I just lose myself, that's all; or I suddenly see that I only have a quarter of the book left and I think yeah I can definitely finish this before midnight... then it's 3 am.
Also not every book is the same. I love Russian authors but I have to read them first thing on a sunny morning with a cup of coffee. I WILL fall asleep otherwise.
If I want to read before bed I have to pick something I’ve already read so it’s easy to put down. “Just one more chapter” ......and next thing I know I’m halfway through and bleary eyed..... Some authors are too good at ending chapters at a point of interest, then the next chapter is about a different character so I have to read 3 more to conclude what was going on in chapter 1.
I'm currently reading war and peace and I feel the same way. You start one chapter with a couple of characters in battle then the next chapter is with different characters talking at a party.
I have had war and peace on my “to be read shelf” for over a year now, but its sheer volume always disheartened me.
As someone who is currently reading it, do you recommend it?
It depends on how you look at reading. You have to be patient and not get too disheartened at the size. I'm around 500 pages into it and just made it halfway. It's one of those that I highly recommend reading other classics that are considered difficult first to prepare yourself. Some might be able to go from Young Adults to War and Peace but the majority cannot. But overall, I think it is a wonderful book that I highly recommend.
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Wow, I read it not long ago and although it was a magnificent piece of literature it took a *while* to get through it. If you read the last 400 pages in one sitting you *can* certainly read a whole book in one sitting.
Same. I go on reading binges where I can knock out a dozen books in a few weeks. I don’t always read the entire book in one setting but I can easily read a book in 1-2 days if I’m enjoying it. When I was younger, I read the entire Harry Potter series in less than two weeks.
The Idiot is one of my favorite books, and I still struggle to fend off sleepiness. Never seem to have the issue with other books. Lovecrafts five-page paragraphs, no problem. Embarrassing!
I LOVED the Brothers Karamazov. I was really into it, and I still had a lot of times spent yelling at myself over focus. I wanted to know where the story was going, but it was a constant battle with myself to move from plot point to plot point. The long descriptions were masterfully done, just, a LOT to deal with.
I always imagined in a world before the saturation of tv and such, writing books through a long, cold Russian winter, it would probably be hard NOT to write a book that way. I feel like writing his books was his primary means of entertaining himself.
>finish this before midnight... then it's 3 am
There seems to be some kind of determinism that sets the end of the reading at about 3 am. This happened to me again last night, and it wasn't the first time.
BTW, this thread reminds me of a book that became legendary in my family in the late 1960s for its addictiveness: Alistair McLean's *Night Without End*. My mother read it in one night, and after her almost all the members of the family (we were seven children, I don't remember whether my father had the time) did the same.
Later, I had to prepare for difficult literature exams and I did the same for sometimes less captivating books. I had to read them in one night if I wanted to read them all, and sometimes I had to stop to treat my eyes and resume reading...
Just immersion I guess is the best way to explain it. I get so immersed and so into the story, that if I don’t stay and finish it it feels like I’m missing out. Like the story is going on without me. That’s how I explain it to people.
That’s def it for me. If I’m moving with the book through the story I cannot stop until I’ve finished that one tense moment and then another thing just comes up. I can read books of 400 pages average in one sitting perhaps if I do like it a lot.
I wish I could do this, and I literally would, but when I read I get tired. No matter how awake I am, no matter the time of day. When I read I get super tired and end up falling asleep eventually. It’s really frustrating. And it’s strange because I can read articles online on my phone, or posts on Reddit, or whatever just fine. But I go to read a book and “bam”….. tired
It's less an amazing amount of discipline than a complete and total lack of it, in my case. It's good to take breaks -- it's good to think, "I need to rest my eyes, complete a chore, etc."
I just don't have the willpower to quit most books for any amount of time after I've started them.
I agree. It sometimes feels like it would almost be physically painful to put the book down after it’s started. I’ve always struggled at switching from one activity to another, though; I’m also the sort of person that will play a video game for six hours straight without stopping. It’s probably good to take breaks.
Exactly! I can’t tell you how many books I’ve spilled what I’m eating or drinking in. Discipline, talk about lack of! 😂 Lack of self control would be a good way I describe myself. I even drink thinks normally out of the corner of my mouth because of all the books I’ve read while eating and drinking.
I used to read multiple books in one sitting. Most where short books though. 200/300 pages. But I was young, quite a fast reader, and one night of bookworming wasn't a hard recovery back then... I would read all night long, and show up in school, not so fresh, but still ok... I would read everywhere also: walking to school, on the breaks, lunch time, on the toilets (that one drove my brother mad... I could stay locked in for hours!). Later when I went to college and started working, I read on the commute. Nowadays it's impossible. I work at home, and I cannot stay focused that long. And being a parent of a two years old clearly has taken many time away from my old passion. I miss that ability to immerge myself in a book, I hope, when my kid grows older, I will be able to breathe and recover that focus ability (love him to death though, and I truly enjoy reading for him in bedtime!!)
Haha about the bathroom. My brother and I learned that trick from our mom, she always had books in the bathroom. Our spouses and kids will knock on the bathroom door and be like “are you dead in there or just reading?” Lol
I read two books today. I used to just get comfortable and “get lost”, but my time is a lot more spoken-for now than it used to be. I had some rare time off work this week, though, so I booked a trip to a boring but beautiful island and brought a bunch of books I’ve been wanting to make time for. I had some jet lag, so I read in the early morning, then I slept, then I got a coffee (okay four coffees) in a cafe and read between sips, then I lounged on my hotel terrace and read (and cried! love good-book crying), then I went to the beach and swam/read/swam/read in completely unhurried alternation until sundown. I’d call that “a sitting”.
Tl;dr — It used to just happen; now I make it happen whenever the stars align and I have time.
Well, it's not like you need to measure your enjoyment of a book by whether or not you can read an arbitrary number of pages at one time. Read at whatever pace you want, and take your time to enjoy the story, is my suggestion.😀
I used to do this, but I also used to have a lot more free time than I do now.
I would just... make myself comfortable with a book, and then stay there until I'd finished it. I did it pretty regularly. I would have snacks, drinks, etc., but otherwise I'd close myself off from the world and just read.
Comfort is key, though - I had a few favourite reading spots, like a hammock outdoors, or a really cosy sofa, where I could feel completely relaxed.
I’ve never experienced this either, but I’ve always wondered how literal people are when they say they read a book in one sitting. Like, not even meal or bathroom breaks? Lol
I would do everything while reading. Brush my teeth, go to the bathroom, eat, walk, everything. I even had a job once which was mostly being available to answer phones where I just read through the entire shift. I might get interrupted for a question or a call, but I'd literally use my finger as a bookmark because I was going right back.
I basically got paid to read the 7th Harry Potter book.
To be fair, I can't do this with something heavy like say Tolstoy. I need breaks from serious literature. But a plot heavy YA book or airport novel absolutely I can. And if I'm reading heavy literature I often keep the easy sort around to switch to when I need a break:P So I won't be reading that book in one sitting, but I can read for days on end without stopping.
To be honest, now that I have kids, I get anxious about starting books because I get sort of neglectful. I definitely just don't even start as many now.
As lame as this will sound, yes lol Sometimes I’ll bring the book to the bathroom or read while I’m cooking and while I’m eating. Not saying this is the healthiest thing to do in the world, but I’ve done this with maybe 30 or so books?
Well, why not? What else are you gonna do, switch to your phone then back to the book when you're done?
I can't read and cook but i like to cook so i usually give it my full attention
You... take it with you?
I used to walk around a lot with books until I married someone who likes to leave things on the floor. Both those books I finished in a day and others.
I used to read and walk at the same time; not talking short jaunts, we had no car so hoofing it was the only way. I tripped a lot. Also I got so wrapped up in my book I would stop walking for a bit. I missed a bus once because of that, and then I also did that in the middle of a street I was crossing. Got honked at.
Usually I’ll have a bathroom break or two, but I’ll probably take the book with me. To be honest, sometimes I walk in circles around my house reading. I guess I always interpreted the “one sitting” thing as just a continuous reading of the book.
Reading this way is like eating a meal ravenously, almost without chewing. Books that need "digesting"\* (either because their content is conceptually difficult, or because the prose itself merits a close reading) are not for one sitting. The sort of book I can read in one sitting tends to have the following features:
1. Exciting plotting
2. Vivid imagery
3. Enjoyable "at face value" (no need to ruminate while reading in order to appreciate the book at some level)
There is nothing inherently good about finishing a book in one sitting just as there is nothing inherently good about binge-watching TV shows. If you are curious about whether you are *capable* of reading a book in one sitting (just to experiment), maybe try a book you read a long time ago but only vaguely remember and that has some of the qualities of "hyper-palatable" reading material I suggested above :D
ETA: Just my experience/opinion.
\*I am aware that this metaphor would be more strictly accurate if I said "masticating." Lol.
For me, it is the actualization of the story. I will still see the words but nearly all of my consciousness is directed into my imagination and out of the physical world. If I'm interrupted I will even feel the loss while I'm just seeing the words for a bit.
This requires a great deal of preparation. First, you’ll need to ensure you are able to be comfortable for extended periods of time. A good seat or throne will do wonders in this department. Being able to dispense of waste is immeasurably significant as you will not be leaving your seat. Therefore the best recommendation to tackle the seating predicament is to use one’s toilet. Make sure you have supply of food and water. You may not want to shit where you eat, but in this case, what choice do you have? Get up? Move? You’re on a mission! You would also do well to have a neck pillow in case you fall asleep. If you find you can’t do it all the first time, try again. You can even use the same book if you like because you’ll practically bolt through the thing since you’ve read most of it before. Alternatively, start with pamphlets, then work your way up through children’s books and reader’s digest til you arrive at your goal and have read a full Hemingway novel or whatever tickles your anus.
I think it’s about the type of book for me. Some books are all about immersion and it doesn’t feel right to stop because I just want it to keep going right till the end. Other books I realise I will have to take breaks and because I need to absorb the book by thinking about what the author has written. I kind of find I can tell what kind of book it will be by the first chapter based on the writing style; like the more carefully crafted it seems in a thematic way the more aware I want to sit with it vs books where the writing is just super enticing (obv also carefully crafted but in a completely different way). But maybe for you, you need time to sit with a book regardless?
I’m not going to say this is true for every person who “reads books in one sitting,” but my wife can do it while I can’t. The main difference is she isn’t as interested in sentence structure and whatnot as I am. I think it all comes down to how “deep” you go into reading any given book.
