1. lawrencelpy

    lawrencelpy Member

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    How long does it take for you to finish a book?

    Discussion in 'Discussion of Published Works' started by lawrencelpy, Dec 22, 2017.

    I am a slow reader myself. I often read word by word. That is why it might take me a month to finish one book. And I often start reading several books simultaneously, so I could finish averagely 3 books a month.
    How many books do you read monthly? And are you a fast reader?
     
  2. 8Bit Bob

    8Bit Bob Here ;) Contributor

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    I've been reading Dracula since October, but when I'm not super busy (like I have been lately) I can finish a decent sized novel in 1-2 months.
     
  3. badgerjelly

    badgerjelly Contributor Contributor

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    I read VERY slowly, but I tend not to read much fiction.

    Lately I probably read about 10 pages a day. I have sat down and read much more than that before, but generally I max out now at around 50-100 because of the kind of things I read.

    If I put my mind to it I could, with enough interest/stimulation, read a thick novel in a day (well, I used to be able too!)

    Sounds like I've just given myself a challenge! :D

    By next Thursday I'll see if I can get through The Brothers blah blah and War and Peace ... remind me to see if I've managed it!!

    I think my posts may stop until next week ...
     
  4. lawrencelpy

    lawrencelpy Member

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    Not that much time to spend on reading after working, and there is little mental energy left for such a heavy task.
    You used to read a thick novel in a single day !!!? That is crazy!
     
  5. LostThePlot

    LostThePlot Naysmith Contributor

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    I've done that kind of stuff too, although only when there were extenuating circumstances. When I was spending a day travelling then I'd just read all day, although this was back before there were exciting things like laptops and tablets and not least internet forums to amuse me while I was going up to Lancaster or whatever :p

    And to answer to original question; I'm a heavy audiobook consumer so in theory I can get through books as fast as the length of the audio, probably about eight to ten hours. But in truth I tend to be listening to them as I go to bed, or while I'm travelling and have other stuff to think about. So in practise I normally would get through a whole book in about a week to ten days. That's about as long as it takes me to actually be listening to the whole of it. I'll wake up at some random point in the book, then start it from about where I left off the last night when I fell asleep. Not the best way to get through books but the way that works for me :p
     
  6. Mink

    Mink Contributor Contributor

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    It depends on the book. If I'm enjoying the book I can often complete one in a couple of days regardless of length. I have finished books that were over 1,000 pages in less than nine hours, but I was very addicted to the story and I had the time to kill to finish the book. I also read very quickly while retaining the majority of what I've read. It's a skill I love because then I can finish a book in a day if I chose to do so.

    If the book's tedious then it often takes me a week to get through it because I try really hard not to start a book and not finish it. There have been only two books that I haven't finished: one of the Maximum Ride series and "Vostok" by Steve Alten. Those books each included a turn of events that caused me to close the book mid-sentence and never pick them up again.
     
  7. NobodySpecial

    NobodySpecial Contributor Contributor

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    It depends on how good the book is. Doctor sleep was one I really liked, I killed off half of that in one sitting. The Jack Reacher books were recomended by a friend, Make Me started out so dull and dry it's a wonder I didn't toss it in the trash(actually it was no wonder, it was a library book and I had to return it). I managed to finish in about three weeks; about 2/3 in it finally started to pick up.
     
  8. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    I depends on how long the book is and how much I'm enjoying it, but in general I'm a fast reader. A friend of mine recently had her newest book published - it's around 78K words and I read the whole thing over a couple of evenings, maybe 6-7 hours total.
     
  9. badgerjelly

    badgerjelly Contributor Contributor

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    Not too thick! It was Weaveworld by Clive Barker. It is the only time I have ever read a novel that size in a day; it gripped me.

    Took me 45 mins to read 30 pages last night! That is about my normal pace.
     
  10. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Depends on the book. Some I have breezed through in one long sitting unable to put down (3-8hrs depending on length).
    Some I enjoy as a pleasure not to be read so quickly, so as not to lose the magic of the story too quickly.
    Though the bad ones are in the middle, and I try to push through them if they are readable enough to do so.
    Like all things no two books are created equal. :)
     
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  11. James II

    James II New Member

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    I haven't been reading a lot lately due to me being busy but on average, it seems to take me two days to finish a standard 400+ page novel. If I'm really liking a book I'll take my time even more so, my anxiety makes me re-read pages and parts for fear of missing important information or forgetting something.
     
  12. Vince Higgins

    Vince Higgins Curmudgeon. Contributor

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    It depends. If I were a critic, rather than stars, I would use minutes per page. There are some I have read in just a couple of days. Several novella's at one sitting; Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is one. Just finished The Trial by Kafka. It took many weeks, not because it was bad but because of it's style; Three page paragraphs, no paragraph breaks for dialoge. It made my head hurt.

    Let me think back. . . Jaws took a couple of days. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman went really quick, a day or two. Tale of Two Cities a couple of weeks.

