Julie Walker

Just curious.Some people seem to be able to put everything out of there minds & dig into a novel for hours.While others get easily interrupted & thus take there time reading a novel.

I'm sort of stuck in the middle of the two.Sometimes i can really get into a book & finish it quickly since i can't put it down. These books i usualy finish within a few weeks to a month at most(400-600 page American Psycho & Desperation being prime examples).Since while busy,i would read at least one-two chapters a day,until finished.The great part of stopping at certain cliff hanger chapters is it gets you pumped up for the next chapter to find out what happens.

While other books while good/great have taken me outrageous amount of time to finish thanks to many interruptions & things on my mind ruining my concentration(school,work..& so on). A good example would be Fight Club.The book is only about 200 pages.Should be a quick read.Yet it took me a whole year to finish!


Since i kept putting it off,for weeks or months at a time,since i had started another novel(Crimson Kiss)...& then eventually finished it once i had to time to continue & put the other book off for abit.


Meanwhile the stack of 'to read' pile keeps on getting higher.

I'm now reading Myra Breckinridge.Should hopefully finish that soon.Finished up See No Evil by reading it for 5 straight hours late one night last week since i finally had privacy!

I'm planning on getting back to Crimson Kiss soon hopefully & finish that up.

Then i have Valley of the Dolls,Slaughterhouse Five,The Mosquito Coast,The Dark Tower series(re-read),all of Brett Easton Ellis(re-read) novels in order this time.

Not to mention various Clive Barker & Stephen King novels & short story collections. Also thinking about picking up A Clockwork Orange,other novesl by the author of Fight Club..& plenty of other novels.

It could be years until i'm finished with all of the above & then some.Still i like taking my time(though not to much time like Fight Club) & letting the story last over a few weeks or so.Since it's fun,interesting..& something to look forward to,to pass the time away.

Geofferson

I finish them a lot quicker in the winter.

Recently, I've been reading a novel a week (300-500 pages on average).

Alien Redrum

I usually can go through 2 - 3 novels every 2 weeks (250-350 pages).

I commute to work on the metro, so I get at least an hour of reading done a day (not including what I read before I go to bed).

benedict

In years past I would very nearly always read before going to sleep. Now it is the exception.

I, too, read on public transport on the way to work. Following an office move my regular journey became shorter several months ago so I now seem to be reading less.... every silver lining has a cloud!

sherm42

Depends on the book for me. I read all four Harry Potter books in two weeks. Sometimes it takes me that long to read one book.

My wife can read a 300-400 page book in a day. It's amazing.

neiname

That's odd, I tend to read more in the summer... That may also be because I tend to read a different book in teh summer as opposed to Fall and Winter. Last summer I read most of the Ian Fleming Bond books. Highly recommended!

BoatDrinks

I read 46 novels last year, but 24 of them were unabridged audiobooks. I love audiobooks!!!

It all depends on my life outside the book. Right now, I'm reading a great Thomas Perry book - blew through the first 250 pages, but now I've been crawling through the last 75 because I've had so much going on in my life that the only time I have to read is bedtime. But by the time I get into bed and start reading, I'm out in just a page or two.

JadeTiger

Yep, bed is a sure way not to get very far. Knocks me out every time! I'm currently knocking off a book a week, since my new job has an hour for lunch. No one else stays in to eat and I wolf my food down usually in ten minutes, which leaves lots of time to stare at the walls of the break room. I get half way through the book on my lunch breaks and finish the rest at home on the weekend.

Cedar

Actually, Jadetigers post above is mine. Thats what I get for not checking if the wife is logged in before I post!

alyxstarr

That's what has happened to me too. My commute used to be an hour and a half each way, including about an hour on the metro. Now it's about 45 min spread over two bus rides, with waiting time at a bus stop in between. Both the shorter amount of time and the fact that it's more broken up mean I'm not getting nearly as much reading done. I'm not knocking the shorter commute, of course, but it has been detrimental to getting through my massive reading list.

As for how long it takes me to read a novel, I have a lot of trouble quantifying that. It varies quite a bit for me, depending on mood, subject matter, where I'm reading, what else I'm doing (I often watch TV or a movie at the same time), etc. And I'm usually reading several things at once, started at different times.

