Are you a good reader?

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I have no idea how many words per minute I read, I've read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix(Hardcover 759 pages) in about 8 hours. Most of the books I read are over 700 pages and I read two to three a month. Speed wise I'd say I'm average to slightly above, though I can be sluggish at times as I may have to read a sentence several times before I 'get' it, and I occasionally catch myself drifting off while reading and not getting any of a paragraph or more so I have to go back and pay attention this time.

I've been reading since I was 4 years old and I'm a compulsive reader too. I'm not as obsessed as I used to be since discovering the gaming world, but I still need my books on a regular basis. A couple of tips for developing your reading speed and comprehension.

First, a few basic truisms about reading that they probably didn't tell you in school.
1) You are NEVER too old to become a better reader (or become better at any other cognitive skill).
2) Practice will make reading speed and comprehension better. The more you practice, the better you'll get.
3) Reading material that YOU like will improve your concentration and improve the chances that you'll preservere long enough to see results.
4) Reading materials you could care less about will always be harder, particularly if you have concentration problems.

A few tips:
1) Make sure the light falls over your shoulder to read.
2) Use diffuse lighting if you can. (If you've got a directional lamp try pointing it at the wall instead of directly on the book.
3) Go to an office store and get some of the transparent report covers that come in different colors. Try sliding the various colors over your page to see if a different background color is easier to see. You could also go to my website www.geocities.com/beckah_books and look at my stories. I use various backgrounds for each story. If you see one that seems noticably clearer and easier to look at you'll have a better idea of which color transparacy to buy. (You don't have to read the stories, though. lol)
4) If you have to read and understand something and are having a really tough time (like something for work or personal research) try reading it aloud into a tape recorder. Then either listen to the tape recorder or reread the material with the tape recorder going. You may be more of an auditory processor than a visual processor.

I hope some of these suggestions help. I think reading is the greatest achievement of the human race so I'm all for helping people read and enjoy it.

I don't read a lot of fiction but I do read a lot of manuals. I used to retain 98% of everything I read and could read whole lines at a time. I can't remember my wpm but it was really high. I seemed to be slipping though, I can't read very fast anymore and probably only remember 85-90% of what I read.

I can't read very fast on a computer.

Reading whole lines at a time is the essence of speed-reading.

Most people read slower off a computer screen, and retain less. It is more difficult to organize the movements of one eyes while reading off a screen, because the text changes positions as you scroll.

good to know I am not alone in this world.

I have several co-workers who say they can read faster on a computer screen. I'm interested in seeing if this e-ink is all it's cracked up to be and is really easier than reading from a screen. As soon as they make one that gets good reviews on displaying PDF files I'm buying one.

I have the exact same problem and I have been diagnosed with ADD. You probably have it as well.

love to read. Had a 'perfect' (except for the pay... job of 3rd shift security guard in my yute; read about 60 books a year (found the Dr. Who series, could read 3 of those in a single night)

Now I don't have as much time, but I still love it.
however, something like Dahlgren, Gormenghast, Gibbon, etc, is pretty slow going. I've given up on a few books in my time.

I read faster than the average people. I can read very fast if the reading material is interesting, whether I read from a book or a computer screen.

Personally, I feel more comfortable with sheets/books than reading from a computer screen.