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Is this a bit much....

Pigman II

I like to read for an hour a day but I have very bad discipline when it comes to sitting there and reading so what I do is start a countdown-timer and read solidly for that hour.

Anyway what started out as a simple tool for self-discipline has taken on a life of it's own and now I actually time and record how long it takes me to read a book. Sow now for example I could tell you that it took me 32hours, 13minutes and 38seconds in total to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Is this crazy of me to do? Does anyone else keep a log of the books they've read and how long it took to read them?

I'm guessing not , but there you go

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Deer

Nope - can't say I do - but I do aim to read a book within two evenings at the most.

delly

Can't say that I have ever timed myself reading, but the the speed at which I usually read a books depends on how good it is.

BossArky

I keep a log of the books I read in an excel file. I started doing this at the beginning of the year because I wanted to force myself to read one per week. This means that every Sunday I need to have read a book or else risk falling behind my schedule :eek:

You may think this sounds a bit odd, but I have found that this enforced regime actually helps me to plough on through the murky depths of certain books which I may otherwise have been buried in.

To the original poster, I regret not having kept a log of the day I started and ended each book. Currently I am one book behind schedule, having read 28 or thereabouts so far this year. It just means that I will make sure that the next 2 books I read are less than 200 hundred pages or so and I should be back on track by Sunday next.

I think I grade books as follows: pages<200 = short, 200-350 = medium, 350+ means I may risk falling behind the "one book per week" plan, ... and thus have to read shorter ones after to get back on plan again.

Try it.

lemon_sherbert

I've been keeping track of the books I read in a notebook for a year and a half, starting january 05. My new years resolution was to read 100 books during the year, and though I only made it to 90, the keeping track gave me a focus. I record how long it takes for me to finish each one, and reading more has increased my speed.

plenderj

Jesus I can't agree with this less......

..... the whole point of reading a book is because you're enjoying it. If you're not enjoying then, then you won't be reading it fast, so just move on...

delly

plenderj wrote:

Jesus I can't agree with this less......

..... the whole point of reading a book is because you're enjoying it. If you're not enjoying then, then you won't be reading it fast, so just move on...

I'll go with that, a bit like fast forwarding a DVD boxset just to get it over with.....kinda

BossArky

No, its not fast forwarding to get it over with.

Imagine a long complex book. Do you think it is best to read this over a month or over a few days?

I perfer to read it over a few days rather than weeks because you will be able to keep all the balls in the air so to speak... i.e. not forget which minor character is in which minor situation ....which eventually comes back into the main thread of the story.

I read fast and try to read alot, but definetly don't do this to skip through the books - as there is absolutely no point in that. Why would I want to force myself to spend so long doing something if its not going to educate or entertain me (even if I am doing it quicker than usual)?

BossArky

lemon_sherbert wrote:

I've been keeping track of the books I read in a notebook for a year and a half, starting january 05. My new years resolution was to read 100 books during the year, and though I only made it to 90, the keeping track gave me a focus. I record how long it takes for me to finish each one, and reading more has increased my speed.

90? Are you in school or working or what? My aim of 1 per week for a year will (obviously) get me to 52.. but I find this to be my speed limit for the moment if I want to be able to work/sleep/exercise/relax a bit.

I am interested to know what kind of lifestyle you have that you can manage to fit a book in roughly ever 4 days. Do you aim for short books or just anything at all?

Just interested...

Deer

BossArky wrote:

90? Are you in school or working or what? My aim of 1 per week for a year will (obviously) get me to 52.. but I find this to be my speed limit for the moment if I want to be able to work/sleep/exercise/relax a bit.

I am interested to know what kind of lifestyle you have that you can manage to fit a book in roughly ever 4 days. Do you aim for short books or just anything at all?

Just interested...

To jump in there I read roughly about two to three books a week. I work full time and I have a six year old daughter. I read when I wake up for an hour, during my lunch break and after my daughter goes to bed. I do read incredibly fast though. The other night I read Windows on the World in about two hours. I'll often read a "serious" book for about an hour and then read a novel after that.

BossArky

Wow, thats hardcore. I don't have time with my job to read before getting out of bed or during lunch. There should be 30 hours in the day...

Deer

I don't watch tv though! (except for Footballers Wives which is a bit sad really!)

I might actually start up a spread sheet though of the books I'm reading as while I'll always remember what I've read it would be interesting to have a list. I could also put a star rating on them too. Currently the ones I like are kept on the book shelves and the one's I wan't crazy about are thrown into the wardrobe.

