It is instructive to review the last seven books on this infographic. Maybe it’s time to rethink how we encourage our children and our friends who say “I don’t read books.”
(Image: Personal Creations)
How Long Will It Take to Read Your Book?
It is instructive to review the last seven books on this infographic. Maybe it’s time to rethink how we encourage our children and our friends who say “I don’t read books.”
Fascinating!
I also find it interesting and helpful to know that an audiobook is roughly twice as long as it would take to read the same story on paper or kindle. To Kill a Mockingbird takes about 5.5 hours to read, and the audiobook is just over 12 hours long.
Wow, this is cool. It showed me that I read below the average speed.
More and more, I’m finding that when I bring up a book to discuss, people say that they haven’t read it, but they’ve seen the movie. Or the t.v. show for Game of Thrones. Then I make some comment about why the book is better because of character depth interactions, settings, pronounced theme… To which they say that they don’t have time to read. Why would they when a movie is 2 to 2 1/2 hours with incredible special affects? But seeing the story in your own mind is so much better!
What’s also cool is The Hunger Games. Four of my friends read the book after the first movie came out and then read the rest of the series. They had to know what was going to happen.
For me, the genre has a huge impact on the time it takes for me to read a book, more than the word count. It took me a long time to wade through The Iliad but The Odyssey went much faster. I tear through one of Clancy’s novels because I can’t wait to see what happens next. Some books, especially Scripture, cause me to take it slow and ponder what’s being said.
I will admit, though, that the thicker a book is the longer it takes me to decided whether I want to tackle it. I’m sure I’ve missed some wonderful ones because of that.
I never considered myself a slow reader, but if these numbers are the norm, I’m a turtle. The notion that one can read even a relatively short book like A Brave New World between breakfast and lunch strikes me as ludicrous.
And I was an English major.
I’m with you Laura. This is for someone who is speed-reading, not comprehending. Reading the bible in 40 hours, is just utter nonsense.
In REALITY, if you’re reading the literature mentioned for a college-level course, in particular if you’re an Eng/Lit graduate student, it will take days if not weeks to read the text thoroughly enough to do well on an exam. Students are normally expected to study and memorize numerous passages, to recite, or recall on a test. Keeping track of the hundreds of character names, such as Greek gods/goddesses/creatures in The Odyssey, requires taking solid notes – nothing quick about it. What is also not accounted for, is looking up vocab words and reading the intense footnotes on every page, so that you can try to understand the context.
How do they choose the reading times? I know I’ve read some of those books in a lot less time than they say, although I wasn’t watching the clock.