How does a person read a book within just a few hours?

Question

I can read a book without any problem, but what I want to know is how my mom and sisters can read a book in just a few hours when the fastest that I would be able to do it would be a few days? How do they read so fast?

Answer 1

Practice, and focus.

My mom did daycare in the house when I was a kid, and I did a lot of reading when I was a kid and got really good at blocking out distractions and just reading.

For me, its just a matter of getting going, and then my brain takes over and i'm not so much conciously turning pages and reading the words, as I am just seeing the story. Kinda like driving. (or anything you do a lot of - sewing, controls for video games, touch-key typing, etc) Where at first you've very concious of every movement of the process, but eventually, you're just doing it without thinking about it, and then you start getting faster.

I probably read a book or two a week, and average maybe 100 to 150 pages an hour. On a slow day, sometimes I'll take a small book to lunch or dinner and read it cover to cover there. That's entertainment type stuff. Non-fiction, or some school type books, I go a lot slower on, depending on the subject matter and how familiar I am with its basic concepts.

edit - you can also learn to speed read by skipping words, scanning paragraphs, etc. I very rarely do that, but it is occasionally useful for the aforementioned school books to give you an idea of what the book is about. it works okay with texts like that, but I wouldn't suggest speed reading Faulkner or something and expecting to come away with the nuances.

Answer 2

If it's an ongoing problem, yes, you should probably see someone. A doctor will tell you if you're just exhausted, have a virus, or your body simply needs the rest. I used to have this problem all the time, and could never read before bed because I'd just conk out...Now I read while I'm laying in bed, sometimes for a few hours a night! It's probably just a phase, so don't worry. Also, try some different and possibly more interesting books...maybe you're just bored with whatever you're reading and feel like you're in a rut.

Answer 3

I can read like this too.. i just finished reading a book i started reading this morning at midninght, and it is now 4 am the next day and the book is finished, no i didnt read the whole time... the average person reads about 150-300 WPM..try reading in "blocks"... try reading maybe two words at one time Practice this a ton, and once you feel like you have that down slowly increase the width of the blocks.. I didnt start reading till i was about 16, im currently 19 and i read about 12 books a month on average... if im in the "zone" as i like to call it, where i just turn page after page it takes me less then one day to finish the book. So i guess to finish this out, its practice.. sorrys its so long winded

Answer 4

as a "speed reader" i'd have to say that my "technique" is just practice. i've been reading for as long as i can remember...i've never taken any speed reading courses or tried any technique to make me a faster reader....i just read. some people are faster than others at reading, and also the trick is to be able to comprehend what you're reading. i've talked to people who tried to just read super fast throughout a book and they barely comprehended what they had read. i've gotten to the point where i can read an average of 2 pages a min (and yes i read every word!) and finish a 200 page book in less than 2 hours.

Answer 5

Depends on how fast you read and how many pages are in the book.

Answer 6

they prolly dont read all the words and read the diologe it tells the gist of the events going on. and i actually can read a book in a day., but i do read words for word, or they can just have read many books and that might have increased their speed

Answer 7

Steps:
1. Get a book
2. Sit down
3. Open said book
4. Look at the page.
5. Skim
6. Done

Answer 8

1. Speed reading (there are many "techniques")
2. Skip forward paragraphs, lines, or even chapters.

Answer 9

Well, you know how we can usually read word-by-word, not letter by letter? Some people can read lines at a time. I dunno how they do it though... but we had this sub last year and he told us that if we were going to be successful in college, we needed to learn how to speed read. Didn't understand his explanation though.

Look it up online?

Answer 10

its speed reading i use 2 do it but i have no time now