How long does it take you to read a book?

Out of interest how long does it take you to get through a piece of literature. i recently met someone who said whilst on holiday he'd got through 30 books in a month, so basically one a day. To me this seems like absolute rubbish. It usually takes me at least 4 or 5 days to get through something of maybe 400-500 pages . Just wondering what other people's reading habits are like or if i'm just unbelievably slow when it comes to books

Reply 1

hobnob

14

It entirely depends on the book. There are some books that I read in an afternoon and others which took me several weeks. It's not just a matter of "reading habits", I think.

Reply 2

Phillip

2

I read "Animal Farm" in around 3 hours, but then for some reason take longer to finish others even though they are also quite small.
Depends on the book, because sometimes you have to appreciate the language, whereas with some other books it's mainly about the plot, so you almost scan read it.

Reply 3

fanofkdc

7

Anywhere from a day to three weeks, depending on how busy I am, or how riveting the book is.

Reply 4

Bandev

I am really bad. I read in spurts i'll read 100 pages in a day and then read 10 pages in month, then another rapid fire 100. It also deepends on how good the book is. The time ranges from 2 days - 4 months for a 400-500 page book.

Reply 5

Osmosis

1

It takes me a while. I'd say it varies anywhere between a few weeks to a couple of months, depending on the book.

I am an incredibly slow reader though.

Reply 6

vixky!

13

I'd say 5 days as an average.

Reply 7

Luize

13

anywhere between 1-7 days I guess.
depends on what else I have to do, how much uni work I have and my eyes (they tend to get very tired and painful.)

Reply 8

Leigh

15

An average length novel, say 400 pages, anywhere between one sitting and over a year! Depends on the book of course, but usually more what else is going on. I'm really enjoying the book I'm reading at the minute but just never get time to settle down and really get into it. Which is sad.

Reply 9

Dude

14

It really depends on the book and how interested I am in it.

I can read a book in a day if I want to (the fifth Harry Potter book took me five hours) or it can take me about three weeks.

Reply 10

Julia Amnitzbøll Andersen

It depends on the time I have.. If I have nothing else to do and the book is really good I can read a very big book in less than 24 hous, but if I don't have time it takes a lot longer.. RIght now I have a lot of school work so I use a lot of time on that. This means that it can take me weeks to read a book of 400 pages. Books that I have to read for school, usually takes a lot more time, because when I start reading it I am not as motivated as when I have chosen my own books.

Reply 11

Char Star

9

If I'm snuggled up in bed all day on a rainy holiday then really big books will take me 2-3 days, other than that I'm VERY slow!

I claim it's cause I like to savour them but really I think I just process information slowly. It's a bit worrying seeing as how I'm supposedly just about to embark on an English Lit degree...

Reply 12

HMSChocolate

13

Well, it largely depends on the book. Look at it this way:

I read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (600+ pages) in about 7 hours straight in one sitting.

I took me 3 weeks, 3-4 times of rereading to get to page 20 of Heart of Darkness (a 100-page book) and realise I have promptly forgotten every word.

Reply 13

Reverie.

14

I'm a super-fast reader - books tend not to take me more than a day to finish (last couple of Harry Potters took a few hours each). I like to go back and re-read books though to think more about the language etc. though even then I get through them pretty fast. I absolutely devour books during the holidays; up to two or three a day. :p:

Guess it just depends on the person! (and the book.) It doesn't really matter, after all.

Reply 14

AisAis

13

I claim it's cause I like to savour them but really I think I just process information slowly.

Yeah, I'm a bit like that. Also, when I'm tired or I have something else on my mind I find it really hard to concentrate and only end up reading a tiny amount. I have to read at the spead I'd read it aloud, lol.

Anything from two days to about a month. Since Christmas all I've read is Freakonomics and about 2/3 of 1984, but before that I read The Bell Jar in about two days and Small Island quite quickly because I was on 'study' leave. :p:

I get a bit faustrated sometimes because I really enjoy what I'm reading, but there's a whole pile I want to read too and I take ages and I can't wait to start new ones.

When I was in middle school and I read ALL the time and they were easy children's books I'd read one around every three days.

I absolutely devour books during the holidays; up to two or three a day.

Gosh, there's nothing quite like being on holiday and having all the time in the day to sit at the pool and read, with nothing else to think about. It takes me 1/2 days when I'm away, and I never give books up or get bored of them and can really enjoy them. Sometimes I give up on books, then take them on holiday and think they're fantastic!

A day to three days.

Depends on the BOOK,, but for example a big BOOK like Harry Potter and the half blood prince took me 1 whole night reading (from 8 pm to 5 am ) THis happens when i am Excited but booring BOOKs ,, 2-3 days , since i cant leave them incomplete

Reply 17

FrenchGal

14

It depends.
When I'm on holiday at my gran's, I only read easy reading books like mysteries (last time I went, it was Elizabeth George's novels), I can get through 2 or 3 a day: one in the morning/beginning of the afternoon, one in the afternoon/evening, and sometimes I can read one in the afternoon and one in the evening, plus the morning/afternoon one. Not one in one morning though, coz I love a long lie when I'm on holiday :p:

I just do that all day - and watch DVDs, I usually stay up quite late, and since they don't have the Internet at their house...
Anyway. That's me on holiday at my grand parents, they live in the back of beyond, no friends around, no Internet connection, and I'm not a telephone fan, so reading is basically the only thing I can do - LOVE IT.
But right now, I've not been able to finish Birdsong yet, and I've been reading it for ****ing ages. I just don't seem to find the time, and bloody Internet is sucking up my time anyway... And I've started to read King Lear again, which doesn't help.
I think it depends on the book and on the time I've got... and if I really get hooked on a book, I'll read it faster coz I'll read it on the bus instead of listening to my Ipod, for instance.
I'm a pretty fast reader normally, my aim is to read as fast in English as I do in France. The best thing, when you're a fast reader, is that you can read books in the shop without buying them. There's a Starbucks inside the Borders I go to, and I read books there without buying them :biggrin:

Reply 18

Emerald

1

the_elusive_musician

I'm a super-fast reader - books tend not to take me more than a day to finish (last couple of Harry Potters took a few hours each). I like to go back and re-read books though to think more about the language etc. though even then I get through them pretty fast. I absolutely devour books during the holidays; up to two or three a day. :p:

Guess it just depends on the person! (and the book.) It doesn't really matter, after all.

I'm the same as well although tis not a good thing some times as i'll want to slow down to savour a book but won't be able to help myself. I once had a teacher who thought I was lying when I said I'd finished some reading in 10 mins that was to take us 30 mins in class. he just would not believe me and the next lesson he bought some kind of speed reading test in with like a smug smile on his face. I got a really hig score and he was just speechless :biggrin:

Reply 19

Ili

13

Depends if I can stick to it and if I'm not busy with work and whatnot.

How long does it take you to read a book?

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