How long does it take you to read a book?

[Tombrun]

Sorry for my bad english, but I hope you can understand what I write.

I'm not much of a reader, put I've decided to read all of Stephen King's books nontheless. I've read 17 novels so far (including the dark tower series) and about half of the short stories from Night Shift. I live in Norway and there's not a lot of King books translated to norwegian, so I read them in english which takes a bit more time for me. But even when I'm reading norwegian, I can only read about 10-20 pages before I get tired of it. I don't get tired of the book itself, but I get tired of reading. Like I said...I'm not much of a reader. I'm reading The Stand right now (I'm 650 pages in), but it takes months for me to finish such a big book.

How about the rest of you? I'm presuming that most of you are avid readers and swallows 2000+ pages in one sitting. And that it takes you around 15 minutes to finish the whole dark tower series.

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

Really depends on the mood and whether it's a re-read or not.

A new King, say Duma Key, two days, and a re-read a week.

The first time Dark Tower took almost thirty years, and the second 20 days, and the fourth eight weeks.

The first Time I read Bag of Bones in two days, the second time in four weeks.

Enjoy the rest of The Stand (I'm sure you will) and your English is excellent and kudos big-big to you for reading Sai King in English.

Long days and pleasant nights

[fenrislupus]

800+ pages.... 2 sitting of 3 or 4 hours. I started The Regulators yesterday morning and finished it this morning. Usually.... lately anyway.... 2 days per book. I got through:

Dreamcatcher
Gerald's Game
Insomnia
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
Skeleton Crew
Dolores Claiborne
Thinner
The Dark Half
Everything's Eventual
After Sunset
Duma Key
Cell

and a few others last month.

Now I'm on Roadwork, a book by Dennis Leary, a book by Dave Barry and Stephen King Goes to the Movies.

Enjoy!

[Sundrop]

It really depends on what kind of mood I'm in and what else I have going on in my life. If I've got nothing else to do, I can read some of them in a couple of days. If I'm too scattered, it takes longer. I like to take my time when I read, so if it takes me longer than most to finish, it doesn't bother me.....I'm just along for the ride. :)

[cwalrus]

I'm a slow reader mainly because I just read while commuting to and from work. On a day off, I might spend a few hours on a book but it depends on what I have going on that day. I actually prefer to read at home, but by the time I get home on a workday, it's usually all about walking the dog, dinner, tv with the wife and sleep.

[crazycrashink]

For me, it depends on what I'm reading. For instance, with a new King novel I get immersed and instantly lose track of time and fly through the pages. On the other hand, when I try to read my favorite oldie Mr. Dickens it can take me 2 weeks to finish a story. This could be due to the fact that King writes from my era, and Dickens takes a while for me to grasp the lingo. I think certain texts will always grab me a different way ,and the grasp they gain will determine the number of pages I am able to read in a sitting :biggrin2:

[linkinjen2001]

like john said it depends on the book, it took me almost a year to get through lisey's story. it only took a week to get through IT. usually it takes me anywhere from four days to a few weeks. i try to read about 100 pages per sitting.

[Ducky]

Take your time, enjoy the books in your own pace...I guess we all do!
Greetings from a fellow Norwegian. :smile2:

[Tombrun]

Thanks for the reply. Wow...Duma Key in two days. I haven't read that one yet, but seeing it's around 600 pages, I'd guess 1,5 months for me. I'm excited about his books and I can't wait to start the next one, but I still can't read more than max 20 pages in one sitting. Any suggestions to how I can manage to read 300 pages in one day? Maybe I'm reading too slow. Maybe I'm obsessed with reading every single word. Do you skip every other word or something? :biggrin2:

[sueb84]

When I was working I had a commute of almost 3 hours (1.5 to and 1.5 back) so I could generally count on finishing a book within 4 - 7 days. Now, however, I tend to keep busy until the evening and I don't seem to have time to read much:sad::down: I'm hoping to revise that soon.

[pixiedaark]

Sorry for my bad english, but I hope you can understand what I write.

I'm not much of a reader, put I've decided to read all of Stephen King's books nontheless. I've read 17 novels so far (including the dark tower series) and about half of the short stories from Night Shift. I live in Norway and there's not a lot of King books translated to norwegian, so I read them in english which takes a bit more time for me. But even when I'm reading norwegian, I can only read about 10-20 pages before I get tired of it. I don't get tired of the book itself, but I get tired of reading. Like I said...I'm not much of a reader. I'm reading The Stand right now (I'm 650 pages in), but it takes months for me to finish such a big book.

How about the rest of you? I'm presuming that most of you are avid readers and swallows 2000+ pages in one sitting. And that it takes you around 15 minutes to finish the whole dark tower series.

:rofl: Actually it takes me 15 minutes to read one book on The Dark Tower Series. JUST KIDDING! :biggrin2:

Depending on the size of the book it takes me anywhere from 2 days to 3 weeks. The Stand took me a long time, about 2 months. The book "It" also took me about two months to read it.

[LongWalker]

Hello there! Your english is great! I agree with the kudos on reading the english version while being Norwegian. Thats very cool! I read the complete unabridged version of The Stand in about five days and I thought that was pretty good for, what about 1200 pages. Rock on reader!

[bopropadop]

Echoing what John said about mood and the book itself... I've read several straight through in one sitting only to finish and look outside and see a new sun rising. Those are rare... Lisey's Story was the most recent. Most take a week or so. I tend to slow down on re-reads trying to capture every small detail.

My problem is not how long it takes, but trying to read three or four books simultaneously. I usually have something new going while re-reading at least two others. There are worse habits I suppose. LOL.

The Stand remains my favorite Sai King novel, hands down. Enjoy the rest of your read. I hope it stays with you for years to come as it has for me.

[nunu_chis]

It depends on the book, but usually when I take a book I spend half an hour or an hour and I read about 40 pages in an hour. Then I generally get tired of reading, not tired of the book. I usually take a book and read three times a day. The books that I read fastest where Harry Potter 7 (even when it was in English and I speak Spanish, I read it in a week, and it has 700 pages) and Bag of bones (also in a week and also about 700 pages), and the books that seemed endless to me were The dark half (more than a month) and The Stand (short version), also in a month. It wasn`t because I didn`t like them, but I just got tired easily if I read many pages together.

[JRLauer]

I'm lucky if I get 10 to 20 pages read in a day. So given that, it will take me about three weeks to read an average sized novel.

[gclark]

I'd definitely have to agree with john on this one. it really depends. My reading time isn't set in stone, so some days i read more, and some days i read less. before january of this year, i was reading 1 novel every week or two. Most were rereads, but that's a LONG time to take on a novel. But as of late i'm going through 6-7 novels a month. Most have been stephen kings works, but yeah.. depends.

[Frizz]

Depends on the length. But The Stand just recently took me about 2 weeks to read. Also depends on how much free time I can scrape together too.:biggrin2:

[LadyHitchhiker]

There are SO many variables when it comes to the book, my frame of mind, what I have to do that day, etc., etc., etc.,

Like The Stand the first time I read it, it took me two weeks. The most recent time I did it during my layovers from Georgia back to Michigan - I absolutely HATE flying, I'm one of those anxious flyers - and I sat in the smoking rooms, chain-smoking and reading The Stand. I think I finished it in 6 hours. Thank God for Stephen King for helping me get through my perilous encounter. I TOTALLY turned into a bawling mess when the ladies behind me on the plane were talking about their being a problem with the landing gear. The Stewardess was nice enough to spend some time figuratively holding my hand and telling me "we have homes and families to get back to too, and we won't take off if there's a problem".

But back on topic.

Unininterrupted: A Harlequin novel: an hour, hour and a half. Linda K Hamilton, 2-4 hours. I average about 100-140 pages an hour. I think that's pretty good, but it's nothing compared to my brother. :P

[SueC]

I have been known to read a whole book in a weekend but these days it takes me longer because too many other things take up my reading time, such as my family! I like to read in the evening or in bed so reading a whole book takes much longer, weeks even months these days. However if the book is really un-put-downable I sneak a few sly reads during the day! :biggrin2: Duma Key was like that! :biggrin2:

[Deavlynn]

How about the rest of you? I'm presuming that most of you are avid readers and swallows 2000+ pages in one sitting. And that it takes you around 15 minutes to finish the whole dark tower series.

LOL well, I don't think it goes quite that fast. The second time I read the dark tower series I read it in a week and a half. The Stand is also really hard to do in one sitting. It usually takes me about three days.

I'm sure that reading in a language that is not your native language is really difficult and would slow the process down considerably. I give you a lot of credit for sticking with it.

I started out as a really slow reader, but I think there comes a point where you have to push past the "I don't like reading" phase and just commit to getting through a certain number of pages or a certain length of time spent reading. The more you do it, the faster you get. After a while, if you really keep up with it, you'll find that the time limit no longer applies. Your eyes won't be as tired, and your brain will stay focused longer. You have to train the muscles in your head, just like you would train for a sporting event.

[Danivan]

I can read something like Duma Key over a weekend and still get in a few chores but I don't get as much out of a book when I burn through it like that. Sometimes I remember to slow down but with Stephen King it's hard...I just want to keep turning pages! So for me the challenge is not the speed with which I get through a book but how much I retain, detail wise. With Stephen King I always know "I'm going to have to reread this one too.":smile2:

[Teddy Duchamp]

First of all I commend you on reading so many books in English when its not your first language!

And I am laughing because like the rest of you it depends on what is happening in "real life" - Duma Key took me three days as it grabbed me straight away and I didnt have to go to work as it was the Christmas Holidays.....so got totally engrossed in it.

My husband was never a Stephen King fan but for years I went on and on at him about how fabulous the Stand was - so to shut me up he brought it on holiday - he didnt put that book down for 2 solid days - it went to the beach - out to the restaurants at night - he sat on the loo reading it while I slept - and in two days he had finished it!!!!!

I think he liked it!

[Tombrun]

I've been on vacation three times with my family after I started reading and every time I've read at least 3 or 4 books in 3 weeks. That was just laying on the beach reading the whole day through. But when I'm home, I can't seem to find the time to read more than 10-20 pages each day. I feel like stopping after those pages anyway, but after a break, I could read another 10-20 if I had the time.

[dsurrett]

I'm a slow reader. I have 2 jobs and if I can get through a 300 page book in 2 weeks I'm doing really good. But I've seen my wife read for 12-14 hours at a time to go cover to cover in 800 page books. Audiobooks help me get through more books over the course of a year.

[J.P.]

I am a really slow reader, I used to be fast in grade school. But recently I have fallen in love with audiobooks. I am a big time auditory learner and I retain so much more than from reading. So it takes a couple weeks for me to finish a book if I can devote an hour each day.

[shivers]

Of course depending on many things, but I´m a pretty fast reader i general. For example, I red a 800 pages book in one day last weekend, but it depends on how much time I have to spend.

[tillyn]

I'm afraid a new SK books can last 2-3 days depending on if i'm working a long week or a short. I'm trying to slow down as i can hardly wait for the next one to come out. DT series is taking 2mths , I have had 2 week breaks in there so i could have finished quicker, Have to take time out.

[karend3]

It depends if I have to work during the week, it could take me 2 weeks to finish a book like the Stand. But if I have a couple of days off it will only take me 2-3.

[Cowboy]

Depends on how busy I am, but usually I can finish a King book within a week. Now those Golden Books are a different story...

[Alexfan95]

Im swedish, (jag är svensk.)
Im have read Cell and im almost finish with THE SHINING. Its so good! I´ve started to red it for three weeks ago and im almost fininsh. And he who playing Danny in the verison from 1997 is coute.

