which I hate, but that's how it is. If I didn't have a boyfriend, a cat, and a condo to clean - I could prolly read more.

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  6. I just finished book #100 for this year, but I don't know that I read that quickly -- I just read a lot. I read during my half-hour bus commute twice a day, often during lunch, and a couple of hours in the evening.

    I typically have 2-4 books going at the same time, about half fiction and half nonfiction. Right now I'm reading a mystery novel, a children's (middle-grade) novel, an archaeology survey, and a book on Zen Buddhism.

    -Alex MacKenzie

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  7. I read FAIRLY fast but I write REALLY slow. I would love to switch the two around if I could but I know it is not gonna happen. DANG!

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  8. Michelle, I am exactly like you. hard to find time, but once I start I'm more likely than not to stay up until 4 in the morning to finish. The only exception is books I think I "should" read. I am having the hardest time finishing a (very long) famous novel by a famous Turkish author. But I still keep trying. :)

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  9. Rick: Airplane rides are the best place for reading a novel. Unless you have children with you...

    Sandra: Yeah, young children make it kind of impossible most of the time. My mom said she didn't read much when we were kids. Now she's reading a book every single day.

    E: Hah, I bet!

    English: Oh, that's awesome about your school librarian! I'll bet he really appreciates that. Wow, you are faster than me! You must have read Cinders in like an hour. :)

    Cynthia: Funny how real life just interrupts that reading time. I know how you feel, lol.

    Alex: Book 100?! Wow. Wish I had read that many. Maybe a third of that... :)

    Marty: Your play is on my list, by the way. Sorry it's taking me so freaking long to get to it!

    ja: Yeah, I stay up late a lot to finish books. Hmm, I wonder who that famous Turkish author might be... ;)

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  10. When I was a kid I read a book every two days. Now it's more like two weeks for a 300-page novel, because I really only have time to read on my morning commute and for a little while in the evening. In January I was staying in a hotel on a business trip and I had a lot of down time so I managed to read two novels in three days.

    I always have a half dozen nonfiction books half-read sitting around that I'll read chapters from at irregular intervals. If someone asks me to read a MS or a story they've written, I prioritize that and try to read it in big chunks so I'm mindful of the writing. I plan to do a lot more sustained reading over the winter, when I plan to have no writing projects going. We'll see how that works.

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  11. Scott: I'm sending you a little paperback prize in the mail soon... :)

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  12. Am I the only slow reader here? Yes, finding the time to actual read is tough...and I don't prioritize that as much as I'd like to. But even when I do finally read, I'm still slow. This morning, on my bus ride (about 1 hour and 40 minutes), I read about 20 pages. That's how slow I am.

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  13. Davin: Well, how many words were on a page? Also, it depends on how dense a book is. If I'm reading Virginia Woolf, it seriously takes me forever. She's amazing and I savor every word and sometimes re-read whole passages several times before moving on.

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  14. I'm reading The Scarlet Letter and it does feel dense...or at least it makes me feel dense! There are still two paragraphs I skipped because I couldn't make any sense of them.

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  15. I'd be really interested to see which paragraphs you're talking about. That surprises me!

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  16. My husband laughs at me because I'll tear through most books in 1-2 days - it's just the way I am, my curiosity gets the best of me and I have to know how it all ends up. Unfortunately, I don't remember much beyond the basics when I'm done so I usually have to read it 2 or 3 times before I'll remember all the details. Only after a book has become a special favorite and I've read many times over do I usually allow myself to relax and just take it all in.

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  17. Eliza: I read books multiple times for that very reason. You're not alone. :)

    Scott: Scott!!! Um, don't you NEED a final print copy of Monarch. I know you do. So I'm sending you one. No arguing. :)

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  18. Michelle: Wow, thanks! I was actually going to buy a copy at a store. Will it be inscribed? Yay!

