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How do some of you read so fast? I average about 3-5 books a month. Sometimes less and sometimes more. How about you guys? Just curious.

How do some of you read so fast? I average about 3-5 books a month. Sometimes less and sometimes more. How about you guys? Just curious.

Trista #questionnaire

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95 Answers

Ilja

I do the same as you. I also don’t understand how people can read that fast. But you should take some things into account. It highly depends on how long your books are and on how much reading time you have. In summer vacation I can read more than 3-5 books, but now I am doing a full-time master, I am happy if I reach 4. So it’s all just relative. Don’t ompare yourself too much 🙂 Although I understand the feeling that you want to read more books!

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TristaQuestion author

Ilja van Voorst lol oh I don’t! I would rather enjoy my book then speed to catch up at someone else’s speed. I can’t understand what im reading if I don’t read at my own speed. It just blows my mind. I think it’s cool some people can read like 200 book in a year and fully understand and retain what there reading. I’m just like how?!!???

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TristaQuestion author

@Ilja but you’re right about book thickness and other things to take in account. A way of Kings took me a full month! Lol

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Ilja

@Trista yeah, I totally understand you! I once encountered someone that was reading 2000 books because he has this fast-reading technique. And all I could think is: how do you even enjoy this at this point?!

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TristaQuestion author

@Ilja oh my word! Yeah, at that point I would question if he was even getting to enjoy them thoroughly.

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Martin

3-5 a month? And you complain other people read fast ?. I manage a book a month, maybe two.

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TristaQuestion author

@Martin lol thankfully I can read at work sometimes. Before then I would avg the same as you! ?

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Martin

I tried the 12 book challenge about 3 years ago and managed 10 in a year. And that was while I was single with no kids. I’m pretty good dam slow. Just waiting for retirement where I can read more ?

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TristaQuestion author

@Martin right? Maybe when we’re all elders of the world with responsibilities in the past we can be lazy and read all day non stop! Lol

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Davfyd

If I’m getting into it, I average about 100pages an hour more or less.
My wife has timed me?

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TristaQuestion author

@Davfyd oh I’m super jealous!

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TristaQuestion author

@Davfyd oh I’m super jealous!

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TristaQuestion author

@Davfyd I think I avg about 40 to 50 but every time I go to time myself I end up forgetting and keep reading. ???

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Davfyd

@Trista There is a series that I just couldn’t read quickly, it is called ‘First Man in Rome’ by Colleen McCullough.
Super heavy historical fiction, were at least a passing knowledge of ancient Mediteranian history and Latin is of huge benefit.
.
That series slowed me right down and not because I wasn’t getting into it either. It’s hands down the greatest historical fiction series ever written imho.

Just that it was written by a really serious scholar, for fellow scholars. So for me, without my background in studies for ancient history, I don’t think I could have read it at all.
I was literally googling latin words as I was reading?
Loved it though, because I love learning, but yeah, I’ll admit it, that was one series that took me forever to get through.

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TristaQuestion author

@Davfydoh lord. I couldn’t get through that. ??

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Davfyd

But I have also only read two books this year though…so just because I’m a pretty fast reader doesn’t mean I’m getting to read as much as I would like.

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TristaQuestion author

@Davfyd life gets hectic sometimes. Sadly hobbies aren’t always the priority. Lol

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Roger

I’ve gone to listening to everything on audible because I can do it at work almost the entire shift sometimes. This allows me to get through a lot more books than I used to when only reading them plus it frees up a lot of time when I’m home to do other things when I might have been reading instead. It’s been a good trade off but kinda expensive.

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TristaQuestion author

@Roger audiobooks help me a lot!!

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Sami

I skips the words and only look at the pictures ?

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TristaQuestion author

@Sami???

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Jessica

I’m insanely slow but I like to think that is because I like to grab every detail ??‍♀️. I am doing a book every couple of weeks

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Jessica

I also will flip back to the maps in my books to understand the distances the characters are covering…

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TristaQuestion author

@Jessica oh I do this!!! I want a full understanding though. Or like if a scene is really good I’ll reread it a couple of times to make sure I got everything! ???

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Aidan

I get through about 10 books a month, usually about as long as your general series book

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Aidan

Like 300-500k word count for those who don’t understand what I mean

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TristaQuestion author

@Aidan that’s awesome!