    A friend at work gave me Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Two fifteen minute breaks and a half hour lunch and I was a third of the way through it. I killed it off when I got home.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2018
  13. Fiender_

    Fiender_ Active Member

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    Gosh, it depends on the book (length and how into it I am) and what's going on in my life. I don't have dedicated reading time either. Generally, even longer books only take me a week at most to get through. If a book is fine but not great, and/or I'm busy with writing my own stuff or other life-occurrences, it might take a few weeks before I find the time to finish a book.

    Now, whether or not I reach the last page, it's somewhat common for me to be finished with a book. If the first chapter doesn't present any interesting characters (or throws out a dozen names for me to keep track of), or if I get 25-50% through and realize I'm reading the book out of habit and don't actually care about it, I'll put them down. Still, can take different amounts of time depending on the book, varying from an instant put-down to a multi-week slog.
     
  14. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    Depends very much on the book. I used to speed-read when I was a kid; very bad move and terrible for learning to write. Still, I sometimes do it if the book is just stupid (The Da Vinci Code comes to mind).

    These days, I'm either reading something heavy and technical (engineering textbooks, for example), or "serious" literature (classics, or ambitious modern stuff). These books are wonderfully satisfying if you're willing to devote the time and attention to them that they demand. And they're great for learning to write. I read these books as slowly as I can, often out loud. It can take me weeks to get through something like Moby-Dick, but it's time very well spent.

    It's a bit like traveling, I guess. If I just want to make it to my destination, I take a plane (and sleep during the flight, if I can). If I want to really have a great time, I'll take a cruise aboard a luxury liner. One way gets me there as fast as possible, and the other is ridiculously self-indulgent - so much so that I don't even care where I'm going. I just want to enjoy the trip.
     
  15. OJB

    OJB A Mean Old Man Contributor

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    Since I've started to take 'notes' on what I read, very slowly. I'd say I am good for 25 books a year though.
     
  16. Ruth E McCready

    Ruth E McCready New Member

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    I read about one book a month, optimistically, although it's probably slower! I'm actually a pretty fast reader, but I'm extremely busy and I have to a lot of reading for work and a university course. My reading time is pretty much restricted to downtime in playgroups, the time between my finishing my food and my little boy finishing his, and just before bed if I don't fall asleep instantaneous! (Writing working mums represent)

    Ruth.
     
  17. Stormsong07

    Stormsong07 Contributor Contributor

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    I DEVOUR books. It often sidetracks me from writing, lol. Assuming I haven't missed any, my Goodreads tally for this year alone is 27 books, nearly 28 since I will probably finish Magnus Chase book 1 today. That's an average of 7 books a month.
    My usual average per year is 85-100 books.
     
  18. WaffleWhale

    WaffleWhale Active Member

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    Obviously depends on length, but it even more depends on how good the book is.

    Its actually kind of annoying when I read a good book really quickly, because then I have nothing to read again.
     
  19. WaffleWhale

    WaffleWhale Active Member

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    You do this willingly? That sucks though. At least with novels, the whole point is that you forget your reading and get really absorbed. Taking notes forces you to pull yourself out. It sucks.


    Everything after the first sentence is my complaint about teachers making me annotate.
     
  20. Night Herald

    Night Herald The Fool Contributor

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    That depends on the length, quality, and density of the book in question, but I generally read at what might be thought of as "medium" speed. It varies between individual passages as well. In some parts, my speed borders on skimming (which I try to avoid, but it happens anyway) while when something really interesting is going on I slow way down. Regardless, I consider myself a slow reader, because I don't set aside much time for it these days. I've become more fond of audiobooks of late, partly because I can get through them in a timely manner at a nice, even pace. It helps that I can enjoy them while chipping away at whatever busywork has laid claim to my time.
     
  21. ThunderAngel

    ThunderAngel Contributor Contributor

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    I'm an INFP so it's really hard for me to complete something I start. I've made a special effort, however, to get my latest project done, so I'm almost finished with it.
     
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  22. Moon

    Moon Contributor Contributor

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    Book size + Interest - Adult life = I don't fucking know.
     
  23. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    If I'm enjoying it, an average 80 - 100k word novel would take me roughly 6 - 8 weeks I reckon. But I'd have to be really enjoying it to read it that fast.
     
  24. Krly

    Krly New Member

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    For me, it depends basically of two things: how long the book is (duh xD) and how interesting it is to read.
    The second criteria is not just about how good the actual story is (although that's a big part obviously), but also about the style of writing of the author, and how much that appeals to me.

    For example, back when I was about 15 I devoured "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", which is nearly 900 pages long, in just over three days. Yet around that same time I also read "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", a total of about 500 pages, and it took me a whole MONTH. It wasn't because I didn't enjoy the story of LotR (I like it a lot, actually), but because Tolkien's way of writing, specially with those damn songs EVERY.OTHER.PAGE, was just too hard for me to swallow, whilst Rowling's style, more suited to teens, was a piece of cake.

    Nowadays it takes me about a week or two to finish an average 1500 pages long book, like the ASIF novels or Ken Follet's epic historic series.
     
  25. surrealscenes

    surrealscenes Senior Member

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    I have read a novel in a day, a year, and all places in between.
     

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