How long to read that book?

[Paul Whybrow]

A new online database is offering a service that estimates how long it will take a reader to complete a book. They have twelve million titles in their vaults, so you should find the book that interests you. It's possible to tailor the reading speed per minute rate, should yours be different to their average of 300 words.

http://www.howlongtoreadthis.com/index.php

I find this intriguing and a bit worrying. Given that there's been a reported trend towards people reading bite-size chunks of stories on their smartphones, and that short stories and novellas are proving more popular, where does that leave novels? Will readers look at how long a book will take to consume, discounting it should the estimate be too long?

I anticipate that it will come about that publishers start to print the probable reading time on the cover, in the same way that CDs and DVDs have a running time. I'm being whimsical here, but perhaps the information could morph into nutritional content as well:

'A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, contains valuable lessons about charity, sharing, benevolence and conquering regret; parental warning: contains ghosts, so may be unsuitable for young children.'

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Gosh. Quite a word length variation. I'm with Susan Greenfield about learning to sit still and focus or even not-focus.

Boredom is GOOD now and then. We're good for nowt in this world till we learn to endure or deal constructively with boredom.

http://www.howlongtoreadthis.com/search_result.php?search_keyword=moby+dick

 

[1408]

I agree, @Katie-Ellen Hazeldine . I hadn't read anything in ages and then this past week I finally just sat down and read Howl's Moving Castle. It reminded me that I don't always need to be distracting myself and picking up my phone every two minutes. I've felt a lot calmer for it. I'm now rereading the first Harry Potter book.

Admittedly, because I have so many books I want to read, if I'm looking at a very long book I'm going to weigh in whether or not it looks interesting enough to put it ahead of, say, reading two or three other books in the same time. Which was an interesting thought for me when it occurred and I thought about my own book! If you've ever seen the scene in the Mitchell and Webb Look when they keep saying "Now we know, now we know..." for some reason that phrase got stuck in my head, haha.

I just used the website to see how long it would take me to read Harry Potter. It said three hours, but I'm pretty certain I just spent two hours reading it and I'm only on chapter five! It lied to me...it liiieeed! I have mixed feelings about this site. On one hand, it's a pretty novel (heh heh heh) idea, and it actually surprised me how little time it might take to read something. I actually think that's good given that people generally say they don't have time to read. However, I wonder how much it will be used, or, after the initial "Hey, this is fun!" if it will be forgotten about. I doubt I'll be pulling out my phone in a bookshop to see how long a book will take me to read before I buy it. Honestly, you can do that just by looking at the size of the thing! Because of that, I don't think this will change too much of anything really.

 

[Nicole Wilson]

Oh man, I have been searching for somewhere that gives content advisories on books similar to iMDB for years.

 

[Carol Rose]

So … am I the only who really doesn't care how long it takes me to read a book?

 

[Stephen Drake]

So … am I the only who really doesn't care how long it takes me to read a book?

No, your not alone on that @Carol Rose . If it is a book I really am interested in, it doesn't matter how long it takes.

Personally, I have never been a fast reader. I take my time and understand, or try to, what the author thought important enough to include in a book. Seeing how long it should take to read something could stress people out. A book rated at 5 hours might stress someone when they aren't even half way in 6 hours?

 

[Carol Rose]

No, your not alone on that @Carol Rose . If it is a book I really am interested in, it doesn't matter how long it takes.

Personally, I have never been a fast reader. I take my time and understand, or try to, what the author thought important enough to include in a book. Seeing how long it should take to read something could stress people out. A book rated at 5 hours might stress someone when they aren't even half way in 6 hours?

I read to get lost in the story. Why worry about how long it should take??? Goodness. People have forgotten how to relax and simply enjoy.

 

[Stephen Drake]

I read to get lost in the story. Why worry about how long it should take??? Goodness. People have forgotten how to relax and simply enjoy. [/QUOTE

My favorite authors are successful in transporting me to new and mystical places. The really good books are the ones you don't mind revisiting periodically (at one time I read the entire "Dune" series every year).

Generally, reading should be fun. Sometimes it isn't when the subject matter is dry or very technical, but even then, it is challenging.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

As long as the length isn't all fluff unrelated to the plot, I'm all for a good long book!

 

[Nicole Wilson]

I have too many books I want to read to spend weeks/months on a book. Plus, I'm a hardcore planner. I have a spreadsheet that literally dictates all of my not-work/food/sleep activities by week. It usually takes me about 2-3 weeks to read a book, more if it's a little dull. Sometimes only a few days if it's super good. I don't have a lot of spare time outside of "real" work and various writing activities, so I plan my books out accordingly.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

So … am I the only who really doesn't care how long it takes me to read a book?

No. If it has me hooked, I really don't care. That is exactly it. Just, since when did the very notion of a bit of boredom become the anti-Christ?

 

[Bernard Stacey]

So … am I the only who really doesn't care how long it takes me to read a book?

No , you're not!
I'm probably on the slow reader side of the spectrum as I like to absorb every little detail and immerse myself in the story (as long as it is good!) but I couldn't care less how long it takes. Sometimes, with an really good book, I'll get conscious of the time as I near the end and try and eek it out with mini-fragments to make it last but usually I won't have the self control for that and just gorge myself stupid on the final furlong and miss breakfast.

 

[Carol Rose]

No. If it has me hooked, I really don't care. That is exactly it. Just, since when did the very notion of a bit of boredom become the anti-Christ?

I have no idea but to me it's sad. People have to plan every second of their lives and consequently they miss the point of it all.

 

[Carol Rose]

No , you're not!
I'm probably on the slow reader side of the spectrum as I like to absorb every little detail and immerse myself in the story (as long as it is good!) but I couldn't care less how long it takes. Sometimes, with an really good book, I'll get conscious of the time as I near the end and try and eek it out with mini-fragments to make it last but usually I won't have the self control for that and just gorge myself stupid on the final furlong and miss breakfast.

I've stayed up all night reading because I couldn't put it down, but that's the point of getting lost in a story.

 

[Nicole Wilson]

I have no idea but to me it's sad. People have to plan every second of their lives and consequently they miss the point of it all.

Lol well I guess that's me. But that works for some people. I don't think we miss the point. Planning and scheduling just works better for some people. It keeps my life organized and, since I have so many activities going on (reading, writing, running, editing, promotion). It's a lot and with reading being as important as it is to me, I want to make sure I get a lot of books in.

Now, I don't rush myself through a book just to meet a deadline. Usually I give myself plenty of time for reading. And if I need more time, I just take it. And then I have an excuse for a full reading day.

 

[Carol Rose]

It wasn't personal, Nicole. Everyone has to do what's best for them.

 

[Nicole Wilson]

It wasn't personal, Nicole. Everyone has to do what's best for them.

I know it wasn't personal Just wanted to point out the other side.

 

[Carol Rose]

I know it wasn't personal Just wanted to point out the other side.

Duly noted.