reading speed
I wish I was a faster reader. There’s so much I want to read, but I only average about 20 pages an hour for nonfiction. That’s not slow, but it’s not fast. I wind up accumulating a lot of books and bookmarking a lot of articles that I don’t have time to read.
I am also super-sensitive to distraction when I read and write. I cannot listen to music, have conversations going around me or a lot of clatter when I read - I wind up reading the same paragraph over and over when there are too many distractions.
One of the problems I’ve always had with speed reading tutorials is what they’re suggesting is essentially glorified skimming. I’ll skim magazine and online news articles, but I’m loathe to fly over books that way. It makes me feel like I’m not really reading the book, that I’m cheating somehow and that I might miss something. Often my reading rhythm will last for only about 20 minutes, then I’ll stop and go do something else for a moment or look up and space out before I continue. So what happens often is that in the space of two quiet evening hours I’ve reserved for school reading, I’m lucky if I get through 30 pages or so. Only with good fiction can I get into a longer-lasting rhythm.
It really sucks, people. Fast readers, ooh I envy you.