Fantasy TOP - land of best fantasies

I had trouble coming up with a title for this post, so I'm not sure if the title makes sense..lemme explain :) Reading speed has been discussed often...like can you read too fast (don't answer..that's not the question here). So while on the surface "reading speed" might appear to be the topic here, it isn't..I am talking about something slightly different.

What I am wondering is: does how MUCH (not how fast or slow) you read each day affect how much enjoyment you can get out of a book? And if you don't read "enough", can it have a negative impact on what you read? Say reader A reads 100 pages a day and can normally finish a book in 4 days (400 pages). I'm not worried about how long it takes that person to read those 75 pages per day..could be 1 hour, could be 3 hours. Reader b reads about 50 pages per day, so a 400 page book takes 8 days. Finally, reader c only averages 25 pages per day, meaning a 400 page book takes them 16 days to finish.

Can all of the 3 above readers get the same level of enjoyment out of a book (assume they are reading the same 400 page book)? Sounds like a goofy question, right? But I think it does have an impact. I think the person that, for whatever reason, can only read 25-40 pages per day, and takes 10-15 days per book, most likely is enjoying the book less than someone who can read a book within, say, 1 week. Obviously this isn't a rule, but a generality. At least for me, I know that I really need to read 50+ pages per day in a book to get immersed in the story, the world, the characters, etc. If I am really busy for a few days, and can only manage 30 pages per day, I find that I am not enjoying the book as much. 30 pages per day doesn't give me enough "time" to really lose myself in the book. I also find my comprehension to be less, because my reading is spread out over so many days. For example, if it takes me 4 days to read 100 pages, something that might have happened recently in the story..I forget because it was 4 days ago. If I am reading 75 pages per day, that same plot element was read just the previous day..hence I am gonna remember what happened in more detail. I guess as I am writing this, in addition to enjoyment, I am theorizing that reading comprehension could be affected if you don't read "enough" pages per day. "Enough" is a nebulous term..but again..just talking generalities here. So..can a the person that takes 14 days to read book A enjoy the book the same as the person who read it in 5 days? In some cases..sure. But I think, based on personal experience at least, that the "slower" reader has many more things that can negatively impact their reading experience.

One more thing I thought of as I wrote this: Say reader D and reader E both read 100 pages per day. Reader D does it in one sitting. Reader E is busy, and reads little bits throughout the day..say 5 sessions of 20 pages. I think reader E can be in a similar situation to the 14 days per book (reader c above) reader. In many ways, I think both of the scenarios I discuss are the same. Reader C (the 14 day reader) has spread out their reading over many, many reading sessions. So has reader E.

I know this is a bit rambling, but I am thinking this through as I write, and looking for your thoughts. Can too many "reading sessions" negatively impact your reading enjoyment? I would think so, as it definitely hurts my reading enjoyment. Too many reading sessions means that I am not getting immersed in the world and the story. I need to read more than 20 pages at a sitting..otherwise, just as I might be getting to the book, I put it down and do something else. Then when I resume, I have to start the "immersion process" all over again. I find that my reading experience is MUCH better when I can sit down and do most of my reading for a day in 1 or 2 sittings, and when I can also read 50+ pages per day. There have been many, many books I have read that I thought I would like more, and should have liked more. More often than not, I read these books when I had too many other things going on..and instead of finishing the book in 5 or 6 days..i finished it in 10 or more days. By the time I get to day 10, I start getting hazy on details I read on day 1.

What do you think (assuming you can make sense of the point I am trying to make)? Can your reading habits (for lack of a better term) affect your level of reading enjoyment?

(note that I am not taking your environment into account..that opens up too many more questions..so for this post, don't consider ideas like reading while listening to music, reading with the tv on in the background, etc..those kinda things would be good fodder for a separate post..like "does your reading environment affect your reading enjoyment?"..see, sounds like a good post for another time...Maybe I'll follow this up with a "How Do You Read?" post)

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