How Quickly Do You Read?

[Nellisir]

Now, I miss the Sci-fi/Fantasy books of the 70s/early 80s, where an writer could create a full world tell a full story with a much shorter page count. For example, Roger Zelazny's Jack of Shadows (happens to be on my bookshelf right beside me) is 236 pages.

I think it has a lot to do with changing publisher expectations of what the audience will buy.

I reread the Corwin books of Roger Zelazny's Amber series, and was struck by how short they were. Nowadays those five would be a single book.

Edit: There does seem to be an increasing number of shorter novels and novellas popping onto shelves. Not sure what's driving it exactly, but it's pretty cool that Murderbot is four novellas and a novel (so far). (Murderbot is AWESOME)

 

[CleverNickName]

Looks like I'm a bit faster than the average. I voted "6-7 Days," and the average (across all 38 voters) is about 7.8 days.

 

[rgoodbb]

Hang ...on...I'm just...getting...passed.... your title..........phew!


If I am on holiday and the book is gripping like Maximillian's, maybe a couple of days.

Without those variables, a couple of weeks.

Sadly I find myself not finishing a lot of novels these days.

Edit: Just saw the 500 page thing. No idea about page length.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

If I really decide to read a book, I'll usually do it over a few days, probably a weekend or something.
But it doesn't happen anywhere as often as I used to. Streaming, Gaming or Work just dominate my time. It's been over a year since I last read novel (and it might have been several years). I think the last one was actually a reread, the original Zahn trilogy, and the last "new" books I read was the Culture series and the Honor Harington series (as far as I could get then).

 

[Mad_Jack]

If I get really into a book, I'll sit there and read it cover-to-cover, or at least as long as my ability to find a comfortable sitting position lasts. Once upon a time, I used to regularly read a 500-page novel cover-to-cover over the course of about five or six hours while standing in the bookstore, lol.
(Back when I was a kid, the local library would let you take out up to seven books and keep them for up to two weeks. During the summer, I'd grab seven books and plow through them one after the other in about four days...)


Generally, I can usually finish a book over the course of a weekend if I don't have other plans or too many other things to do. During the week, it usually takes me about four or five days.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

it's pretty cool that Murderbot is four novellas and a novel (so far). (Murderbot is AWESOME)

Good news, Murderbot 6 releases end April. 176 pages, so another novella. Fugitive Telemetry.