But I think that, when I'm devoting most of my attention to the book and not trying to multitask, and the reading isn't Joyce's Ulysses or something like that, I read about a page per minute. So that's a 300 page book in 5 hours. (Okay, I guess it's wasn't as hard for me to quantify as I thought.)

Xytraguptorh

I average about a book per week, mostly novels, so I guess my answer would be one week unless it's something really long like The Stand which takes me much longer. I also get a lot of reading done right before I go to sleep. I love reading in bed as long as I don't get too drawn in to the book and it keeps me up till 2 am.

I consider myself a pretty slow reader. But you can get a lot of reading done as long as you're consistent with it.

BJacks

Back when I had free time, I used to go through a book a day, and sometimes quicker than that. Now, because I usually read only before I go to bed, it takes me about a week to finish a decent-sized title (400-500 pages).

thecrazydude

My reading speed has really picked up over the last year. I used to complain that I could not read as fast as I did when i was younger, but I have read so much this year that it has really picked up. I average a 300-400 page book in 3 or 4 days. I love it, I am reading like a madman!

djmont

I definitely don't read as much or as fast as I used to...Life has too many distractions, I suppose.

I try to read an average of 2 per week.

Charlie Goose

Depends on the book. If I'm really loving it, I can finish it within a day or two. The better I like it, the faster I go.

Honk!

littlefuzzy

I can finish a standard-sized novel (250-350 pages in paperback, usually sci-fi/fantasy novels) in about 2-3 hours, depending on if I have read it before. Longer books usually take me about a day of straight reading. The 10 books of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time (about 600-800 pages each) took me 15 days, with some of them only taking a day, and others taking two or more (if I didn't have time to read a whole day.)

Shadow77

My normal is about 2 weeks per book, but it depends on how busy work is. If I have a day of sitting around the office waiting for things to happen, I can finish a book in that time.

The fastest book I've read was John Grisham's The Chamber (6 1/2 hours).

The slowest was The Complete Sherlock Holmes, which took me 4 months to read.

lwhy?

I have been trying to read David Copperfield for almost three years I am halfway through. I started reading John Grisham's the Rainmaker last saturday and I am almost finished with it. I bought it for a dollar at a yard sale and it is a really good book. The only reason I bought it was that I enjoyed the movie. It is a good movie and a good book. I recommend it

Patman

Sadly, the only reading I do nowadays is on the forums.

I think my reading speed for novels varies from 45-60 pages/minute depending on the level of quietitude I have while reading.

littlefuzzy

A minute??? or an hour?

Shadow77

No kidding. I think you're missing a lot of the book if you're doing 45-60/minute.

Julie Walker

Well i've again missed out on enough time to read this past week.

So tonight.I said ef it & stop wasting time doing whatever around the house & get back on track.

I finished Myra Breckinridge last week.Then started IT by Stephen King.A long book to get through.Yet thankfully it's interesting. I read the first two chapters last week.Tonight i'm now onto the biggest chapter which is over 100 something pages long!

A long read.So i've read 30 or so pages.Then took a breather.

Since i'm going to be up late.I'm gonna get back at it soon since it's finally quiet now that everyones asleep.


I may even read a chapter or two from Crimson Kiss in order to move along at that..since it's another very interesting novel.


If only i had a job at the moment was left alone on lunch hour.Then i could get alot of reading done!

In fact i somewhat miss high school.Since i used to spend my time reading on the bus to & from school(not daily..but tryed).Read durring study hall,lunch..whenever i had freetime in class.Got tons of books read then.

I plan to do the same when in college.



Anyway i'm gonig to try to get some book reading(not forum reading) done every day or every other.At least it's a good enough pace for me & still have freetime to do other things.Though it's sometimes a hassle with so many distractions.

Mourn

When i'm at school, i mainly only read text books.

During the summer i generally read a book a day, the commute combined with occasional slow times at work was plenty of time. I can do an 800-1000 page book in a 24 hour period if its a good book.

I don't want to watch the war, so i imagine im going to do a lot more reading in my spare time now. Although, i really should be doing school work.