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  19. You sound like me. I am a pretty fast reader when I am actually reading..but getting there is often the problem these days...:(..However, it also depends on the book I am reading, some books are 'slower' than others and I need to take my time with them to truly enjoy them..

    Lavanya

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  20. I'm a speed reader. It's hard for me to slow down. Can generally read a 200 to 300 page book a day. Which is why I love reading series. As soon as done with one, just pick up the next one and continue. I did read War and Peace in two weeks.

    One thing I can't do is read several books at a time. Definitely not a multitasker when it comes to books. Probably should try slow down but it's so hard to read slowly. I don't retain as much. Once I start reading and into the story, I'm seeing it. Visual person. Don't watch much tv (only things dvr'd) and read while eating breakfast, lunch and when done with to do list for the day. Sometimes instead of to do list if really into the story *grin*

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  21. I'm pretty much the same, two to three days to finish one book. And I always read one book at a time. More than that, and I would probably confuse the plots.

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  22. Michelle, yes, I zipped through Cinders at top speed because I do that with books that really engage me, and I found Cinders to be a very engaging book.

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  23. First and foremost, I'm sure your friend understands that with everything you have going on personally and professionally, his or her manuscript may be temporarily lower in importance than either of you might like. I'm sure it's well understand that it's not personal or a case of the MS being so bad it's slow to pull yourself through. Your friend probably hopes that if you found it that bad you would just say, "Yo, this blows, I'm not wasting any more time on it."

    As for reading time, I'm lightning fast most of the time. Sometimes, some books compel a second, slower read once I'm done, but when I actually have time to read it's usually very fast.

    That's not a good thing necessarily, and I will neither bore you all nor embarrass myself with the reason I do read fast.

    I sometimes wish I read more Davin, but I can't pull it off. Domey is just too good.

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  24. I usually only sit down to read these days if I have absolutely nothing else that needs to get done. (Which is why my TBR pile is about 19 books long.) If the book is absolutely irresistible, it'll probably only take a few hours. If it's good, but doesn't grab me by the collar and drag me along, it can take a few days or (in one case) months. If I absolutely can't get into the book, it doesn't get finished.

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  25. Domey, you're not alone! I'm the world's slowest reader. I think I decided to be slow when I was about twelve. We were given a speed-reading course and I rebelled, saying "why would I want to read fast--I only get to take four books a week out of the library!" I got in soooo much trouble. But I still think the way they taught us to read only the first and last words of paragraphs and skim for meaning, but not music or poetry of the language, was wrong.

    I've stayed a slow reader my whole life. But that means if I've read your book, I've really read it.

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  26. I am a fast reader and always have been, primarily because if I love a book, I want to finish it and discover how everything comes together. However, now I seem to read even faster because of all the other things I need to do. Add in writing, and my reading seems to take on a warp speed. I have been on a "summer break" from writing and my Kindle has dozens of books I'm hoping to finish before I start up work as my son heads back to school. And as for timing, I usually wrap up a book in 2 days if I have plenty of time to read. If not, it could take a week. Oh, and for those really great books that I zip through? I go back and read them over and over!

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  27. I'm fairly fast, but I like to go slowly enough so that I can savor the words, and let 'em soak in. Sorta depends on the story, however. I definitely read the action/climax parts faster! I think it takes me about 6 hours to read an average book.

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  28. I'm fastish...if the book is interesting. If it's dull, I'm like lightning as I put it back on the shelf.

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  29. Wow, thanks for your input, everyone!

    Purple: Yep, it can most definitely depend on the book, too.

    Scott: Yes, signed and with a bookmark and poster, too. :)

    Robin and Aimee: I most definitely cannot read more than one book at at a time, no way!

    English: That makes me very happy. :)

    Nevets: I'm really happy and grateful this friend understands. :)

    Stephanie: Irresistible are the best books. I go through those SO fast.

    JL: I read books over and over too if I love them. I also have a terrible memory and forget everything that happened in the plot. :)

    Carol: That's really fast! Nice!

    Martin: Hahaha. :)

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