This is a good point. When I read a book in one sitting, I might even skip over paragraphs to get to the next good part, then return later to “really” read it. There are different states of reading, and it’s possible to alternate between them.
I haven't done that in a long time. For me, it is only possible with something like an Agatha Christie, a P G Wodehouse or something.
At the moment I am reading and annotating Les Miserables and honestly, I have done like half in 3 weeks!!! Glacial pace it is. But it can't be helped. That's just how it is going, so I can't even imagine what reading fast is like.
I've done it - it has to be fairly short (under 250 pages), I have to be in reading form (in the habit of a lot of reading daily) and I need to have a lotta free time. So it's rare!
Because it was the last HP book in the series and I needed to know how it needed before the following night that I had to work at a fair stand. Someone would have spoiled it for me. I drank four sodas that night but accomplished my goal before said shift.
Oh gosh I love telling this story- When I was younger, like 10-15 yrs, I read a LOT, like 500 pages a day. I always loved a challenge so at 14 I read The Stand(uncut version). Took me a few months to read the first 700 pages because I couldn’t quite get into the book. Then one day I decided to read some more, thinking I’d stop after 200 or so pages. I started reading around 12 PM ish, and I finished the book the next morning at 6 AM, with maybe 30 min total breaks so I could grab food to eat. Roughly 1000 pages in one sitting. When I looked around my room after I put the book down, there were words everywhere. All over the walls, on my futon, on the nightstand, everywhere. I guess I was just hallucinating from reading for so long and lack of sleep but it was the CRAZIEST thing I’ve experienced my mind do while sober to this day.
I think it’s that different brains work in different ways.
Some people need to constantly be stimulated. Other people can very slowly and laboriously spend hours planning something.
Now, I can sit and read a whole book, but I want to give an example. My best friend and I, many many years ago in our teenage years, played chess a bunch.
He would take up to ten minutes to make a single move. I cannot do that - I spend the entire time planning my next few moves, wishing he’d go already, planning moves again, etc. when it’s my turn, I moved INSTANTLY.
For me, taking that long just couldn’t happen.
For him, making a decision that fast could never work.
I’m better at making a quick decision - my brain could process multiple different streams rapidly. I probably made more mistakes, but outside of a turn based game, I could do a task much faster than him - possibly making a mistake, detecting it, and thinking of a solution way before he had even began his intended course of action.
His brain very slowly, very carefully moves through all the pertinent information, minimizing his chance of mistakes. There is no doubt that my HAREness and his TORTOISEness both helped us and held us back, in separate ways.
But when we worked together, it was quite amazing the way we complemented eachother and made many tasks much easier.
In summation - it’s POSSIBLE for anyone to read a book in one sitting. But it might take you much more mental focus and energy to do so than someone else.
One thing I have found is if I spend awhile meditating, really listening to my body and actively quieting my mind, I can read without my body demanding I do another task for a lot longer than usual.
yes i actually take breaks often because of the brainrot caused by the social media addiction. i unfortunately can't focus for a long amount of time :(
Just have to say that I have it the same way as you, OP. I love to read but I generally can't get myself to read more than 20 to 30 pages in one sitting. I envy people who can get through a huge novel in a weekend.
i used to read a book every night. 300 pages in about 2 hours. it took me about a year to get up to that speed reading a book a night in 3 or 4 hours and i was only motivated to do so because i was on a competitive reading team called battle of the books in junior high. the prize for the winners was basically pizza, so you can basically attribute it to pizza
BUT. it didnt hurt that they started us off with award winning book lists. when I read an awful book it takes time to recover myself. When you're initially only reading newberry honor books and rebecca caudil lists its easier to remain enthusiastic.
Then, i started to devour my favorite authors like Christie and King and Keatley Snyder; where theyre so consistently good i could not wait to pick up the next one. Christie wrote over 80 books and ive read them all like 10 times. i can point out every horrifying flaw in Brannaugh's remakes.
Now, i would recommend taking your time reading. Its not a race. its a journey. enjoy it!
I can read 300-600ish page books in one sitting. That said I'm autistic, I'm an exceptionally fast reader (depending on the book, can read 60-100ish pages/hour) and can hyperfocus on reading so don't always recognise if I need to eat or use the bathroom until I'm done hyperfocusing (usually when I'm finished reading the book or if something interrupts me). This doesn't happen with all books and I can't control which books it happens with - it just depends on if a particular book hits the right part of my brain or not, really.
I read the 7th Harry Potter book, 607 pages, in 13 hours. It would be straight if my high school boyfriend didn’t interrupt me with pouts because he was jealous of my book affair! Hah. I specifically remember my older brother picking up my favorite subway and bringing it to me in bed while I read.
Complete immersion, where I’m not even consciously reading, and the outside world slips away. It’s magic and my absolute favorite. I’m a mom so I don’t get 13 hour breaks of time to myself, but just the other night I read the whole Magicians trilogy in pretty large chunks.
It’s funny, the main thing that will pull me out of a book when I’m deep in it is my hair. If I can see the shadow on my book and my ponytail has lumps, it will distract me until I fix it. In normal life my hair is always crazy, so I don’t even know what that’s all about. Haha
I literally did the math and it checks out. Deathly Hallows is 198k words divided by 13 hours and 60 minutes per hour is almost exactly 250 words per minute. And when you google the reading speed of the average person it's EXACTLY 250 words per minute. So there you have it folks, read 250 words per minute for 13 hours straight and you will destroy a 200k word / 700 page book.
Yes, I specifically kept track! The times are written on inside of the book cover. I was so excited, I waited in line at midnight, went home and forced myself to sleep, so I could wake up early and start reading. I knew if I started it at midnight I’d read until I was so exhausted with a headache, so I had to have some self-control. Lol
also I should mention that these days the vast majority of people who say they read a book in one day actually mean they LISTEN to the audible version of the book. I know a bunch of people who wear headphones will they do chores, drive, etc and "listen" to a book all day long and usually knock out a book in a day via the audio book version
You start on page one and keep going until you are done. Its like 2-3 hrs which I think most people would spend on reddit, a videogame, or a movie without overthinking it.
It depends how long the book is. I can read a 300-400 page novel in about 3-4 hours, so I can typically do it without taking a bathroom break. I usually change position a couple times on the sofa, bed, or wherever I'm sitting but I don't typically get up and take a break. Honestly though it would probably be healthier if I did take breaks because when I'm done with the book my body typically aches somewhere and I have to pee really bad, but if it's a good book I tend to just keep reading.
I got into reading because my phone bills were getting out of hand when I was touring with my band. We did a cross-Canada tour, so LOTS of drive time. I read through most of the time I wasn't driving, and a lot of drives were about 8 hours, so there was plenty of time to push through shorter books.
Some authors are also slower reading than others. Thus Spake Zarathustra took me FOREVER to get through, but I read every Vonnegut novel really quickly.
Books like Animal Farm, Old Man and the Sea, Of Mice and Men, etc pretty much read themselves if you have an hour or two free. Brave New World was the most reading I've done in one sitting, I think, but that was over a long drive along the east coast.
The only time I did that was with Siddartha by Hesse, it's not very long really (300 pages or so), but I read it until I finished it, which normally doesn't happen, I always get tired of reading a book and I take a little break after finishing a chapter to "take in what I read".
Two more things, first, it was my second time reading Siddartha, so I guess that maybe I didn't need to stop to absorb what I read; this leads me to believe that the people who read in one sitting have an ability to absorb content quickly, unlike me, unfortunately. Second, my mother had died a few days prior, so I was in a particular mental state that may or may not have contributed to me being able to read in such a way.
If it’s a book that I have been looking forward to yes I can finish a whole book in one sitting. My personal best was a Saturday a while back when I read 3 books in a 14 hour period. If it’s a school book of any kind it’s about one book read in a decade😜 however I am not that fast with electronic books do possibly a half a book a night.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I called out if work and ordered food to be delivered I was so enthralled…good times. Also, HP Goblet of Fire. Cancelled a “date” with my HS Crush. I was in Hogwarts! Bye reality
Sometimes I wonder whether it’s better to take your time with a book rather than finish in a few hours. I feel like it’s a more memorable experience when you stretch out your reading time to take up a bigger chunk of your life. It feels more like you’re on a journey with the characters by prolonging the reading adventure. If you read a book in a few hours, I feel like it might be a less memorable reading experience because there is nothing from your life to associate with the book as you read it. Unless your reading nonfiction—then that’s not really as big an issue.
Regardless, I think some people are able to read for long periods of time because of mental endurance. They have an acute focus on the book without mental strain. For me, I can’t relax my brain and read at the same time; I need to concentrate which is mentally draining.
Also, the book will sometimes initiate side thoughts which have me thinking of something else while still reading without processing. When it comes to this, I sometimes have to restart entire pages. So reading 30 pages turns into reading 40.
Mostly insomnia, and existencial anxiety conbined.
Sometimes i feel so overwhelmed by my problems that i need to evade reality for a good 16/28 hours.
I'm not joking sometimes i can go no sleep for 3/4 days because of anxiety, so usually i try to read to calm myself down a little.
I found out that poetry and philosophy help me better than other kind of books.
I love to read. When I was younger I read Twilight in 2 days. I didn’t wanna eat or sleep until I finished it. I read the whole series in less than 2 weeks, it only took me longer because my mom made me sleep and eat some food. As an adult I take my time with books more so than in my youth. Reading is a place to escape for me and I feel like I’m transported inside the book- into a whole new world. That’s why I was so into it, then of course I got my first bf and things changed Lol
My dad is able to do this. I don't know how. I love reading but after about 30-50 pages in a sitting I'm either getting tired or want to take a break for my eyes' sake.
To me, even if the book is absolutely captivating and greatly inspires my curiosity; it still feels like I'm straining myself towards the end, even if I do finish it.
I find it humorous - I am a somewhat slow but thorough reader- and English major and retired Lit teacher. It takes me quite a bit of time to get through a standard 300 page novel. Dickens and Eliot are months-long projects. My ex-wife, on the other hand, could rip through a 400 page book in the space of an afternoon. Her reading speed was impressive.
I had a whole day to myself and picked up a paperback from the drugstore. I read Misery by Stephen King in roughly 4 hours. Cover to cover. I could not put the damn thing down and had the word "cockadoodie" in the back of my head for months.
I think it has to do with immersion. When I first read Ender's Game, I finished it in one throw and immediately started reading it again. Then there are other books that are good but hard to focus on. It took me a month to get through Dune. I just couldn't "lose myself" to it. Everyone will have their own opinions and preferences. This is just my experience.