One of these days I'll probably start filing them on the bookshelf alphabetically according to the authors name!

odhran

My reading habits vary greatly depending on the book in question. About two months ago I was getting through about four books a week because I happened upon several books that I really liked in a row. Now, however, I've been stuck on the same books for the past three weeks even though it's not particularly long (about four hundred pages I think). Although a deadline would probably speed things up, I don't really like the idea of being confined to a schedule as I think that it would detract from the fun to a certain extent... I can't really say why though. To conclude, I have a stance on the issue, I just can't explain my motives.

lemon_sherbert

90? Are you in school or working or what?

I am in school, generally I read one or two a week during term time, but in the summer holidays it can be anywhere up to 7, depending on how busy I am.
I don't skip over sections in the books, I'm just quick at reading, and I love books.

And I read pretty much everything except crime. I don't purposely read short or long books, just whatever ones look interesting in the library or book shop.
Generally I read when I've finished homework and study, so from about 9.30 onwards, but I read on the way home from school too, if I'm not listening to music. I don't expect I'll read as much this year, as I'm heading into leaving cert year.

InFront

I hate rushing through a book and I think that timing oneself, unless youre very dedicated, is the best way of making this mistake. In my experience, the longer it takes me to read a book, the more time I have to think aboiut the themes in everyday life, and to ponder over the characters in general. Thats the real enjoyment I get out of reading, the thinking about it.

I cant imagine sitting down and reading a book in one day. In fact it's probably never taken me less than three days to read an average sized book as I am constantly putting it down then picking it up. The longest it ever took me to read a (fiction) book from cover to cover was Ulysses. That took me around a month. I think it made it more meorable for me, and I frequently find quotes and characters popping into my head a year or more since I read it.

BossArky

At this stage let me take a second to clarify something. My aim of reading 1 book per week has nothing to do with increasing the speed of my eyes zipping across the pages. I am talking about increasing my time spent reading, which in turn increases the amount of books read.

e.g. I carry a book in bag and read any time I have "down time" such as waiting for a tube, on the tube, on an escalator, queuing at the bank, etc, etc.

I found that there are lots of times in the day where you could just sit back and stare into space whilst waiting for something to happen. I choose to fill that time with reading.

Demetrius

I find it a bit strangee to be reading to a set schedule.

My habits are equally weird though. I often read two or three books at the same time, which would work out roughly at about 1 a week, though it may take me a month or so to read all.

odhran

BossArky wrote:

At this stage let me take a second to clarify something. My aim of reading 1 book per week has nothing to do with increasing the speed of my eyes zipping across the pages. I am talking about increasing my time spent reading, which in turn increases the amount of books read.

e.g. I carry a book in bag and read any time I have "down time" such as waiting for a tube, on the tube, on an escalator, queuing at the bank, etc, etc.

I found that there are lots of times in the day where you could just sit back and stare into space whilst waiting for something to happen. I choose to fill that time with reading.

I find reading for short periods of time, like in a queue at the bank, rather irritating. I like to have time to properly get into the book each time I pick it up.

sophiej

The books I love most are those that need to be read slowly, where every word has been chosen carefully and every sentence is full of multiple meanings. I am thinking an author like Jeanette Winterson.

r3nu4l

A friend of mine once borrowed the LOTR from me. He returned it two days later, having "read" it all. I quizzed him a bit on the story and it did seem as though he had indeed read the entire book.

Shame that he thought that Strider, Aragorn and Elessar were all different characters!

My point? Reading fast is not necessarily reading well. The above is an extreme example but still stands. Some books demand time and attention to fully appreciate and understand. If you want to read it in one week or three days then by all means do, just make sure you are devoting enough hours to it! Not flying through at a rate of knots just to tick off a box and say 'Yep, I've read that. Next!'.

Also, some books are best read by reading a good portion and then going away for a day or two and pondering what the author was trying to do. These books are not generally your typical Crime and thriller fiction.

BossArky

odhran wrote:

I find reading for short periods of time, like in a queue at the bank, rather irritating. I like to have time to properly get into the book each time I pick it up.

Funny you should mention that - the book I am reading at the moment "Pirates and Emperors" by Noam Chomsky (about International Terrorism) is tough to read in small bits... I had to sit down last night and plough on through it as was getting bogged down in detail which I couldn't take in and remember in the small segments I was previously trying to read it in... i.e. a 2 tube stop journey.

molypiper

some read for fun others to kill time and still to others as passion..but once you are engrossed to your reading, you'd note every detail in the story that you could even imagine the looks, smell and the scenery...the length of time spent then for various readings depend on what mood and how much you're affected with the literature you read.:cool: