I don't read word for word. I do what I think is officially call block reading -- I take in whole paragraphs and sometimes several short paragraphs at a time. It's different from skimming, but I have a devil of a time describing how it's different. It makes reading a lot faster, but I don't consider it speed reading. I learned to do it on my own from lots of practice and long experience, and I've done it so much that I have a hard time slowing down and reading every sentence, much less every word. My reading comprehension is generally good. The immediate comprehension part is just as good as when I was younger, but alas! my memory isn't. I do a lot of rereading because I tend to only remember things long enough to get the gist from them and I don't retain the specifics and can't recall passages verbatim unless I've read them forty-eleven times. Actually, though, it seems that I do better reading quickly than reading slowly, because my mind will wander off to something else if I slow down too much.

I suppose it depends on the arrangement of words. I notice that when I read a classical work or non-fiction I tend to take the words in at a slower pace. For fiction I try to read quicker but am not always able to do so. In either case I do read each word and sentence. ***********************************************************May I ride on the wave of Adam's question and also ask: Do you sometimes go back and read a passage or paragraph you just read?

Always skim detailed descriptive passages of windswept landscapes, storm tossed seas, castle battlements, eerie domiciles, stately cathedrals, meadows studded with wildflowers, ladies' boudoirs, majestic mountains, the minutiae of clothing, food, transport and sexual activity. Have read them all a million times before and would just prefer the author to set the scene with a max of about ten words. Find sex scenes tiresomely embarrassing these days - I feel strangely voyeuristic when the author starts peeling off his characters clothes and waxing rhapsodic about all the dangly bits. Should limit all sexual description to two words - "They bonked"............ .. Skimming thus I can finish a good sized novel in one night and not miss a thing essential to the story. Larry

I am a mixture....about 75% of the time, I will read every word whether it be novel or non-fiction. But, like Larryp, I find parts of a book to be overly long-winded and I lose interest so I start to skim..... If, however, I am reading a book I feel is of importance and really want to retain information, then I drive myself silly with re-reading. I must work on that one..............And to add another twist, when reading dialogue, I can usually give half of the page a good glance and somehow absorb the conversation. I don't know how this started or how it works but if I THINK about it, I can't do it. I guess I am a patchwork quilted reader - made up of many different pieces..............Another reading question:::::::::::::: Do any of you find that when reading about harsh conditions or strong emotion that after having read so many pages you begin to be emotionally numb to the characters' plights? I am reading A Million Little Pieces by James Frey and I must say that whilst his life and struggles are awful, I, at page 307, am really numb to his plight at this point.......Does this happen to any of you?~~~~~PAM

I tend to skim, block read and skip everything mentioned by Larry above (although I like clothing passages) but sometimes I have a new book that draws me in and I read every word. Recorded books are especially enjoyable because I'm forced to listen to the whole thing- and then I realize what I miss by not capturing the essence of the whole. And why I don't find very many books I love!

In the perfect world, I'd be able to sit down without anyone to disturb me and read a book for hours at a time, but that rarely happens for me. I often think my memory and comprehension would be better if I could read undisturbed. In general, though, my reading time is made up of stolen moments here and there, and it often takes me a while to get through a book so reading word for word is more helpful to me than trying to speed read. I've always preferred to read all of the words, though. I usually only skim a book if I'm looking for a piece of information for a project or an assignment. If I'm reading for pleasure, I prefer to take my time. I'm probably just an average reader when it comes to the subject of how fast I can read a book. I've never been able to block or speed read without feeling like I'm missing some of the feeling or subtleties of the book, though I might get the gist of it. There are some books, where I often have to go back and re-read sentences just to comprehend what the author is trying to say. However, I will sometimes skim over things if the book is very long-winded or I'm getting frustrated with the plot.

I try to read every word. If I catch myself skimming, I go back and reread the passage I missed. With difficult reading, I frequently read a sentence two or three times to make sure I got the meaning of it.

Once in a great while I will get a book and be so engrossed that I will read it all day long..skipping nothing,but that rarely happens. Usually I will block read ( what a great term for something more comprehensive than skimming but not quite word for word) certain pages.

I generally read every word, but occasionally, like Larry,if something is too descriptive (battle scenes for example)I will skim. I frequently re-read passages that I have just read, particularly if I have been interrupted.

When reading work-related materials, I skim. Otherwise, I tend to read every word, which is probably why I read fewer books that most RP members. As a child I hated descriptive paragraphs but now I do read them and consider how the author puts into words what he (or she) wants us to see in our minds. I took a speed reading class once but, while it was useful for some types of reading, I found I didn't want to use it when reading for enjoyment. Because my attention span tends to be short, I do re-read paragraphs when I realize I read them the first time while thinking about something else.

I am a fast reader and must do what Frieda calls "block reading" because sometimes down a page, I will feel I have missed something and go back to the top. Then I find what I have missed is a little unimportant-to-the-story sentence or two. ---------- I agree with Larry about the sex scenes. I would prefer a soft fade out and then "The next morning" or, at least, "Later."

I doubt that anyone past the third grade actually reads "word by word". Our brains are so fabulous that we probably all "batch read" when we look at sentences and phrases and are able to get the meaning without noting every single word. It is similar to understanding a foreign language. After a while we are able to get the meaning without thinking through every single word we hear. It's all very interesting and probably more complex than we realize! I find that when I "plug in" to a book that I enjoy, as I let my eyes follow the print, I begin to enjoy a mental movie of the story. It's like putting data in and getting a video stream. Curiouser and curiouser..........

Hmmm... I must still be stuck in a third grade mind, because I usually do read word by word and prefer it that way. That's not to say I don't block read from time to time, but I always feel like I've only partially glimpsed the picture rather than taken in the full view when I do it. I wonder if one's learning style affects how they read and comprehend what they read? I'm not a visual learner by nature, for example. I always feel like I learn better and faster when it is auditory and/or kinetic. When I read, I often hear the words in my head and listen to them, as though listening to someone reading the story to me. When I write down my thoughts, I'm often hearing them in my head and grow easily frustrated when they don't come out on paper the way I hear them in my head. Maybe I'm just odd that way? I do try to visualize what I read, but it's often out of focus for me. The image of it is so much sharper in my mind, when I can hear it in my head, so that is why I think it is more pleasurable for me to read word by word than by blocks. That's probably why I'm not as productive as other readers, though.

word for word.. except those onerous descriptions of things I'm not so interested in... then I block read, skim or just plain skip. But I love the delicious delight of the words of the story being told in my head...

When I start block reading or skimming it usually is a death knell for the book. 90% of the time, that book is going to be tossed. Occasionally, I find that I'm snared again, in which case I'll go back and reread the skimmed bits.

I would say I read word for word over 90% of the time. If there is a part of a book that doesn't interest me much or is not crucial to the story I may skim. If I need to do too much skimming -I put down the book for good, as it means,to me, that it isn't worth my time.

I read a ot like FreidaG does, though I do slow down occasionally for exceptionally beautiful language. I can't stay at that lower speed though; my mind starts to wander. I, too, skip over most sex scenes in books these days. Good grief, I think, are they at it again? And I have always skipped battle scenes, so incredibly boring; not to experience, I am sure, but to read about.

Like Janalyn, I only speed through the novels I really don't want to be reading. Mostly I read every word and like others I hear the words in my head. That could be a function of my early love of drama and years of writing speeches and presentations. I once upon a time skipped over descriptions, but after listening to James Lee Burke on audio I discovered how lyrical some of those passages can be and now tend to read them. I'm capable of reading with good comprehension almost as fast as I can turn the page, I just choose not to.

So have there been any books that you COULDN'T skim/batch read/speed through? I usually sortof speed read/batch process, but found that this was impossible to do with LOTR. I simply could not follow the story. The sentence structure was too odd, and if I skipped to the next paragraph when JRR got too rhapsodic, I'd miss something and have no clue why people were doing things. I had no idea I skipped/skimmed/batch processed so much until I tried to read those books. So any other books out there that are word-by-word only?

I do a fair amount of skimming, but often find this causes rereading when all of a sudden the character is standing by the window, when I thought they were sitting on the couch *VBG*. I read "Gone With the Wind" three times before I found that phrase in the book!

I think I read all the words, except I know that truly our eyes are seeing several words at one time, and our brains can comprehend just fine. I do slow down when I'm reading something that is different (Cloud Atlas, for example), for something that is beautifully written (The Shadow of the Wind and Fugitive Pieces) or for something that was written over a century or so ago (Dickens, Austen, and earlier)........For the books in the beautifully written category, I just don't want to miss any clever wording or turn of phrase. (I underline excessively in these.)

What a wonderful subject/question. A few years back, I went through a leadership learning experience; the facilitator is an eclectic guy whose name I will share if anyone is interested. In any event, one of the 50 books that we read for this 18 month experience is a book entitled "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler. Adler is a mentor of the group leader. That said, I am a double major, English and math. While reading "How to Read a Book" for this program (years after graduating from college), I realized that Adler was repeating, very academically, all that I had learned in college. I had this epiphany of what I had been taught. The discussion we had in the learning forum surrounded the similarities between reading a book and understanding people. Link to the book below.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Read a Book

Well, that depends on whether you're talking pleasure reading, or necessary reading. When I was in college, one of my courses included a kind of speed reading seminar. We were taught the method to be able to complete all of our law texts, and it works great if you are able to master it, however not everyone in our class was successful. We were taught that what makes reading a slow task for most people is the fact that they are pronouncing each individual word in their heads as they read each line. So we were told to begin each line pronouncing any one syllable word in our head instead, not for each word, but for the entire line. So since my word was "dog", I had to start each line pronouncing the word dog in my head, not for each word, but dragging it out for the whole line as I looked at each word, like d-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-g. After practicing that for a few classes, we were told to read each line but this time do NOT pronounce your chosen word in your head. Now you have trained yourself to visually see each word, but say nothing in your head as you read the words. That saves an enormous amount of time, and you can literally finish a book in about one quarter of the time it used to take. My family and friends cannot believe I can possibly read a really thick book in usually less than 2 hours. They sometimes quiz me with obscure questions to see if they can stump me, convinced that my reading comprehension must be compromised with reading a book so fast. The only drawback to being able to read so fast is that it literally sucks the pleasure out of basking slowly in the enjoyment of a good read, when you just don't want to get to the last page. So I have to consciously force myself back to the "normal" way of pronouncing each word in my head if I'm reading for pleasure, in order to prolong the enjoyment! I only reserve the speed reading method for textbooks or other material I need to get through quickly.

I can't read an English language book word for word because if I do I slip into translation mode. I have dabbled in translation so I suppose it's an occupational disease although I don't translate professionally any longer. I avoid books translated from English into Swedish because then I keep guessing what the original might be. Besides, I know that if I do this, the translation is no good and drop the book.