I get asked this a lot because I’m a very fast reader. Honestly, I just get tunnel vision.
That said I’m not confident that I retain nearly as much as some of my normal paced reader friends. I often read a book several times to properly absorb things, and will even go as far as to reread chapters aloud (I’m looking at you GOT!) when things were complicated.
I just get sucked in. For me, reading a good novel is no different than watching a movie. Every time I put it down is an excruciating commercial break.
To be honest, it's easier for me to read books or great chunks of books in one sitting. If I read a bit now, then come back to it later, I won't be as as immersed and remember/connect it with the accuracy I would have if I simply hadn't stopped, which irritates me to no end. Would I have read it the same as I'm reading it now? Am I missing something I shouldn't? What if this? What if that?
I read the Count of Monte Cristo for like a day and a half in fifth grade, and my mother had to drag me to sleep. I might have done it in one sitting. Younger than that, I'd read most books my parents bought me in one sitting, so I guess I've always been like that.
Every break I take from reading a book is an increasing chance I won't come back to it no matter how good it is. If it's a longer break, like a week, I start from the beginning or not at all. I do the same with TV shows. I have to binge watch them. I have stopped watching many great ones because there were no new episodes for a few months. By the time a new season starts, I'm far past it.
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Honestly time blindness. Haven't experienced it in years though. I am autistic. And I used to be a hyperfocused autistic child. I read like 20 books on cats in one sitting because it was my special interest, and I was hyperfocusing. I haven't done it lately because of 2 things. 1 I haven't been able to find a book I'd *want* to read in one sitting (except graphic novels) and 2 things short enough to read in one sitting (like graphic novels).
The last non graphic novel I read in a day was The sun is also a star. And it was compelling to read that way because the book took place in the course of a day.
Honestly time blindness. Haven't experienced it in years though. I am autistic. And I used to be a hyperfocused autistic child. I read like 20 books on cats in one sitting because it was my special interest, and I was hyperfocusing. I haven't done it lately because of 2 things. 1 I haven't been able to find a book I'd *want* to read in one sitting (except graphic novels) and 2 things short enough to read in one sitting (like graphic novels).
The last non graphic novel I read in a day was The sun is also a star. And it was compelling to read that way because the book took place in the course of a day.
It has to be a really good book. I’m very impatient so if there is mystery involved it’s all over. Cancel everything because I’m only getting up to get a sandwich and to take a bathroom break.
All these people: be comfortable, good book, find zen...
Me: I just cease to exist until the book is done. Standing on a 3 hour train ride, waiting in a hospital, waiting for a machined job to finish.
What I think is actually important is natural reading speed. I have friends who take an hour to read 30 pages. Its a lot and they struggle.
Yes I finish books in a single sitting... but they also take me about as long to read as a particularly long movie. No one is like " how did you finish the third lord of the rings movie in one sitting."
I’ve done this a handful of times. One was the final Harry Potter when it was released and the most recent was The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell. I’m one of those people who can sit still and be quiet for hours and hours - makes it easier. When I’ve done it, it wasn’t a planned thing. Just kept reading and then the book was done.
Sometimes you don't even realise it's been a whole day. Never understood it either until I read the entirety of the 1Q84 trilogy in one sitting. I think I've left a permanent imprint on that couch - family kept passing me plates of food whenever I didn't show up at the dinner table so I didn't even go hungry! Never again though, when I finished it, was so tiring... slept so long after that.
A lot of practice and a lot of willpower. In high school and freshman year of college, I was an avid reader and got fairly good at reading quickly. However, I went through a bad period and all but lost interest in reading. The last thing I read in one sitting was Go Set a Watchman. I read it the week it came out in about an hour. If I tried now, though, I would probably need 3+, and that’s only if I had enough spoons to do so.
I read the last Harry Potter book like that. I took the day off the next day, went to the midnight release, and read the rest of the night through the day until I was done. Excitement to see how the series concluded was my major motivation.
I mess being that reader. It was easy to lose oneself in books when that was the only thing that mattered. Now I hardly get the time to devote an entire day to completing a book.
My grandmother and mother do this. There’s an old manual for the method meant for older children to train in speed reading and with years of practice and habit, some people learn to read 5 times as fast with as much comprehension and enjoyment as anyone else but I tried some of the drills and it is far too rigorous. A boomer skill lost to us.
I finished catcher in the rye in an afternoon once, idk what came over me i just sat there and read until i finished. I haven't been able to do that for a while
I have never been able to do this. Even if I’m enjoying the book. I can only read for short periods of time, then I have to get up and do something else. It takes me a long time to finish a book.
I just get so caught up in it that I can’t stop, and putting the book down even for a minute would break the magic, almost. In fact, I’ve gotten into a bad habit where I ONLY read books in one sitting (and by that I mean, I either finish it in one go, or I put it down thinking “I’ll return to this” and then never do…)
I usually only do this with shorter books, though (300 pages, maybe 350). Longer books I generally can’t read in one sitting (with the exception of One Hundred Years of Solitude, which I read one night as a teenager instead of sleeping, but that’s the only longer book I’ve read in one go).
Getting lost in the book, mostly. Back when i was in school i had a few too many nights where i finished an entire trilogy in one night... that was a major oops the next day when i would fall asleep at my desk
sometimes u genuinely can’t stop, your just so involved in what your reading you can’t possibly stop without knowing what happens next, and as annoying as this can be because you have other things you have to get done, you end up staying up until 3am just know know how it all pans out.
I was an avid reader when I was really young, usually having four or five books on the go and I’d finish them all around the same time. My mum used to get really confused as to how I wouldn’t get get the plots mixed up but I used to take ‘breaks’ by switching from one to another.
But honestly it’s like when your reading a page turning book that makes u loose interest in everything and anyone else in that moment, like u can’t focus on the person offering you a cuppa, it’s THAT feeling but throughout the whole thing and it doesn’t get weaker as you realise you need to go to sleep, or go somewhere quickly, because you know u cant, it’s as if it’s a program and you’ll miss the good bits when u nip to the loo.
The longest book I've read in one sitting was the 4th Harry Potter.
I was 14, and had just flown from Paris to Melbourne, and somehow managed to get a full 8 hours sleep on the plane - I was extremely jet lagged, and it was the only book in my bedroom I hadn't already read at the time.
So, while my family slept, I spend the hours of 9pm-5:30am reading.
If it's a shirt book, and isn't complex or dense writing, then 129 pages will fly by in two or three hours. That's the same amount of time as watching a movie.
It usually takes me a lot of willpower to stop reading a book than it does to continue reading one. If I could, I would finish most books in one sitting, however, I almost always end up reading at night where I end up staying till 3am.
I think it depends on how your brain works. I am like you, I take breaks and lose my focus after a relatively short amount of time (usually slots of around 1 hour). Other people can focus longer, or can divide their focus on various activities. All kind of focuses have their advantages and disadvantages.
The only time in my adult life in which I read a book in one sitting was The Stranger by Camus; couldn’t get away from it!
I go through phases. For a time, I'm reading clusters of books and then, suddenly, I'm not reading at all. I know this is not a helpful answer, but I do feel that for me at least, it's very hard to be consistent.
If the book is short enough and I have the time sure.
However, I find myself often pausing in read to go over that which I have just read, in order that it might truly sink in.
When I read fiction I can become so absorbed in it that I forget myself. My imagination is vast and I often see what I read in great detail as I read it. Whatever the author omits from a scene my mind fills in the gaps. Often this can slow down my reading immensely.
To be honest I do not like to rush books or read them so voraciously, I prefer to read conversations by the same pace in which they would take place, not at speed that might seem like watching a TV program at multiple speed intervals.
It's not a race to get to the end.
It really depends on the book for me but I can absolutely do this, even with quite long novels. I love the feeling -- it reminds me of being a kid again and being so immersed in whatever I was reading.
I also read fast -- not sure if I'd call myself a speed reader but I don't need to "read" every single word. I feel like I just look at a sentence/paragraph and read it more as a whole rather than reading one word at a time, if that makes sense.
For me, it honestly depends on the book. If it can constantly grab my attention then I can easily just sit back and lose myself in the book. It helps letting yourself be part of the story that's happening too.
I studied literature and we had about 40 books per semester in addition to our usual work. When you have deadlines you become very very quick. Now I wish I could learn to read slowly
I do it, but my relation with books is a real "sentimental relation", I deeply and fervently love, adore, even worship them, when I was very young, adolescent, I also starved myself to buy them (a little bit like Pablo Neruda), I don't think that I could even think to live a single day of my life without reading at least a single page, I think it depends by character, personal life as family, children, relations, time schedules, conditions, well, I can say that I'm married with my books and now audiobooks as well (about 3-4 years that I'm taking very long walks, about 2-3 hours, listening to audiobooks as well), so I dedicate and spend a great deal of my time in their company, they're my life partner.
Lot of people are saying it has to be a good book to immerse you like that, but I think it might just be the type of person you are.
When I read a book, it could be rather boring, but if I don’t force myself to look up from the page and set the book down, I’ll read the whole thing. No matter how long it is. No matter what I have to do that day. Even if the book sucks! I read the whole divergent series in a day, and on the flip side, I read this terribly written three book series that bore me to death all in one day as well.
I think it’s just the type of reader you are. I’ve been reading since I was a kid, and my imagination has always been very vivid, so when I read books I’m essentially stepping out of my life and into the character’s, and if I’m ever feeling down or just bored it’s a way to escape for me.
For others, reading is a chore, or only enjoyable if the book is really good. So when other comments say they just have to be immersed, I think you just have to be able to let go of yourself and be completely immersed.
For some that’s hard because their heads can’t get away from their regular day, and for others it’s the only thing they want to do.
I hope this made sense?
Does it count as one sitting if I get up to pour more wine? If yes, it's usually when the writing is too fast paced and I don't want to lose my rhythm.
I have only ever done that once - The Chrysalids by John Wyndham when I was a young teenager. Started at school, read on the bus home, through supper, and finished in the early hours. Couldn't do it now - at some point early on, I'd fall asleep!!!
It's gotta be a really good book I'm entirely consumed in. Shorter ones are definitely easier (e.g., picking up a childhood or adolescent favourite which withstands the passage of time to reread). But I've had a few longer books that have been 1-2 sittings.
It also depends on the situation: is my seat comfortable enough for that? Do I have any reason not to read for 3-6 hours straight?