[alferret]

I read the Stand, cover to cover in 4 days, my ex wife thought I was mad, the kids moaned cause I was ignoring them. But I was somewhere else and reality was a distant thought.
Now days I dont get to read as much as I would like, but on the odd occasion I can get through a book in under a week. Last one like that was Skin Privilege by Karin Slaughter.

[busy91]

Depends on which book. Carrie took me 2 days, Dreamcatcher took my 5 days (but I was on jury duty so I had a lot of time). An average King book would take me around 10 days to read.

[Sintify]

Well it just depends on how good the book is and if I can get into it or not. I started Dracula and I LOVED the first part, however the middle and following parts of the book I found to switch back and forth from really good to really boring, some parts just seemed to have no point. That book took me over a month. Yet, something that is really interesting, such as IT, only took me about a week to complete despite being double the size of Dracula. So in short, it just depends on the book for me.

[blunthead]

I think I'm a slow reader, and if that's true, I don't know why, unless it's because I kind of savor it. I study the technique. I ask myself why sK used this word or that, etc. If I'm reading a book that I find boring, unless sK or some other mentor-author of mine has recommended it, I usually don't finish it at all; so, that can't be an excuse. So far--and it's been really far, I've read a load of his stuff--sK hasn't bored me yet; in fact, his books I read more rapidly than any other author.

Still, apparently, it takes me much longer to finish one than most of the folks on this message board.

Certainly, if I had to read a Norwegian translation, I'd be in real trouble.

[tess4da]

As to the skipping part, yes, I do, and always have. I took a speed reading course in school, and they taught us to skim a page, which is to pick up the important points, and skip the rest. I missed a lot by doing this, and have re-read several books that I didn't fully get the first time. This is not a race to see who finishes first, this is a pleasure and a luxury. Enjoy it. :)

[havealemon]

For me it depends. Nowadays it takes me about two weeks to read a book because I usually only read an hour in the morning and about an hour at night.

I used to read a lot more than I do now. I could get through a book in a day or two because I made time for reading. I'm trying to get back into it more now.

[yendor]

I sometimes take 3 or 4 weeks to finish a book, unlike my wife who usually finishes in less than one.

[BRUMMIEYID]

This depends on the size of the book and my free-time!!!! I think my reading speed is pretty consistant so it just depends if I can get on the sofa with No Distractions!!!

On average a 400 page book will take me maybe 2 weeks, as I only get perhaps an hour at most reading time everyday, usually before bed.
If I have plenty of free time I can get through the same size book in 2 days.!!! When I'm on holiday I've been known to get through 4 to 5 books just laying on the beach or by the pool..........now that is heaven!!

[JackTheRipper]

I take anywhere from 3 days to a few weeks. DT 7 took me four days. I really got into it. HP 5 took me one day more, but I was in school reading in classes

[devilboy666]

for me it depends on the book and the size of the book i can go through a 400 or 500 pager in 2 to 3 days with It it took about 2 weeks but sometimes i would get bored and read something else in between

[Bluey Lunger]

first time thru i go like the proverbial bat. time varies on length of story, time available, that kinda thing. not every story is worth a second read. but we all know which ones are worth a second, a third...don't we? those readings take longer, taking time out to slap me for the things i missed on the first pass. you'd think i'd learn.

[King Jacob]

I guess I've gotten quicker or something, but it takes me anywhere between 3 to 5 days to finish most books. The longer ones (700 pages, 800 pages, etc.) take anywhere from seven to ten days. I try to read anywhere between 80 to 120 pages a day.

[Cognac]

depends if i have time in my life to read. 600 pages, about a week i guess.

[mine1480]

If I'm in a good mood not but 12 to 14 hours. Some are just too good to put down.

[finalfantasyVII]

For me 2 days: "the Storm of The Century", the "Stand" 5 days and that's between work and food:biggrin2:

[rose key]

There are SO many variables when it comes to the book, my frame of mind, what I have to do that day, etc., etc., etc.,


But back on topic.

Unininterrupted: A Harlequin novel: an hour, hour and a half. Linda K Hamilton, 2-4 hours. I average about 100-140 pages an hour. I think that's pretty good, but it's nothing compared to my brother. :P

I've never tried to time how many pages per hour, but what a good idea, LadyH! I'm going to go home tonight and time myself, I'll let you know tomorrow.

