I'm a natural speed reader, AMA

amother

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 4:33 pm

I naturally read very quickly. My relaxed pace for fiction is around 100 pages an hour, although I can easily go much faster if I have to. Yes I am actually reading and not skimming. If you think you know me IRL, you probably do (hi sis)

AMA!

amother

Charcoal

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 4:35 pm

Me too

Do you re read books? Personally I do since there's a limit to the number of good ones out there.

amother

Winterberry

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 4:38 pm

Me three.

I reread the same books a million times because this way I know they're good. I hate reading a book and being annoyed about it afterwards.

amother

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 4:53 pm

amother Charcoal wrote:

Me too

Do you re read books? Personally I do since there's a limit to the number of good ones out there.

Really? I get a new stack from the (non-Jewish) library like once a week. I reread my favorites sometimes but I don't feel like there's a limit.

Phoebe31

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 5:16 pm

Hi, I have the same talent. I can easily go through a 300 page book on shabbos with me only reading for 2 hours at night and an hour or two in the afternoon.

Phoebe31

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 5:17 pm

amother OP wrote:

Really? I get a new stack from the (non-Jewish) library like once a week. I reread my favorites sometimes but I don't feel like there's a limit.

I do the same! But there is nothing like rereading an old favorite.

amother

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 5:19 pm

This is so cool. I read so much faster than anyone else in my life that I thought I was unique. There are so many of us!

Phoebe31

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 5:24 pm

amother OP wrote:

This is so cool. I read so much faster than anyone else in my life that I thought I was unique. There are so many of us!

I’m used to it, most of my siblings do the same:)

amother

Canary

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 5:29 pm

I'm also a speed reader. I can read 2-3 novels in a single Shabbos. And I'm only reading for an hour or two Friday night, and about the same, maybe a little longer Shabbos day.

amother

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 5:36 pm

amother Mocha wrote:

Do you want to use your powers to research and write?

I'd rather use them to read

amother

Salmon

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 5:40 pm

How do you do it? I wish I could since I have a stack of books I still want to get to and a wishlist of library books I'd love to read. I once tried to learn how but it felt like skimming. Or maybe I was doing it wrong. Any tips on how to do it?

amother

Charcoal

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 5:43 pm

amother Salmon wrote:

I think it comes naturally. Sometimes I wish I could read more slowly and savor something more.

amother

Turquoise

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 5:47 pm

I also do! Now I don’t have so much time to read but I used to read just naturally without trying about 150 pages an hour. If the book was pretty dumb I would skim a little bit and read much faster than that. I once happened to be in a speed reading class and I think I do a lot of the techniques naturally. For example, reading the first and last few letters of a word and filling in the rest in my head. Or skipping non-important words in a sentence. Like I never actually read the word “the” or “and” or things like that. My brain just skips over those.

chili-n-cholent

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 5:52 pm

Same here!

I take out around 10-15 books a week from the library and can definitely finish a 300 page book in an hour and a half maximum.
Like the previous poster said, my brain skims over the words and will automatically fill them in.
I will say that sometimes I might skip over things and will notice later on in the book that things don't add up and I'll go back and see I missed a point but usually I really read every word.
I've been like this since really young, in elementary school when my class had library in the morning, I used to read through class and return it at the next recess. The librarians didn't know what to do with me LOL

let's not talk about the teachers who caught me...

Hashem_Yaazor

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 6:03 pm

I'm a very fast reader, in both Hebrew and English, and it's hard for me to read aloud because my eyes are faster than my mouth.

I do find that at times, though, I'm not processing even though I'm actually reading. I once asked a shaila about megillah because my finger will be at the right place and I've been following but I have no recollection of paying attention or knowing what happened in the story line at certain times of the reading...Rav didn't know such a thing was possible.

I don't think this used to be an issue, more in the past decade. Either my brain slowed down or it's too busy with "chatter". Need to work on mindfulness....

amother

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 6:10 pm

amother Salmon wrote:

The best explanation I can give is that I am reading a bunch of lines at a time, not word by word. When I read in Hebrew, I can see lots of words vaguely in my peripheral vision but I am only actually reading or taking in the meaning of 1-2 words in focus at a time. When I read in English, it's more like a whole paragraph at a time.

amother

Iris

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 6:18 pm

I’m one too I can read a full page article in less than a minute- my dh takes a minute per paragraph so it takes a lot getting used to and learning to have a lot more patience! Half my kids take after me and other half take after him. I read around 2 books every shabbos from the public library. My mother is the same she prob reads faster than I do

amother

Tomato

Wed, Mar 20 2024, 6:20 pm

Same! And until this thread I was the fastest reader I know. I generally read non-fiction and can read 3-5 books a shabbos. Yes, I also re-read and agree with above poster that there are a limited number of good ones out there. I hate running out of reading. If I'm traveling, I'll take a hebrew novel as a backup because I read much, much slower in hebrew so I know at least I'll have something with me.