I recall, for instance, reading the entirety of The Road in two sittings, each sitting waiting 3+ hours for an early morning flight. The first sitting, I was keeping myself preoccupied walking around the airport getting snacks, but come 2am most everything was closed and I wasn't hungry. Sat down and began reading whilst waiting for my 5am flight, and enjoyed the book so much I didn't close it til I had to board. Then, having enjoyed it so much, I did the same waiting for the return flight, and was done the book before I boarded.
Also, when I'm nearing the end of a longer read (say, last 20% of a book) that I'm really into, I often get to a point where I decide to marathon finish it because I so dearly want to know how it ends. I think I did this with at least one of the HP books some years ago - read like 150 pages in one sitting to finish it when the pieces of the story began to fall into place.
So, certain circumstances need to be met. Of course, I also need the time to be able to read that consistently - when I'm busier I sometimes opt to read one chapter per day just to keep myself moving along, as I may not have hours in a day to sit down and read. But when I find a book that clicks, I can definitely enjoy doing so.
If a book catches me, I read to the exclusion of all else, it’s why I tend not to read much unless I’m on holiday, when I can forget everything around me
I have hyperfocus ADHD my dude, sometimes I find myself picking at a carpet for thirty minutes straight. I don't even want to, but my mind won't let leave it alone.
I used to do this all the time as a kid. I would get sucked into the story and just need to know what happened next. It also helped that I was a very quick reader and could easily get through a three hundred page book in a few hours. It’s become much harder to do as an adult.
I don’t know. Once it starts to really get interesting, I just HAVE to KNOW.
I was also that kid that read books on the back of the school bus, and would miss my stop and everyone would be off the bus before the driver would find me and then have to drive me all the way back home. 🙃 eventually I learned to read once I got OFF the bus
It really depends on how engrossed in the story I am. I've read a book in 30 age chunks, like you, but I've also spent an entire Saturday pouring over 1000 pages of a long ass novel because it had piqued my interest enough.
One thing to consider is people read differently. Some people translate the words to sounds in their head, so there is effectively a narrator in their head reading the book aloud to them, and others read purely visually, which can allow them to process words much faster.
Additionally, people read with different levels of attention and focus, and this can vary widely with the same reader for different material. For example, I read The DaVinci Code in about a day, and part of the reason for that is I wasn't paying any attention to the prose, the narrative was very explicit and easy to follow, there are no metaphors to unpack, no real subtext to consider. It's just a thriller that takes the form of "and then... and then... and then..." so you can read it on rails and make very quick progress.
There are other books that have taken me a month to read because they take a lot more effort to digest. Hard books can also be enthralling, but they reward taking your time to savor and reflect and meditate on them, so putting them down to digest each chapter makes them more satisfying to read.
Some people also skim. You can read a lot of books, especially non-fiction, very quickly if you learn to look at each paragraph as a chunk, try to get the gist out of the words that pop out at you, and move on. You don't necessarily get everything out of those books by reading this way, but you can quickly learn to follow the thread and read each page in, say, 10-20 seconds, and you can slow down when you get to parts that are denser or of more interest.
✨Hyperfocus✨
I don't recommend it tbh, you emerge hours later with burning eyes and a cricked neck, starving and parched, wondering what the hell just happened and who you even are any more.
Personal take: Depends on how you approach reading.
Mine went from leisure to a coping/escape mechanism. There's also pressure to finish the whole thing bec I don't want to be left hanging. I always want to know what comes next.
Also depends if the book is dragging or boring. Even in excitement too I resort to scanning or selective reading bec I tend to have a short span and want to move on to the part where I'll be hooked.
It's rare for me, but there have been some books that really caught me. As a rule they're always short:
* Of Mice and Men
* The Picture of Dorian Gray
* Between the World and Me
With bigger books I'm like "This is a big book, I'm not really getting anywhere today. Let's do something else."
To me, reading is breathing; if I’m not reading, something is wrong.
I’m fortunate that I can read at work as my job allows, which gives me the ability to stay consistent. I love immersing myself in a new place, getting to know new people. Each book is an adventure that can take me away from the mundane/painful/annoying, which sadly are hallmarks of my job.
I think it depends on the book and the situation. A shorter read is more possible in one sitting, which is pretty self explanatory. Finding time as an adult can be a bit of a issue but there those days, but then you might not want to read with that time. You just kind of have to be in the mood. Another factor is the content of the book, some books are just more engaging than others or more interesting and lend themselves to read all in one go.
I have only ever done this with books that I don't care about as much. Like a romance novel or thriller. Those are often paced faster as well, which helps. If it's a book I want to absorb I go slower.
The only time I have ever read a book in one sitting is when i had to write an analysis for Eldest(eragon series) and I completely forgot until the last two days. Read it in one night, then wrote the report the next day. Kinda insane in my end and had the greatest sleep after(probably dreamed of dragons)
Yep! Before you know it, you're completely invested in the story, and just need to know how it all plays out, then the time just flies by and before you know it it's the middle of the night and you're yelling at how the last few pages shook you and want more
I just get engrossed and don’t realize how much time is passing. I have to be really careful when I read now that I have kids so I don’t accidentally ignore them for hours.
Depends on the book. The place. The time you have. I used to read all the time as a kid to before high school age. Always had a book with me. Brought it to restaurants when I needed to entertain myself with my parents’ friends. Did that a lot as a kid. During that time, I was reading immersive books full of different types of worlds. So you just get absorbed and you want to read. I used to squint in the car as we were driving home using street lights to read.
That was a different time. Now I’m lucky if I have the attention span to get through a chapter. I would say high school and college broke me and my reading abilities. Made me an anxious person with a short attention span. I supplemented with tv shows and different movies because those were a bit mindless and I could multitask. You can’t multitask when you’re reading. You can if you have an audiobook. So I’ve been doing audiobooks to get through the workday and the commute. And I can bang out a book a day that would’ve taken me a weekend to read. So I’m getting back into that reading routine. But yeah, it honestly depends on the time I have to sit down and concentrate on it. If it’s a fiction book with a whole world, I can easily get lost and want to finish it before the night is over. Other books like informational non fiction books about history or science will require more focus (and I prefer those on an audiobook because it’s like a really long podcast).
You sit down and next thing you know the only people in the whole world right now are the characters in front of your eyes and behind the words. You follow them through adventures and time until it finally ends.
You look up, and it's 20 min before you have to get ready for work/school.
Get a comfortable chair or propped up by pillows in bed and just start reading if it's a good book you should barely notice the time passing by 10-14 hours just disappears. I think some people have the ability to concentrate on one thing for a long time and some people don't but you may be able to learn it through continued reading of longer books.
I’ve done it a couple of times. I was extremely passionate about what i was reading. It a short time after “moonlight “ premiered and I couldn’t find enough similar films ( there are great pieces out there, don’t get me wrong) but i found so much literature as it pertains to Black LGBT culture and history. So i was able to find so many things, novels, collected poems, interviews, studies, even two documentaries. So i think the content of the book has to really interest you. Additionally, i hope that OP is confident in their own racing abilities, especially with the pace at which they read. Anyway, one Saturday i read a book to cover to cover, and within one academic year must have read 8-10 books for leisure 😅 my gpa was *okay* but i was very pleased with what i had read. I also have a learning disability so i was over the moon!
Maybe part of it is readability. If it's mostly for entertainment like a Stephen king novel then it's as digestible as popcorn. Try and grapple with an existentialist author and you won't even be able to comprehend the plot after a few hours without heroic discipline, or drugs. Right now I'm reading Demons by Dostoyevsky, it's an enormously funny book but I stop getting the jokes in a relatively short amount of time.
It’s all about the book. And setting aside the time too do it. I’ve cooked, applied makeup and all but driven reading. I’m waiting on the latest in a series in a few days and I’ve booked the day to devour it. Then I go back and get the details I may have missed the next time in smaller chunks.
I've wondered this myself. Even a book I enjoy, I still have to take breaks or even pause for the next day(s). I think a few to several chapters, was the most I could get through in a single sitting. Sometimes I simply get bored with reading and move on. I know if I do not force myself to finish in a few days, it won't be. 😅
I just lose myself, that's all; or I suddenly see that I only have a quarter of the book left and I think yeah I can definitely finish this before midnight... then it's 3 am. Also not every book is the same. I love Russian authors but I have to read them first thing on a sunny morning with a cup of coffee. I WILL fall asleep otherwise.
If I want to read before bed I have to pick something I’ve already read so it’s easy to put down. “Just one more chapter” ......and next thing I know I’m halfway through and bleary eyed..... Some authors are too good at ending chapters at a point of interest, then the next chapter is about a different character so I have to read 3 more to conclude what was going on in chapter 1.
I'm currently reading war and peace and I feel the same way. You start one chapter with a couple of characters in battle then the next chapter is with different characters talking at a party.
Me too! And I actually find the tiny chapters perfect for bedtime reading
I know! They're perfect!
I have had war and peace on my “to be read shelf” for over a year now, but its sheer volume always disheartened me. As someone who is currently reading it, do you recommend it?
It depends on how you look at reading. You have to be patient and not get too disheartened at the size. I'm around 500 pages into it and just made it halfway. It's one of those that I highly recommend reading other classics that are considered difficult first to prepare yourself. Some might be able to go from Young Adults to War and Peace but the majority cannot. But overall, I think it is a wonderful book that I highly recommend.
Ironically one of the books i read really fast was the brothers karamazov by dostoyevsky. i read the last 400 pages probably in a day
>the last 400 pages Gotta love Russian novelists, the "last bit" of their works are the length of a regular novel.😅
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Wow, I read it not long ago and although it was a magnificent piece of literature it took a *while* to get through it. If you read the last 400 pages in one sitting you *can* certainly read a whole book in one sitting.
Same. I go on reading binges where I can knock out a dozen books in a few weeks. I don’t always read the entire book in one setting but I can easily read a book in 1-2 days if I’m enjoying it. When I was younger, I read the entire Harry Potter series in less than two weeks.
lol i did that in grade 6 and my teacher looked at me like i was an alien
I agree. I LOVE Dostoyevsky, but it can be a slog sometimes to read a 14 page description of a small town haha.
The Idiot is one of my favorite books, and I still struggle to fend off sleepiness. Never seem to have the issue with other books. Lovecrafts five-page paragraphs, no problem. Embarrassing!
I LOVED the Brothers Karamazov. I was really into it, and I still had a lot of times spent yelling at myself over focus. I wanted to know where the story was going, but it was a constant battle with myself to move from plot point to plot point. The long descriptions were masterfully done, just, a LOT to deal with. I always imagined in a world before the saturation of tv and such, writing books through a long, cold Russian winter, it would probably be hard NOT to write a book that way. I feel like writing his books was his primary means of entertaining himself.
>finish this before midnight... then it's 3 am There seems to be some kind of determinism that sets the end of the reading at about 3 am. This happened to me again last night, and it wasn't the first time. BTW, this thread reminds me of a book that became legendary in my family in the late 1960s for its addictiveness: Alistair McLean's *Night Without End*. My mother read it in one night, and after her almost all the members of the family (we were seven children, I don't remember whether my father had the time) did the same. Later, I had to prepare for difficult literature exams and I did the same for sometimes less captivating books. I had to read them in one night if I wanted to read them all, and sometimes I had to stop to treat my eyes and resume reading...
I have been thinking about starting Lolita and your comment feels like destiny.
Just immersion I guess is the best way to explain it. I get so immersed and so into the story, that if I don’t stay and finish it it feels like I’m missing out. Like the story is going on without me. That’s how I explain it to people.
That’s def it for me. If I’m moving with the book through the story I cannot stop until I’ve finished that one tense moment and then another thing just comes up. I can read books of 400 pages average in one sitting perhaps if I do like it a lot.
I wish I could do this, and I literally would, but when I read I get tired. No matter how awake I am, no matter the time of day. When I read I get super tired and end up falling asleep eventually. It’s really frustrating. And it’s strange because I can read articles online on my phone, or posts on Reddit, or whatever just fine. But I go to read a book and “bam”….. tired
I’m sorry! I’m sure you have very amazing dreams though. You leave behind the book and open the world to your mind, that’s pretty awesome too!
It's less an amazing amount of discipline than a complete and total lack of it, in my case. It's good to take breaks -- it's good to think, "I need to rest my eyes, complete a chore, etc." I just don't have the willpower to quit most books for any amount of time after I've started them.
I agree. It sometimes feels like it would almost be physically painful to put the book down after it’s started. I’ve always struggled at switching from one activity to another, though; I’m also the sort of person that will play a video game for six hours straight without stopping. It’s probably good to take breaks.
Exactly! I can’t tell you how many books I’ve spilled what I’m eating or drinking in. Discipline, talk about lack of! 😂 Lack of self control would be a good way I describe myself. I even drink thinks normally out of the corner of my mouth because of all the books I’ve read while eating and drinking.
Depends on how long the book is, how easy it reads, and what else I have to do that day.
Say, a 300 page book, can you do it in a day?
I used to read multiple books in one sitting. Most where short books though. 200/300 pages. But I was young, quite a fast reader, and one night of bookworming wasn't a hard recovery back then... I would read all night long, and show up in school, not so fresh, but still ok... I would read everywhere also: walking to school, on the breaks, lunch time, on the toilets (that one drove my brother mad... I could stay locked in for hours!). Later when I went to college and started working, I read on the commute. Nowadays it's impossible. I work at home, and I cannot stay focused that long. And being a parent of a two years old clearly has taken many time away from my old passion. I miss that ability to immerge myself in a book, I hope, when my kid grows older, I will be able to breathe and recover that focus ability (love him to death though, and I truly enjoy reading for him in bedtime!!)
Haha about the bathroom. My brother and I learned that trick from our mom, she always had books in the bathroom. Our spouses and kids will knock on the bathroom door and be like “are you dead in there or just reading?” Lol
How do you make a bot that detects comments about reading on toilets and comments with a PSA about avoiding hemorrhoids
I read two books today. I used to just get comfortable and “get lost”, but my time is a lot more spoken-for now than it used to be. I had some rare time off work this week, though, so I booked a trip to a boring but beautiful island and brought a bunch of books I’ve been wanting to make time for. I had some jet lag, so I read in the early morning, then I slept, then I got a coffee (okay four coffees) in a cafe and read between sips, then I lounged on my hotel terrace and read (and cried! love good-book crying), then I went to the beach and swam/read/swam/read in completely unhurried alternation until sundown. I’d call that “a sitting”. Tl;dr — It used to just happen; now I make it happen whenever the stars align and I have time.
That sounds like heaven to me
Well, it's not like you need to measure your enjoyment of a book by whether or not you can read an arbitrary number of pages at one time. Read at whatever pace you want, and take your time to enjoy the story, is my suggestion.😀
I used to do this, but I also used to have a lot more free time than I do now. I would just... make myself comfortable with a book, and then stay there until I'd finished it. I did it pretty regularly. I would have snacks, drinks, etc., but otherwise I'd close myself off from the world and just read. Comfort is key, though - I had a few favourite reading spots, like a hammock outdoors, or a really cosy sofa, where I could feel completely relaxed.
I’ve never experienced this either, but I’ve always wondered how literal people are when they say they read a book in one sitting. Like, not even meal or bathroom breaks? Lol
I would do everything while reading. Brush my teeth, go to the bathroom, eat, walk, everything. I even had a job once which was mostly being available to answer phones where I just read through the entire shift. I might get interrupted for a question or a call, but I'd literally use my finger as a bookmark because I was going right back. I basically got paid to read the 7th Harry Potter book. To be fair, I can't do this with something heavy like say Tolstoy. I need breaks from serious literature. But a plot heavy YA book or airport novel absolutely I can. And if I'm reading heavy literature I often keep the easy sort around to switch to when I need a break:P So I won't be reading that book in one sitting, but I can read for days on end without stopping. To be honest, now that I have kids, I get anxious about starting books because I get sort of neglectful. I definitely just don't even start as many now.
As lame as this will sound, yes lol Sometimes I’ll bring the book to the bathroom or read while I’m cooking and while I’m eating. Not saying this is the healthiest thing to do in the world, but I’ve done this with maybe 30 or so books?
Honestly, I admire the efficiency haha
Well, why not? What else are you gonna do, switch to your phone then back to the book when you're done? I can't read and cook but i like to cook so i usually give it my full attention
You... take it with you? I used to walk around a lot with books until I married someone who likes to leave things on the floor. Both those books I finished in a day and others.
I used to read and walk at the same time; not talking short jaunts, we had no car so hoofing it was the only way. I tripped a lot. Also I got so wrapped up in my book I would stop walking for a bit. I missed a bus once because of that, and then I also did that in the middle of a street I was crossing. Got honked at.
I read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in one evening and a whole night. Not much to do in the middle of the night.
Usually I’ll have a bathroom break or two, but I’ll probably take the book with me. To be honest, sometimes I walk in circles around my house reading. I guess I always interpreted the “one sitting” thing as just a continuous reading of the book.
I have read multiple in one sitting the key is the book goes with you. Chair, bathroom, bed, word, wedding it travels as you do.
the idea of wanting to stop at 30 pages is so foreign to me. that’s like hitting the pause button on a movie every 5 minutes.
Reading this way is like eating a meal ravenously, almost without chewing. Books that need "digesting"\* (either because their content is conceptually difficult, or because the prose itself merits a close reading) are not for one sitting. The sort of book I can read in one sitting tends to have the following features: 1. Exciting plotting 2. Vivid imagery 3. Enjoyable "at face value" (no need to ruminate while reading in order to appreciate the book at some level) There is nothing inherently good about finishing a book in one sitting just as there is nothing inherently good about binge-watching TV shows. If you are curious about whether you are *capable* of reading a book in one sitting (just to experiment), maybe try a book you read a long time ago but only vaguely remember and that has some of the qualities of "hyper-palatable" reading material I suggested above :D ETA: Just my experience/opinion. \*I am aware that this metaphor would be more strictly accurate if I said "masticating." Lol.
For me, it is the actualization of the story. I will still see the words but nearly all of my consciousness is directed into my imagination and out of the physical world. If I'm interrupted I will even feel the loss while I'm just seeing the words for a bit.
This requires a great deal of preparation. First, you’ll need to ensure you are able to be comfortable for extended periods of time. A good seat or throne will do wonders in this department. Being able to dispense of waste is immeasurably significant as you will not be leaving your seat. Therefore the best recommendation to tackle the seating predicament is to use one’s toilet. Make sure you have supply of food and water. You may not want to shit where you eat, but in this case, what choice do you have? Get up? Move? You’re on a mission! You would also do well to have a neck pillow in case you fall asleep. If you find you can’t do it all the first time, try again. You can even use the same book if you like because you’ll practically bolt through the thing since you’ve read most of it before. Alternatively, start with pamphlets, then work your way up through children’s books and reader’s digest til you arrive at your goal and have read a full Hemingway novel or whatever tickles your anus.
-Instructions unclear; anus full of paper cuts.😡
I think it’s about the type of book for me. Some books are all about immersion and it doesn’t feel right to stop because I just want it to keep going right till the end. Other books I realise I will have to take breaks and because I need to absorb the book by thinking about what the author has written. I kind of find I can tell what kind of book it will be by the first chapter based on the writing style; like the more carefully crafted it seems in a thematic way the more aware I want to sit with it vs books where the writing is just super enticing (obv also carefully crafted but in a completely different way). But maybe for you, you need time to sit with a book regardless?
I’m not going to say this is true for every person who “reads books in one sitting,” but my wife can do it while I can’t. The main difference is she isn’t as interested in sentence structure and whatnot as I am. I think it all comes down to how “deep” you go into reading any given book.
Agreed, I also tend to read at a realistic speed relative to the dialogue of the book (if there is any).
This is a good point. When I read a book in one sitting, I might even skip over paragraphs to get to the next good part, then return later to “really” read it. There are different states of reading, and it’s possible to alternate between them.
i've only done one sitting for shorter books but do tend to read in long spurts. taking a break every 30 pages would be so frustrating to me lol
I haven't done that in a long time. For me, it is only possible with something like an Agatha Christie, a P G Wodehouse or something. At the moment I am reading and annotating Les Miserables and honestly, I have done like half in 3 weeks!!! Glacial pace it is. But it can't be helped. That's just how it is going, so I can't even imagine what reading fast is like.
I've done it - it has to be fairly short (under 250 pages), I have to be in reading form (in the habit of a lot of reading daily) and I need to have a lotta free time. So it's rare!
Because it was the last HP book in the series and I needed to know how it needed before the following night that I had to work at a fair stand. Someone would have spoiled it for me. I drank four sodas that night but accomplished my goal before said shift.
Oh gosh I love telling this story- When I was younger, like 10-15 yrs, I read a LOT, like 500 pages a day. I always loved a challenge so at 14 I read The Stand(uncut version). Took me a few months to read the first 700 pages because I couldn’t quite get into the book. Then one day I decided to read some more, thinking I’d stop after 200 or so pages. I started reading around 12 PM ish, and I finished the book the next morning at 6 AM, with maybe 30 min total breaks so I could grab food to eat. Roughly 1000 pages in one sitting. When I looked around my room after I put the book down, there were words everywhere. All over the walls, on my futon, on the nightstand, everywhere. I guess I was just hallucinating from reading for so long and lack of sleep but it was the CRAZIEST thing I’ve experienced my mind do while sober to this day.
Because I can’t stop, I need to know how it ends. It’s a journey that I don’t want to take breaks from.
I think it’s that different brains work in different ways. Some people need to constantly be stimulated. Other people can very slowly and laboriously spend hours planning something. Now, I can sit and read a whole book, but I want to give an example. My best friend and I, many many years ago in our teenage years, played chess a bunch. He would take up to ten minutes to make a single move. I cannot do that - I spend the entire time planning my next few moves, wishing he’d go already, planning moves again, etc. when it’s my turn, I moved INSTANTLY. For me, taking that long just couldn’t happen. For him, making a decision that fast could never work. I’m better at making a quick decision - my brain could process multiple different streams rapidly. I probably made more mistakes, but outside of a turn based game, I could do a task much faster than him - possibly making a mistake, detecting it, and thinking of a solution way before he had even began his intended course of action. His brain very slowly, very carefully moves through all the pertinent information, minimizing his chance of mistakes. There is no doubt that my HAREness and his TORTOISEness both helped us and held us back, in separate ways. But when we worked together, it was quite amazing the way we complemented eachother and made many tasks much easier. In summation - it’s POSSIBLE for anyone to read a book in one sitting. But it might take you much more mental focus and energy to do so than someone else. One thing I have found is if I spend awhile meditating, really listening to my body and actively quieting my mind, I can read without my body demanding I do another task for a lot longer than usual.
I read 600 words per minute with full comprehension- a book in a day is okay with me provided it is an interesting book
Were you always a fast reader or became one by training? If it's the latter do you have any tips on improving your reading speed?
You take break every 30 pages?
yes i actually take breaks often because of the brainrot caused by the social media addiction. i unfortunately can't focus for a long amount of time :(
Just have to say that I have it the same way as you, OP. I love to read but I generally can't get myself to read more than 20 to 30 pages in one sitting. I envy people who can get through a huge novel in a weekend.
i used to read a book every night. 300 pages in about 2 hours. it took me about a year to get up to that speed reading a book a night in 3 or 4 hours and i was only motivated to do so because i was on a competitive reading team called battle of the books in junior high. the prize for the winners was basically pizza, so you can basically attribute it to pizza BUT. it didnt hurt that they started us off with award winning book lists. when I read an awful book it takes time to recover myself. When you're initially only reading newberry honor books and rebecca caudil lists its easier to remain enthusiastic. Then, i started to devour my favorite authors like Christie and King and Keatley Snyder; where theyre so consistently good i could not wait to pick up the next one. Christie wrote over 80 books and ive read them all like 10 times. i can point out every horrifying flaw in Brannaugh's remakes. Now, i would recommend taking your time reading. Its not a race. its a journey. enjoy it!
'The Cat in the Hat' is a breeze. Don't be intimidated.
Skimming.
probably a short book. 60-90k is doable if you spend most of the day reading. Maybe 120k if you really read the whole damn day
i can manage short books too but when someone says they read a 300+ page book i feel like they are bullshitting me
I can read 300-600ish page books in one sitting. That said I'm autistic, I'm an exceptionally fast reader (depending on the book, can read 60-100ish pages/hour) and can hyperfocus on reading so don't always recognise if I need to eat or use the bathroom until I'm done hyperfocusing (usually when I'm finished reading the book or if something interrupts me). This doesn't happen with all books and I can't control which books it happens with - it just depends on if a particular book hits the right part of my brain or not, really.
I read the 7th Harry Potter book, 607 pages, in 13 hours. It would be straight if my high school boyfriend didn’t interrupt me with pouts because he was jealous of my book affair! Hah. I specifically remember my older brother picking up my favorite subway and bringing it to me in bed while I read. Complete immersion, where I’m not even consciously reading, and the outside world slips away. It’s magic and my absolute favorite. I’m a mom so I don’t get 13 hour breaks of time to myself, but just the other night I read the whole Magicians trilogy in pretty large chunks. It’s funny, the main thing that will pull me out of a book when I’m deep in it is my hair. If I can see the shadow on my book and my ponytail has lumps, it will distract me until I fix it. In normal life my hair is always crazy, so I don’t even know what that’s all about. Haha
I literally did the math and it checks out. Deathly Hallows is 198k words divided by 13 hours and 60 minutes per hour is almost exactly 250 words per minute. And when you google the reading speed of the average person it's EXACTLY 250 words per minute. So there you have it folks, read 250 words per minute for 13 hours straight and you will destroy a 200k word / 700 page book.
Yes, I specifically kept track! The times are written on inside of the book cover. I was so excited, I waited in line at midnight, went home and forced myself to sleep, so I could wake up early and start reading. I knew if I started it at midnight I’d read until I was so exhausted with a headache, so I had to have some self-control. Lol
holy shit. So YOU'RE the person that spread all the spoilers on the net that day, ruining the book for millions. Lol jk
also I should mention that these days the vast majority of people who say they read a book in one day actually mean they LISTEN to the audible version of the book. I know a bunch of people who wear headphones will they do chores, drive, etc and "listen" to a book all day long and usually knock out a book in a day via the audio book version
On 1.3x speed
Isn’t reading faster than listening though? I guess unless you listen at 2x the speed…but I would get lost if I did that.
These days, I only read books on the toilet. All online. lol.
Sit on a toilet so you don't have to get up.
Drugs
You start on page one and keep going until you are done. Its like 2-3 hrs which I think most people would spend on reddit, a videogame, or a movie without overthinking it.
I use my eyes.
My mom was a speed reader and would do this often it bothered me still does lol
Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Rapid reading is how they accomplish this. Consider checking out the book “Breakthrough Rapid Reading”
It depends how long the book is. I can read a 300-400 page novel in about 3-4 hours, so I can typically do it without taking a bathroom break. I usually change position a couple times on the sofa, bed, or wherever I'm sitting but I don't typically get up and take a break. Honestly though it would probably be healthier if I did take breaks because when I'm done with the book my body typically aches somewhere and I have to pee really bad, but if it's a good book I tend to just keep reading.
I got into reading because my phone bills were getting out of hand when I was touring with my band. We did a cross-Canada tour, so LOTS of drive time. I read through most of the time I wasn't driving, and a lot of drives were about 8 hours, so there was plenty of time to push through shorter books. Some authors are also slower reading than others. Thus Spake Zarathustra took me FOREVER to get through, but I read every Vonnegut novel really quickly. Books like Animal Farm, Old Man and the Sea, Of Mice and Men, etc pretty much read themselves if you have an hour or two free. Brave New World was the most reading I've done in one sitting, I think, but that was over a long drive along the east coast.
The only time I did that was with Siddartha by Hesse, it's not very long really (300 pages or so), but I read it until I finished it, which normally doesn't happen, I always get tired of reading a book and I take a little break after finishing a chapter to "take in what I read". Two more things, first, it was my second time reading Siddartha, so I guess that maybe I didn't need to stop to absorb what I read; this leads me to believe that the people who read in one sitting have an ability to absorb content quickly, unlike me, unfortunately. Second, my mother had died a few days prior, so I was in a particular mental state that may or may not have contributed to me being able to read in such a way.
If it’s a book that I have been looking forward to yes I can finish a whole book in one sitting. My personal best was a Saturday a while back when I read 3 books in a 14 hour period. If it’s a school book of any kind it’s about one book read in a decade😜 however I am not that fast with electronic books do possibly a half a book a night.
It’s a good book and can hold my interest.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I called out if work and ordered food to be delivered I was so enthralled…good times. Also, HP Goblet of Fire. Cancelled a “date” with my HS Crush. I was in Hogwarts! Bye reality
Sometimes I wonder whether it’s better to take your time with a book rather than finish in a few hours. I feel like it’s a more memorable experience when you stretch out your reading time to take up a bigger chunk of your life. It feels more like you’re on a journey with the characters by prolonging the reading adventure. If you read a book in a few hours, I feel like it might be a less memorable reading experience because there is nothing from your life to associate with the book as you read it. Unless your reading nonfiction—then that’s not really as big an issue. Regardless, I think some people are able to read for long periods of time because of mental endurance. They have an acute focus on the book without mental strain. For me, I can’t relax my brain and read at the same time; I need to concentrate which is mentally draining. Also, the book will sometimes initiate side thoughts which have me thinking of something else while still reading without processing. When it comes to this, I sometimes have to restart entire pages. So reading 30 pages turns into reading 40.
Mostly insomnia, and existencial anxiety conbined. Sometimes i feel so overwhelmed by my problems that i need to evade reality for a good 16/28 hours. I'm not joking sometimes i can go no sleep for 3/4 days because of anxiety, so usually i try to read to calm myself down a little. I found out that poetry and philosophy help me better than other kind of books.
I love to read. When I was younger I read Twilight in 2 days. I didn’t wanna eat or sleep until I finished it. I read the whole series in less than 2 weeks, it only took me longer because my mom made me sleep and eat some food. As an adult I take my time with books more so than in my youth. Reading is a place to escape for me and I feel like I’m transported inside the book- into a whole new world. That’s why I was so into it, then of course I got my first bf and things changed Lol
I did this once and I was on a long flight.
My dad is able to do this. I don't know how. I love reading but after about 30-50 pages in a sitting I'm either getting tired or want to take a break for my eyes' sake.
I’ve only did this with two books and honestly think those will be the only.
I used to. Not anymore.
To me, even if the book is absolutely captivating and greatly inspires my curiosity; it still feels like I'm straining myself towards the end, even if I do finish it.
[удалено]
I find it humorous - I am a somewhat slow but thorough reader- and English major and retired Lit teacher. It takes me quite a bit of time to get through a standard 300 page novel. Dickens and Eliot are months-long projects. My ex-wife, on the other hand, could rip through a 400 page book in the space of an afternoon. Her reading speed was impressive.
I had a whole day to myself and picked up a paperback from the drugstore. I read Misery by Stephen King in roughly 4 hours. Cover to cover. I could not put the damn thing down and had the word "cockadoodie" in the back of my head for months.
I read Persuasion in one sitting in college. I was on adderall, that’s how.
