I was wondering how people can get through books so quickly, how do you read it so fast?

Question

I read books, short ones from lemony snicket to ian fleming, to long ones such as Da Vinci Code and Harry Potter, but I always read so slowly, and it takes me forever to get through even the most simplest book. Any tips on how to speed read and enjoy a book?

Answer 1

I'm not an expert in teaching speedreading, but my mom and I have a theory about why I go through books like hotcakes and it takes her forever to finish one.

She says she has to read every word on the page. She hears them in her head as she's reading along. My method is very different. I probably glance at three or four words at a time and get a mental image of what's going on on the page. I have no idea how I learned to do that and even less an idea how to pass it along to someone else.

Answer 2

Well, people just read at different paces. I wouldn't recommend speed-reading for novels, because novels are about style and language as well as plot and character development, and if you skim through, you'll miss half the point!

I would say the speed with which one gets through a book has a lot to do with how much time the reader makes for the book. If you take a book you're reading with you everywhere you go, you'll find all kinds of little breaks throughout the day when you can get through a chapter or a few pages. Set aside time to read before you fall asleep at night, and you'll find you fly through books like nothing.

Answer 3

I think it's important to actually read it--skimming a book you're reading "for fun" seems dumb. I mean it's one thing to skim something you're not that interested in--such as a text book--but to take a perfectly good entertaining novel and skim it just so you could say you finished it in blank amount of time...I just don't understand. Who cares how fast or slow you read a book...it's if you enjoyed the book that matters.

I do read fast. Sometimes people hate me because I read so fast. But I don't skim books I read for fun. What would be the point? I think speed comes partially from practice...but even if your speed never increases...it's the enjoyment that matters.

Answer 4

I too read really slow and I have a MA in Lit so it's been hard. However, over the years of my studies I've learned some things. There are different types of readers. One type of reader is the one who reads really quickly but often misses details (someone said details aren't important, but that's not always true). Other readers, often really slow readers *me*, read every single word and can hear the world almost in their head. They're also more likely to visual the story as they read (though I'm sure speed readers do too).

Even though it can be hard to be surrounded by all fast readers, it really isn't a big deal. You love to read (or at least like it) so that's all tha tmatters. Make sure that you just enjoy it and know that speed reading can make you lose something in the process.

Answer 5

well sometimes i skip the unimportant things the thing i know i can predict or detials i dont need to know about like how the author describes every content of a girl apartment and how fablous the view is non of that is impotant to me so i skim thru it i jus started a book yesterday and im almost done with it jus one more chapter! and i read all harry potter books in a week in a half by doin this actually not really but anwyas good luck being a faster reader

Answer 6

I read lots of books and I didn't really think I read that fast until someone pointed it out . I really don't have a trick to it, I've just been reading for a long time. When I was little my mom would pay me if I read a book so I read as many books as I could for the money obviously. I get very caught up in books that i enjoy and thats is really it. My friend though taught herself to read faster. She used two methods, Easy push and Heavy push. In Easy push she simply would use her fingers to underline the words and followed them with her eyes to move her along faster. But in heavy push she would hold the book upside down and very quickly would underline the words and try to read as much as she could. She said easy push helped her the most but it works differently for everyone.

Answer 7

Speed reading is a skill that is developed. I learned how to read fast by trying to read over my mother's shoulder (she is a fast reader). I practiced reading fast so that I could finish a page at the same time she did. Eventually, I surpassed her. I had a teacher once who took a class on speed reading and what they did was showed sentences on an overhead projector, moving faster and faster. The teacher told them not to try to read the sentences, just look at the words as they passed by. This is impossible, of course, as you look at the words, you are reading them. They increased the speed of the projector as people read and it worked great.
I think it has to do with knowing sentence structure and knowing how people 'talk' when they write. You can skip over words and still retain the general idea of what the sentence said.

Good luck. Practice, practice.

Answer 8

it depends on the person, it takes practice, and it really doesn't matter how fast or slow someone takes to read a book. As you get older you might start to read faster, and it also depends on the time you spend to read it, if you only read an hour a day for a week, then you might finish the book in a week, but if you spend many hours a day like i do then you might finish the book in two days. just read longer periods of time in a day. and to Jennifer l practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent. and to princessbritty, speed readers also pick up details and visualize so stop making excuses cuz its not true.

Answer 9

i am not so sure. i was always able to read fast and catch on quickly. i love to skim read a book first because a lot of detail isnt that important but then i would always end re-reading them a bit slower to comprehend everything fully to get the experience. i guess you have to look at a word and automatically be able to read it with out think about it even for a second.

Answer 10

If you want to become a speed reader, don't read each word individually. Skim through a paragraph. Most of the time the details aren't important to the plot.