How much can you read in one sitting?

[Dean]

My mind races like a madman's 24/7 so I find it very hard to concentrate on a book for too long. I can read at a ridiculously fast pace, but I will never get to far into a piece in one sitting.

Funny thing is, this is completely different for games. Perhaps it's because I keep my digits busy when doing that, and the only thing involved with reading is turning the page every now and then.

[Will Zurmacht]

Not a lot; I read quite slowly. The more compelling or important the piece, the slower I read; my pace can slow to a crawl as I go back and reread powerful passages over and over. Call it 20-40 pages of something compelling over a few hours, depending on font size. After that connections start to run together and I stop, to avoid doing injustice to the text.

Given the right mood and the right text I can achieve a kind of concentration that allows me to read much more, but this state feels less like reading, and more like... making love.

[Norroen Dyrd]

I can read a sizeable book in a day if it's one of those things they call page-turners (there are plenty of them) or if there is drastic, dire need for finishing many books before the exam deadline - I do try to read them all throughout the year, but cramming is still inevitable, since there are always a few thickish books left just before zero hour (the example that comes to my mind is the Aeneid, which I basically had to read in one sitting, or The Naked and the Dead , which I read in a night - it was rather interesting, but it had to be read fast for the impending exam; by the time I was finishing I felt rather like the main characters during the climax).

I am rather a fast reader, I believe.

[Leyyuce]

No doubt, given the examples presented! I myself tend to enjoy a substantial amount of text when finding opportunity to read- the pace at which it's consumed, of course, depends on the material, yet I generally opt to read very carefully if only for an unfortunate tendency to neglect entire passages when quickly maneuvering a title's pages.

[DorostheConqueror]

How much can I read in one sitting? No idea. The real limit here is how long I can stay sitting, and the answer is: pretty much indefinitely. I might not enjoy it after the first day or so, and I'd probably faint from exhaustion by about Day Two and a Half, but with enough methamphetamine I'm willing to bet there's no theoretical upper limit. If I'm allowed to nap and eat while reading, there'd be no practical limit, either, although I'd hate every minute of it.

How much have I read in one sitting? The most I've ever done in a single sitting was about twelve hundred pages. Back when I was a kid, I spent an entire day reading one of the Wheel of Time books; twenty hours straight, give or take.

[Stormborn]

I'm a fast reader, when I'm actively reading I tend to finish a 200-300 pages book every other day.

That is incredible. Do you use any kind of speed reading techniques, or are you naturally a fast reader?

I've always read a lot, especially during the years before high school. So I think I've just had a lot of practice, and good books to keep me reading!

I'm pretty much the same as Mrs T, although has to be said I can burn through a 200-300 page novel in 4 hours or so (when the book grips me). I always have a book on the go even when I'm playing a computed game I will pausing it every 30 minutes or so to make a brew and read at least a couple of chapters. However, films and TV usually bore me after 20 minutes and it's rare for me to watch a whole programme or film in one sitting.

[Justice knight]

It depends on the book with me, of I find it gripping I normally read about 100 words- the end, if not it'll only be something like 30 ish pages.

[Leilah]

My speed is pretty much like Mrs T's, although when I need to, I can do two 200 page novels a day. Let's just say that I didn't always study for English lit ahead of time. These days, though, I'm happy if I get half an hour leisure reasing time every day.

[POMC S117]

The most I have read in one sitting is 550 pages.

[Lavender Khajiit]

Depends on what I'm reading... Fantasy and SciFi I will take as long as it takes to read it.... for anything else I can read through it pretty fast and still retain every detail...

[DikaSmausha]

I cant read more than one page, not while i have Skyrim...

But seriously, I read at an insanely fast pace, about 450 words per minute, and comprehend things easily. But it really depends on the book because some books, I cant even read 3 chapters without stopping because its so boring. But some books, I can read the entire thing in one sitting, which all the books I read are about 300 pages long, so about 2 hours and I'm finished with the book.

[Tiber-Septim]

I once read a proper large book in less than a day. I read for 8 hours lying in a pool of sweat.

[Shadowscale]

It usually depends but i can keep reading but i like to make my books last so i try and slow down my reading to at least no more then 50-60 pages.

[JimDaniels]

I am very avericious when it comes to reading, I have been known to read two sizable novels in a day (Lee Childs "Jack Reacher" series and Patricia Cornwell's "Scarpetta" series being examples) but generally I only read when I have time off work, holidays etc. But yeah, I read quite quickly.

[Deandra]

You read for profit?

[Oathbreaker]

I'm somewhere between Mrs T and Doros. Although that comes with the caveat that it takes pretty much the whole waking day of ignoring any other activity for me to finish a decent-sized book in that one sitting. Unlike Doros, I can't sit for long periods of time so I usually end up tossing and turning on a couch or bed while I do my reading.

If I had to put a number on it I'd say I can do anywhere between 500-800 pages of an average-sized book in a day. The more the story hooks me the faster I tend to read. I never have trouble retaining what I've read either unless it's dry/work/school-related. For instance, I can understand why A Tale of Two Cities and Main Street are such a popular books in the US but I couldn't read more than two chapters at a time before my eyes tried to crawl out of my skull and I'd have trouble remembering what I'd read. On the other hand when I read Wuthering Heights I'd devoured it within a few hours and having only read it a second time four years ago, to this day I can picture the events of the book in my head very clearly.