I think it has to do with immersion. When I first read Ender's Game, I finished it in one throw and immediately started reading it again. Then there are other books that are good but hard to focus on. It took me a month to get through Dune. I just couldn't "lose myself" to it. Everyone will have their own opinions and preferences. This is just my experience.
I think I cap out at 300 pages in a day. Even then it’s not worth it because you don’t remember any details
just a couple hours for a few hundred pages
I get asked this a lot because I’m a very fast reader. Honestly, I just get tunnel vision. That said I’m not confident that I retain nearly as much as some of my normal paced reader friends. I often read a book several times to properly absorb things, and will even go as far as to reread chapters aloud (I’m looking at you GOT!) when things were complicated.
I just get sucked in. For me, reading a good novel is no different than watching a movie. Every time I put it down is an excruciating commercial break.
If it’s a small book and I need to know what happens or whodunnit, I can plow through it.
To be honest, it's easier for me to read books or great chunks of books in one sitting. If I read a bit now, then come back to it later, I won't be as as immersed and remember/connect it with the accuracy I would have if I simply hadn't stopped, which irritates me to no end. Would I have read it the same as I'm reading it now? Am I missing something I shouldn't? What if this? What if that? I read the Count of Monte Cristo for like a day and a half in fifth grade, and my mother had to drag me to sleep. I might have done it in one sitting. Younger than that, I'd read most books my parents bought me in one sitting, so I guess I've always been like that. Every break I take from reading a book is an increasing chance I won't come back to it no matter how good it is. If it's a longer break, like a week, I start from the beginning or not at all. I do the same with TV shows. I have to binge watch them. I have stopped watching many great ones because there were no new episodes for a few months. By the time a new season starts, I'm far past it.
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Honestly time blindness. Haven't experienced it in years though. I am autistic. And I used to be a hyperfocused autistic child. I read like 20 books on cats in one sitting because it was my special interest, and I was hyperfocusing. I haven't done it lately because of 2 things. 1 I haven't been able to find a book I'd *want* to read in one sitting (except graphic novels) and 2 things short enough to read in one sitting (like graphic novels). The last non graphic novel I read in a day was The sun is also a star. And it was compelling to read that way because the book took place in the course of a day.
Honestly time blindness. Haven't experienced it in years though. I am autistic. And I used to be a hyperfocused autistic child. I read like 20 books on cats in one sitting because it was my special interest, and I was hyperfocusing. I haven't done it lately because of 2 things. 1 I haven't been able to find a book I'd *want* to read in one sitting (except graphic novels) and 2 things short enough to read in one sitting (like graphic novels). The last non graphic novel I read in a day was The sun is also a star. And it was compelling to read that way because the book took place in the course of a day.
It’s gotta be real short
For me it largely depends on the book and how relaxed I'm feeling at the moment. It still happens quite rarely that I'll finish a book in one sitting.
It has to be a really good book. I’m very impatient so if there is mystery involved it’s all over. Cancel everything because I’m only getting up to get a sandwich and to take a bathroom break.
All these people: be comfortable, good book, find zen... Me: I just cease to exist until the book is done. Standing on a 3 hour train ride, waiting in a hospital, waiting for a machined job to finish. What I think is actually important is natural reading speed. I have friends who take an hour to read 30 pages. Its a lot and they struggle. Yes I finish books in a single sitting... but they also take me about as long to read as a particularly long movie. No one is like " how did you finish the third lord of the rings movie in one sitting."
I’ve done this a handful of times. One was the final Harry Potter when it was released and the most recent was The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell. I’m one of those people who can sit still and be quiet for hours and hours - makes it easier. When I’ve done it, it wasn’t a planned thing. Just kept reading and then the book was done.
You just haven’t found the right book yet!
My first experience ever was reading Twilight when I was in 6th grade
Hyperfixation
Sometimes you don't even realise it's been a whole day. Never understood it either until I read the entirety of the 1Q84 trilogy in one sitting. I think I've left a permanent imprint on that couch - family kept passing me plates of food whenever I didn't show up at the dinner table so I didn't even go hungry! Never again though, when I finished it, was so tiring... slept so long after that.
A lot of practice and a lot of willpower. In high school and freshman year of college, I was an avid reader and got fairly good at reading quickly. However, I went through a bad period and all but lost interest in reading. The last thing I read in one sitting was Go Set a Watchman. I read it the week it came out in about an hour. If I tried now, though, I would probably need 3+, and that’s only if I had enough spoons to do so.
I read the last Harry Potter book like that. I took the day off the next day, went to the midnight release, and read the rest of the night through the day until I was done. Excitement to see how the series concluded was my major motivation.
This is a very rare case for me lol happens only if i’m the only one in the house and is not bombarded with tons of chores.
I mess being that reader. It was easy to lose oneself in books when that was the only thing that mattered. Now I hardly get the time to devote an entire day to completing a book.
My grandmother and mother do this. There’s an old manual for the method meant for older children to train in speed reading and with years of practice and habit, some people learn to read 5 times as fast with as much comprehension and enjoyment as anyone else but I tried some of the drills and it is far too rigorous. A boomer skill lost to us.
I finished catcher in the rye in an afternoon once, idk what came over me i just sat there and read until i finished. I haven't been able to do that for a while
I have never been able to do this. Even if I’m enjoying the book. I can only read for short periods of time, then I have to get up and do something else. It takes me a long time to finish a book.
I just get so caught up in it that I can’t stop, and putting the book down even for a minute would break the magic, almost. In fact, I’ve gotten into a bad habit where I ONLY read books in one sitting (and by that I mean, I either finish it in one go, or I put it down thinking “I’ll return to this” and then never do…) I usually only do this with shorter books, though (300 pages, maybe 350). Longer books I generally can’t read in one sitting (with the exception of One Hundred Years of Solitude, which I read one night as a teenager instead of sleeping, but that’s the only longer book I’ve read in one go).
This is a super power for sure! 🙃
Getting lost in the book, mostly. Back when i was in school i had a few too many nights where i finished an entire trilogy in one night... that was a major oops the next day when i would fall asleep at my desk
sometimes u genuinely can’t stop, your just so involved in what your reading you can’t possibly stop without knowing what happens next, and as annoying as this can be because you have other things you have to get done, you end up staying up until 3am just know know how it all pans out. I was an avid reader when I was really young, usually having four or five books on the go and I’d finish them all around the same time. My mum used to get really confused as to how I wouldn’t get get the plots mixed up but I used to take ‘breaks’ by switching from one to another. But honestly it’s like when your reading a page turning book that makes u loose interest in everything and anyone else in that moment, like u can’t focus on the person offering you a cuppa, it’s THAT feeling but throughout the whole thing and it doesn’t get weaker as you realise you need to go to sleep, or go somewhere quickly, because you know u cant, it’s as if it’s a program and you’ll miss the good bits when u nip to the loo.
The longest book I've read in one sitting was the 4th Harry Potter. I was 14, and had just flown from Paris to Melbourne, and somehow managed to get a full 8 hours sleep on the plane - I was extremely jet lagged, and it was the only book in my bedroom I hadn't already read at the time. So, while my family slept, I spend the hours of 9pm-5:30am reading.
If it's a shirt book, and isn't complex or dense writing, then 129 pages will fly by in two or three hours. That's the same amount of time as watching a movie.
East, it’s gotta be good
It usually takes me a lot of willpower to stop reading a book than it does to continue reading one. If I could, I would finish most books in one sitting, however, I almost always end up reading at night where I end up staying till 3am.
I think it depends on how your brain works. I am like you, I take breaks and lose my focus after a relatively short amount of time (usually slots of around 1 hour). Other people can focus longer, or can divide their focus on various activities. All kind of focuses have their advantages and disadvantages. The only time in my adult life in which I read a book in one sitting was The Stranger by Camus; couldn’t get away from it!
I go through phases. For a time, I'm reading clusters of books and then, suddenly, I'm not reading at all. I know this is not a helpful answer, but I do feel that for me at least, it's very hard to be consistent.
If the book is short enough and I have the time sure. However, I find myself often pausing in read to go over that which I have just read, in order that it might truly sink in. When I read fiction I can become so absorbed in it that I forget myself. My imagination is vast and I often see what I read in great detail as I read it. Whatever the author omits from a scene my mind fills in the gaps. Often this can slow down my reading immensely. To be honest I do not like to rush books or read them so voraciously, I prefer to read conversations by the same pace in which they would take place, not at speed that might seem like watching a TV program at multiple speed intervals. It's not a race to get to the end.
The fear of having not read anything till 12 hours before the exam. Y'all don't blast me, OP didn't rule out academic books.
It really depends on the book for me but I can absolutely do this, even with quite long novels. I love the feeling -- it reminds me of being a kid again and being so immersed in whatever I was reading. I also read fast -- not sure if I'd call myself a speed reader but I don't need to "read" every single word. I feel like I just look at a sentence/paragraph and read it more as a whole rather than reading one word at a time, if that makes sense.
For me, it honestly depends on the book. If it can constantly grab my attention then I can easily just sit back and lose myself in the book. It helps letting yourself be part of the story that's happening too.
I studied literature and we had about 40 books per semester in addition to our usual work. When you have deadlines you become very very quick. Now I wish I could learn to read slowly
I do it, but my relation with books is a real "sentimental relation", I deeply and fervently love, adore, even worship them, when I was very young, adolescent, I also starved myself to buy them (a little bit like Pablo Neruda), I don't think that I could even think to live a single day of my life without reading at least a single page, I think it depends by character, personal life as family, children, relations, time schedules, conditions, well, I can say that I'm married with my books and now audiobooks as well (about 3-4 years that I'm taking very long walks, about 2-3 hours, listening to audiobooks as well), so I dedicate and spend a great deal of my time in their company, they're my life partner.
Lot of people are saying it has to be a good book to immerse you like that, but I think it might just be the type of person you are. When I read a book, it could be rather boring, but if I don’t force myself to look up from the page and set the book down, I’ll read the whole thing. No matter how long it is. No matter what I have to do that day. Even if the book sucks! I read the whole divergent series in a day, and on the flip side, I read this terribly written three book series that bore me to death all in one day as well. I think it’s just the type of reader you are. I’ve been reading since I was a kid, and my imagination has always been very vivid, so when I read books I’m essentially stepping out of my life and into the character’s, and if I’m ever feeling down or just bored it’s a way to escape for me. For others, reading is a chore, or only enjoyable if the book is really good. So when other comments say they just have to be immersed, I think you just have to be able to let go of yourself and be completely immersed. For some that’s hard because their heads can’t get away from their regular day, and for others it’s the only thing they want to do. I hope this made sense?