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Lucky

I read about 2-3 books a month

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Seth

I don’t see how you could think you’re a slow reader. I’m a little busy in school so I don’t get much time to read but never the less I still take a month or two just to finish one. I’m currently reading the lord of the rings and it took me 2 months for the fellowship and 6 weeks for the two towers.

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Rachel

I listen to my books with Audible and can listen while I work ( and pretty much everything else). I can easily go through a book a day. That’s a 8-10 hour book which is about 400- 500 pages. I’m very fortunate to be able to listen while working (factory work sewing) and enjoy it very much as it makes the day go so much faster.

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Concúbháir

um, I can’t put a book down once I start (If its good) and occasionally will read 2 books in a day, but only if the kids are away lol!

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TristaQuestion author

@Concúbháir that’s amazing. I have read a book in two days I couldn’t put down but that’s the fastest I’ve managed. Lol

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Concúbháir

Its not that great, it means I’m always struggling for something to read and its ended up that I’ve read every book I know a few hundred times 😛

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TristaQuestion author

Oh I see how that could be difficult! Lol

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Edward

If I’m of work about 300 pages a day

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Joanne

It depends on the size of the book for me, the pace of the story and what I have going on socially. Sometimes I can read 3 in a week and other times one in a month. I’m only at 28 books in my Goodreads reading challenge, so that is a good indicator.

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Nazli

I combine reading with listening to audiobooks while working so I go through quite a number of books in a month. If I were to only read I think I would just have time for 1-2 fat ones.

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Matt

Dude I might be able to make it through one a month.

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Olga

4-5 per month, unless one is 1500 pages. My average books has ~600-700 pages. On free days, I read book per day 🙂

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Stephanie

1 to 3 a week, depending on the writing. I had to slow that way down when I read Wheel of Time, they took me a couple weeks a book.

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Brett

I’m lucky if it’s two a month. Between family stuff work & other commitments. I hardly get to sit my arse down

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TristaQuestion author

@Brett yeah sometimes it’s hard just to sit down and actually read.

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Megan

Well if I didn’t have a very talkative 8 year old I’d probably be reading much more. I also have a chronic illness which causes me to be extra tired most of the time. Between the two it can be challenging to find time to read. But honestly I’m just happy that I’ve kept this passion for so many years. ❤️

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TristaQuestion author

@Megan I know all about talkative kids! ?

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Aylene

2-3 a week bit I read 2-6 hours a night. I also only kindle so never quite sure how big a book is. WOT took me nearly 3 weeks then saw a pic of the actual books…

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Sean

Each person reads at their own pace. I am a fast reader . Also depends on book size you read as well as how much time you can read.

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Nathan

If I didn’t have a 4 year old I’d be able to read lots more haha. But for me now I get about 2 read per month

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Jennifer

I listen to audiobooks while I work and read at home. I usually read 3-6 books a week depending on the size.

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Debra

Audiobooks are the way to go. I’m a fast reader, but it’s still hard to find time to sit down and read. With audiobooks you can multitask when you’re driving, doing dishes, cooking, etc.

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Adam

If it wasn’t for audiobooks I would read 1 book per month, if that. With them I listen to 8-10 per month.

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Zebron

I read slowly.

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Cherilyn

I also use audiobooks to get more reading in. I have kids so when I am doing chores I listen to my books. I check them out from the library to save money. I still read books, but usually not until I go to bed. Audiobooks are life for a parent with a busy schedule

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Jonathan

That’s alot of books

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TristaQuestion author

@Jonathan audiobooks help a lot for me to get through some. Lol

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Jonathan

@Trista I never could focus on the audiobooks well enough

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Jonathan

Barely read on my days off maybe an hour a day at work I read as much as possible which is a couple hundred pages. Started wheel of time in August and only half through 9.

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Dawn

1 or 2 a month for me. I am a full-time delivery driver for a coffee company and I work at least 50 hours a week so a lot of my weekend free time is spent grocery shopping house cleaning Etc but when I have a chance to finally sit down and read I try to read as much as possible in one sitting. I’m currently reading the gentleman bastard series and I’ll be honest with you as much as I loved the first book I’m struggling on book 2 I’m not even halfway through it and I keep thinking I need to just plow through it but it’s not holding my interest like I was hoping it would. Maybe once I get past a certain point I will be fully committed again.

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TristaQuestion author

@Dawn I’ve never read that but I hope it gets better!