I usually read for a few hours at night before I go to sleep. Sometimes, I'll wake up in the middle of the night, and read by my cell phone light.
I'm thinking I read a bout 200 pages per night, but let's see what I come up with when I time it.

[Laura666]

It depends on how much I like the book.:smile2:

[Leland]

It takes me a lot longer than most of you. Insomnia took me about three weeks (that's not reading every day) - I'm quite a slow reader plus I only seem to get time to read in bed.

[darlenej]

it really depends on my mood and the book itself! the stand is awesome so don't give up!!

[PSYCHOTIQUE]

I am a completely new reader, My girlfriend got me into it, and now I can't touch my Playstation 3 because I am reading all the time (guess that is a good thing, lol)

When I first started reading my first book was Duma Key and I finished it in a week.

I recently read 'The Good Guy' by dean koontz (400 and something pages) and it took me about 6 hours.

[Prince of Darkness]

Hi,

Carrie took me 4 hours.

Salem's Lot took me 3 days.

Misery took me five days.

Lisey's story, also, took me five days.

The Dark Tower series took me 2 months.

The Stand took me 3 weeks.

IT took me a 3 weeks.

Duma Key, the first time, took me 1 and a half months.

On Writing took me 1 day.

Blaze took me 2 weeks.

Rage took me 7 hours.

Long days and pleasant nights.

[Susanne]

it took me 2 days to read The Eyes of the Dragon. But it usually takes me 2 weeks or more.

[Girl87]

I'm a slow reader. I started to read DT series last autum and now I'm reading DT 5. But Dolores Claiborne I read in a week.

[LostGraveRobber]

For me, it depends whether or not school is in or out. If school's in, then it takes me a lot longer to finish a book that I could finish in a day, becasue I have to give up my reading time to focus on my work. Of course, I always carry a book with me to a from school, so I can read on the bus and during any of my free periods. If there's no school, then I can usually finish 800 page books in a day. That's why I can't wait for my Spring Break to start so I can do nothing but read all day and all night with no interuptions or destructions.

[marew1]

:sleepy: Sometimes I can get through a book quickly. I really don't like doing that as I'd rather enjoy what I'm reading. A book also has to grab my interest. My mood or how tired I am will also cause me to read fast or slow.

[Robert DeSoto]

it usually takes about 1-2 weeks, depending on how many pages it has

[petalpea]

For me it depends on how "into" the book I am. If it's a book I haven't read before and it's awesome I will read non-stop until I'm finished. Normally a day or 2. When I re-read I like to take it slow and really look at all the nuts and bolts of the book.

[CaiteyFaughnan]

Duma Key took me three days.
Blaze took me about, five?
Carrie took me a day.
And, Lastely, Rage took me two days.

I'm a fairly fast reader.

[Tamou]

It truly depends on the size of the book, as well as the time I have on my hands. Generally, I can read 600-700 pages in perhaps a week, maybe quicker if I'm really hooked. :grinning:

[DelvianBlue]

King's books take me anywhere from 3 days to a couple of hours. A lot of it depends on what kind of book. Modern books I can read in a day or two, sometimes in a few hours. Classics take longer, and if it's a translation, it can take weeks. When I read The Tale of Genji it took me three months just to get through the first volume.

[SebastiaanZ]

Oh it varies. Mostly caused by other things I have to or like to do. When I'm really "into" a story a day and a part of the night can do (depending on the length of course). Sometimes I do it in two "periods" though. I read about half of It in two or three days, then put the book away for a few weeks and then started again to finish pretty soon afterwards.

Sometimes I've got periods that I don't want to do anything "useful", like studying, and my motivation is low. Most of those periods I buy a book and read it whole day. Really nice to relax and let everything go once in a while. It's a kind of vacation for me (have to work a lot in the summer to pay for my education and everything, so I don't have too much time to relax).