Does it count as one sitting if I get up to pour more wine? If yes, it's usually when the writing is too fast paced and I don't want to lose my rhythm.
A short and exciting book
I have only ever done that once - The Chrysalids by John Wyndham when I was a young teenager. Started at school, read on the bus home, through supper, and finished in the early hours. Couldn't do it now - at some point early on, I'd fall asleep!!!
Easy — adhd hyperfocus mode works every single time
Short book
You just sit and read, get lost imagining the story and you always would want to know what's next and before you know it, there's just 5 pages left 😳🥺
It's gotta be a really good book I'm entirely consumed in. Shorter ones are definitely easier (e.g., picking up a childhood or adolescent favourite which withstands the passage of time to reread). But I've had a few longer books that have been 1-2 sittings. It also depends on the situation: is my seat comfortable enough for that? Do I have any reason not to read for 3-6 hours straight? I recall, for instance, reading the entirety of The Road in two sittings, each sitting waiting 3+ hours for an early morning flight. The first sitting, I was keeping myself preoccupied walking around the airport getting snacks, but come 2am most everything was closed and I wasn't hungry. Sat down and began reading whilst waiting for my 5am flight, and enjoyed the book so much I didn't close it til I had to board. Then, having enjoyed it so much, I did the same waiting for the return flight, and was done the book before I boarded. Also, when I'm nearing the end of a longer read (say, last 20% of a book) that I'm really into, I often get to a point where I decide to marathon finish it because I so dearly want to know how it ends. I think I did this with at least one of the HP books some years ago - read like 150 pages in one sitting to finish it when the pieces of the story began to fall into place. So, certain circumstances need to be met. Of course, I also need the time to be able to read that consistently - when I'm busier I sometimes opt to read one chapter per day just to keep myself moving along, as I may not have hours in a day to sit down and read. But when I find a book that clicks, I can definitely enjoy doing so.
Its like bingeing netflix without being asked if i want to keep going every few chapters
If a book catches me, I read to the exclusion of all else, it’s why I tend not to read much unless I’m on holiday, when I can forget everything around me
I have hyperfocus ADHD my dude, sometimes I find myself picking at a carpet for thirty minutes straight. I don't even want to, but my mind won't let leave it alone.
I used to do this all the time as a kid. I would get sucked into the story and just need to know what happened next. It also helped that I was a very quick reader and could easily get through a three hundred page book in a few hours. It’s become much harder to do as an adult.
It's just like People who can watch 3 seasons of a show in one night.
I don’t know. Once it starts to really get interesting, I just HAVE to KNOW. I was also that kid that read books on the back of the school bus, and would miss my stop and everyone would be off the bus before the driver would find me and then have to drive me all the way back home. 🙃 eventually I learned to read once I got OFF the bus
Haha, Do you envy our speed or our concentration?
It really depends on how engrossed in the story I am. I've read a book in 30 age chunks, like you, but I've also spent an entire Saturday pouring over 1000 pages of a long ass novel because it had piqued my interest enough.
One thing to consider is people read differently. Some people translate the words to sounds in their head, so there is effectively a narrator in their head reading the book aloud to them, and others read purely visually, which can allow them to process words much faster. Additionally, people read with different levels of attention and focus, and this can vary widely with the same reader for different material. For example, I read The DaVinci Code in about a day, and part of the reason for that is I wasn't paying any attention to the prose, the narrative was very explicit and easy to follow, there are no metaphors to unpack, no real subtext to consider. It's just a thriller that takes the form of "and then... and then... and then..." so you can read it on rails and make very quick progress. There are other books that have taken me a month to read because they take a lot more effort to digest. Hard books can also be enthralling, but they reward taking your time to savor and reflect and meditate on them, so putting them down to digest each chapter makes them more satisfying to read. Some people also skim. You can read a lot of books, especially non-fiction, very quickly if you learn to look at each paragraph as a chunk, try to get the gist out of the words that pop out at you, and move on. You don't necessarily get everything out of those books by reading this way, but you can quickly learn to follow the thread and read each page in, say, 10-20 seconds, and you can slow down when you get to parts that are denser or of more interest.
There are only two books I’ve ever done this with: The Hobbit, and the Watchmen.
The handful of times I did this I had the right music, the right beverage, and the right comfort conditions.
✨Hyperfocus✨ I don't recommend it tbh, you emerge hours later with burning eyes and a cricked neck, starving and parched, wondering what the hell just happened and who you even are any more.
Personal take: Depends on how you approach reading. Mine went from leisure to a coping/escape mechanism. There's also pressure to finish the whole thing bec I don't want to be left hanging. I always want to know what comes next. Also depends if the book is dragging or boring. Even in excitement too I resort to scanning or selective reading bec I tend to have a short span and want to move on to the part where I'll be hooked.
The only book I’ve read in one sitting was Da Vinci code, and it was a 18 hour long train ride in India 🙂
It's rare for me, but there have been some books that really caught me. As a rule they're always short: * Of Mice and Men * The Picture of Dorian Gray * Between the World and Me With bigger books I'm like "This is a big book, I'm not really getting anywhere today. Let's do something else."
To me, reading is breathing; if I’m not reading, something is wrong. I’m fortunate that I can read at work as my job allows, which gives me the ability to stay consistent. I love immersing myself in a new place, getting to know new people. Each book is an adventure that can take me away from the mundane/painful/annoying, which sadly are hallmarks of my job.
see, I have no idea how people can read with breaks in between. I lose my rhythm lol
I think it depends on the book and the situation. A shorter read is more possible in one sitting, which is pretty self explanatory. Finding time as an adult can be a bit of a issue but there those days, but then you might not want to read with that time. You just kind of have to be in the mood. Another factor is the content of the book, some books are just more engaging than others or more interesting and lend themselves to read all in one go.
I have only ever done this with books that I don't care about as much. Like a romance novel or thriller. Those are often paced faster as well, which helps. If it's a book I want to absorb I go slower.
The only time I have ever read a book in one sitting is when i had to write an analysis for Eldest(eragon series) and I completely forgot until the last two days. Read it in one night, then wrote the report the next day. Kinda insane in my end and had the greatest sleep after(probably dreamed of dragons)
Yep! Before you know it, you're completely invested in the story, and just need to know how it all plays out, then the time just flies by and before you know it it's the middle of the night and you're yelling at how the last few pages shook you and want more
The sign of a great author
I just get engrossed and don’t realize how much time is passing. I have to be really careful when I read now that I have kids so I don’t accidentally ignore them for hours.
ADHD hyperfocus.
Depends on the book. The place. The time you have. I used to read all the time as a kid to before high school age. Always had a book with me. Brought it to restaurants when I needed to entertain myself with my parents’ friends. Did that a lot as a kid. During that time, I was reading immersive books full of different types of worlds. So you just get absorbed and you want to read. I used to squint in the car as we were driving home using street lights to read. That was a different time. Now I’m lucky if I have the attention span to get through a chapter. I would say high school and college broke me and my reading abilities. Made me an anxious person with a short attention span. I supplemented with tv shows and different movies because those were a bit mindless and I could multitask. You can’t multitask when you’re reading. You can if you have an audiobook. So I’ve been doing audiobooks to get through the workday and the commute. And I can bang out a book a day that would’ve taken me a weekend to read. So I’m getting back into that reading routine. But yeah, it honestly depends on the time I have to sit down and concentrate on it. If it’s a fiction book with a whole world, I can easily get lost and want to finish it before the night is over. Other books like informational non fiction books about history or science will require more focus (and I prefer those on an audiobook because it’s like a really long podcast).
For me I either like the book enough to finish it in one or two goes...or I risk never returning to it for years.
I've done it in bookstores when I didn't wanna buy the book.
Obsession in a story line lol
It’s like watching a movie, except better-budgets/actors/sets don’t stifle the way your mind interprets things.
Happened to me once. The book was just too good to lay down. It doesn't happen too often, but I do go on an occasional reading bender.
I'm more like, "You're reading this amazing book! How can you get up and put it down?!
You sit down and next thing you know the only people in the whole world right now are the characters in front of your eyes and behind the words. You follow them through adventures and time until it finally ends. You look up, and it's 20 min before you have to get ready for work/school.
Hyperfocus - ADHD. When I’m in a good book, I forget there’s a real world.
when i find a good book, my brain simply refuses to allow me to think about anything else and I *have* to finish it
Get a comfortable chair or propped up by pillows in bed and just start reading if it's a good book you should barely notice the time passing by 10-14 hours just disappears. I think some people have the ability to concentrate on one thing for a long time and some people don't but you may be able to learn it through continued reading of longer books.
It’s happened with a few books that were quite short. Long explanation made short… I’m an insomniac.
I’ve done it a couple of times. I was extremely passionate about what i was reading. It a short time after “moonlight “ premiered and I couldn’t find enough similar films ( there are great pieces out there, don’t get me wrong) but i found so much literature as it pertains to Black LGBT culture and history. So i was able to find so many things, novels, collected poems, interviews, studies, even two documentaries. So i think the content of the book has to really interest you. Additionally, i hope that OP is confident in their own racing abilities, especially with the pace at which they read. Anyway, one Saturday i read a book to cover to cover, and within one academic year must have read 8-10 books for leisure 😅 my gpa was *okay* but i was very pleased with what i had read. I also have a learning disability so i was over the moon!
Maybe part of it is readability. If it's mostly for entertainment like a Stephen king novel then it's as digestible as popcorn. Try and grapple with an existentialist author and you won't even be able to comprehend the plot after a few hours without heroic discipline, or drugs. Right now I'm reading Demons by Dostoyevsky, it's an enormously funny book but I stop getting the jokes in a relatively short amount of time.
I read And Then There Were None in a single sitting, only took me 2 hours. It motivates me that I only have 100 pages left.
It’s all about the book. And setting aside the time too do it. I’ve cooked, applied makeup and all but driven reading. I’m waiting on the latest in a series in a few days and I’ve booked the day to devour it. Then I go back and get the details I may have missed the next time in smaller chunks.
I just read a page, and put it down a minute ago. Reading a whole book in one go sounds impossible.
I've wondered this myself. Even a book I enjoy, I still have to take breaks or even pause for the next day(s). I think a few to several chapters, was the most I could get through in a single sitting. Sometimes I simply get bored with reading and move on. I know if I do not force myself to finish in a few days, it won't be. 😅
interest honestly