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Dawn

Thank you Trista me too. I have read comments from people who have already read the series and they say it is really great. The first book took me about a hundred and fifty pages to get warmed up to because it is a bit slow but then it was fantastic. So I started book number two and I’m really kind of struggling because they are still setting up the entire plot and there hasn’t been a whole lot of action yet so I’m really hoping it breaks loose soon!

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TristaQuestion author

@Dawn ?

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Ian

I have employment that allows me to read whilst working. Hence I can average three or four books a week. Though I have just read six books in four days….

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Matt

Jeez what do you do for a living?

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Ian

@Matt Security

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Matt

Nice. My brother works for securitas. It all makes sense now lol

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TristaQuestion author

@Ian i get to read at work too sometimes. It helps. We’ve been hella busy lately so I haven’t gotten to.

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Ian

@Trista We both love reading at work don’t we? But as you say sometimes it’s just too busy….

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Sue

I usually read at least 3-4 books a week. Of course, I’m retired, so have more time to read, but I also read fast. For example, on my kindle if a book take an average of seven hours to read, when I start reading, the time drops to maybe three hours 40 minutes.

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TristaQuestion author

@Sue that’s so cool imo. Lol

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Elisabeth

I average around 1 book a month..

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Kahla

I read about 12 books a month on average. I usually read for at least an hour every day before bed. I also listen to audiobooks sometimes while I do housework or if I’m driving. And I read ebooks on my phone when I have spare time as I’m out and about.

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Hawk

I read pretty fast, but I also read for at least an hour before bed every night and quite a bit on breaks during the day if I get some down time, like my lunch break.

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TristaQuestion author

@Hawk getting it done!

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Emma

Audiobooks help me power through 10-15/ month. Sometimes more. Also reading late (bad choice) and refusing to go to sleep (worse choice).

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TristaQuestion author

@Emma hahaha if I had a chance to get more than 4 hours of sleep I’d be doing this too!

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Ian

@Emma This is me too! Who needs sleep??

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Magda

Always 2 books on the go. One audio book and one on my kindle. With an audio book I can “read” while my hands are busy with chores, gardening, cooking, driving, knitting.

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Giles

I probably read more slowly than you. Folks who read 100 pages an hour (I had a gf in college who did this) really suffer on retention, and also, why read at all then?

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Roger

I also find that when I really like something I tend to speed up and consume it too fast. And by getting through it too fast I will miss things and end up forgetting the story even tho I’m loving it during the read.
Does that make sense?

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Giles

Yeah, and certain books are built for that. I do that with Mark Lawrence’s books; I reread his trilogy and thought, wow, the economy of language is excellent. Joe Abercrombie was slightly the same; I remember finishing the First Law Series and thinking, ok Glokta and the Bloody Nine are freakin’ amazing, but the resolution seemed like a one trick pony. It took his ‘holy jesus christ this is good’ book Best Served Cold to make me re-read the First Law and come to a more positive outcome.

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Angela

I go through phases. I can’t work any more so sometimes if I get into a series I will read a book every day. I read pretty quickly. Usually it’s only 2 or 3 a week, though.

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Skye

From Nov 7 to Nov 21, I’ve read 14 books. 6 from D Rus’s Alterword, 7 from The Land, and one from The World. I tend to take my time and make sure i read every word. If i read too fast, I end up flipping pages back and forth because i don’t understand what happened.

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Tegan

Depending on my schedual and the books 3 books per week sometime 2 per week sometimes 1 a month it varies .

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Lucas

It depends. In the 4 months of summer I’ll read a lot. It also depends on my mood. Soemtimes I’ll read 2 books a week and hten touch nothing for months.

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Bryttany

I’ve read like 9 books last month ?

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Zebron

me too (counting kids books!)

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Matt

A lot of people read fast but don’t retain.

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Charlotte

I can read a book a day x

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Hasan

Try this, Speed Reading by Justin Hammond.

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Jole

Time

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Linda

I read about 5. I am such a slow coach, lol.

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Do'h

I cheat, I listen to books, to be honest if I had to read a book, it would take me about may be a year.

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Roger

@Do'h I don’t think it’s cheating at all. It is a different experience imo but it’s not cheating. You’re still consuming the material, just in a different way.

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Do'h

@Roger that’s very true, I do get lost in the books I listen to, and the good thing about it is i can listen to them anywhere.

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Lauren

Since February I’ve read 110 books and am currently on #111. I am a pretty fast reader so that’s the only way it’s possible since I have two little girls who don’t give me a lot of time.

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Jonathan

That’s super fast

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