It was Francis Bacon who said, "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." I lean toward the middle of that quote—consuming books with a speed that basically constitutes swallowing them whole.
I may not read as many words-per-minute or pages-per-minute as some others, but I definitely do gobble up books. I think that may be one reason why I have such a fondness for long books or series—I get to spend more time with the characters I have come to enjoy.
A down-side to gulping down books is that I don't tend to remember details. I thoroughly enjoy the story while I'm reading—and yes, I mostly read fiction—and a short while after I finish reading, I tend to only remember the gross outline of the book. That may be one reason why I find it so difficult to write reviews. If I don't take care of it right away, then I'm stuck saying something trivial like “I really enjoyed this book”.
So how about you? How do you read?
Image licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons. Lavery Maiss Auras by John Lavery, downloaded from http://kevinalfredstrom.com/art/v/paintings/Sir+John+Lavery_Miss_Auras_the_red_book.jpg.html.
That isn't trivial. I add that to almost every review, I really loved this book. Then I go into why... I enjoy a long book as well, but my schedule for releases is so crazy right now I need to read fast. I have no idea how many words per min. I am fond of listening to book while I do mundane tasks to help pass the time (like cleaning and walking the dog). I alwasy listen at 2x speed, anything slower and my mind really wonders. I am a book addict!
ReplyDeleteRight. It's not trivial that I say whether or not I liked a book. What I meant to say is that all I can report is that I liked the book -- but I don't have the supporting information for WHY I enjoyed it.
DeleteI haven't tried the 2X speed for audio books. That sounds like it might be interesting.
I SUCK at remembering details! And I always discover something I missed when I reread a book. I'm not the fastest reader either - I used to think I'm fairly fast, but then I realized most other people read MUCH faster than I do. I guess it just takes me ages to really get into a story, but when I do, I think I start speeding up. I used to love long books, but nowadays they kind of intimdate me. I mean when it's a GREAT book I want it to go on, but it also requires a lot of time!
ReplyDeleteVlora, that's a great observation. I do tend to speed up after I'm thoroughly engaged with the book. I also have found that some books read faster than others. It's probably related to the vocabulary and style of writing.
DeleteI've said many times I like long books. However, I'm often reading more than one book at a time, so when I feel bogged down in a long story, I hop out and read something else for a while.
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