Recently, I was perusing a Kindle help forum and saw a thread there from someone who had noticed that they read much faster on their Kindle than not. Almost all of the many replies to the thread noted a similar experience.

It's been something I've found myself since I got my Kindle in February - I read a book waaaay faster on the Kindle than I ever did as a paperback or hardback. I've no clue why that would be, but it is.

I know that many here have a Kindle or other e-reader. So I'm curious as to what the general experience here has been. Do you find you read faster on your e-reader?

I said no, but I feel I must defend myself out of consideration for my kindle (named Clark, btw. All of my electronics ended up with Superman names- except for my car, which is the Hulk. My phone is named Perry, and my ipod is Lex because it's a stubborn and evil little piece of... machinery :p )

It's not that I don't read quicker on the kindle. I read at about the same pace either way. It's just that, for some reason or another, I get distracted so much easier when I'm on it. There's still something about a book that I can just delve into easier, and I can focus on it better.

However, I do find that it's great for reading fanfiction.

I don't think I read appreciably faster with my Nook, but just the physicality of it makes it a bit quicker. I can hold and turn the pages with one hand and that, in itself, allows for a faster availability of the next page.

I'm not sure how much faster I read with the reader, but I do know that I read more using it.
It seems unusual, but since reading is easier with the Nook, I tend to read more.

Maybe it's still the novelty of it, though I've had it since Christmas.

Tank (who, by the way, has named his Nook, Lois; as is his ipod... go figure)

Ah, that one is never a problem for me, Mouse. Quite the opposite in fact. I have a rather boring hospital appointment once a year that I always wish I'd taken a book to as I sit in the waiting room, but I never do because I worry that I'll do my usual trick of getting so engrossed in what I'm reading I'll block out the world and never hear my name called.

You know, I did wonder about that. If the fact that all I need to do to turn a page on the Kindle is twitch my thumb was a factor. Perhaps that and the fact that I can adjust the font for optimum reading, too, might factor in, rather than be slowed down by a small font at times.

LabRat

That's a good question. I'm not really sure. It seems like I tend to skim more while reading on the Nook but I'm not completely sure.

Joan

I've said 'yes'. And I think I can explain why, at least in part.

Several people recently recommended John O'Donohue's book Anam Cara to me. So, when I saw a copy in a shop, I bought it. And I struggled to read it, not because the text is hard to follow, but because I struggled with the font.

I could tell that I really wanted to read the book... but the font was getting in the way of the language, at least for me. So, I ended up buying the Kindle version. I selected a sans serif font, and now I can take in the words easily, and I can feel the lyrical language. The book looks pretty, but the font -- Bodoni -- is horrible to read.

This makes me wonder, how many other books have I disliked in the past because of the font they were printed in rather than the way they were written?

Krissie

I actually don't own an e-reader. Still debating over whether I should take the plunge or not. (So I didn't vote.)

Mouse - had to laugh at your names. My car is named Argo, after Xena's horse!

Now the getting-so-into-it-I-literally-dont-hear-things bit I get. In fact, it drove my family bonkers, because I never remembered my mom telling me to switch out the laundry loads even though I was sitting right there. What I meant by saying it's harder to focus is that it's easier for me settle in with a book made of ink and paper than it is to flick through pages on my kindle. I know it doesn't make much sense, because the kindle is faster turning pages wise and I understand the whole changing font size issue (helpful to someone with wacky astigmatism)- but I like to hold the book.

Plus, I have a major issue with speed reading. In an intense scene, I tend to read without *really* reading. Once I'm done with the chapter, I like to be able to go back to where I started this annoying habit and really force myself to re-read the bits that I already read. It's not the same on the kindle, flicking through pages back and forth. Which is also why I've got two or three books on my kindle that I've yet to read, but I've put a pretty good dent into my Shakespeare volumes.

But on the other hand, it makes annotating books for school *SO* much easier and I don't have to worry about book damages. So like I said, it's about even for me.

I'm a speed reader either way actually. I'm not a fan of e-readers though I much prefer to have a book physically in my hand. My eye sight is not too great to begin with and it worsens looking at a screen. Well there's that and the fact that the majority of my books are actually out of print biographies and other titles.

Honestly I read the same speed with a kindle as with a physical book.

Well, I don't have an e-reader yet, but I still use my Palm on occasion and I can read a lot faster with it. Not to mention if I want to remind myself what happened with a character several pages back, all I've got to do is search for it. That's way slower with a paper book. Plus, the fonts in paper books seem to get smaller and smaller as publishing houses seek to save money. That makes it harder for me to read. I can also read faster on a computer screen because you can almost always increase the font size on any page.

That's interesting, Nancy, because I always thought that would be one of the advantages to the Kindle - but after a couple of gos I gave up on that feature. Just too darned slow! The Kindle would freeze up for minutes at a time as it searched back. Sounds as though the Palm has the advantage over the Kindle on that one.

LabRat

I voted no. I don't have an e-reader (kindle, nook, kobo, etc), but I do use my iPod Touch or my Blackberry. I definitely don't read faster when I'm using those because I'm usually doing it on the bus or a busy doctor's office/hospital waiting room, so I'm only half paying attention.

If I'm reading an actual book, I use speed reading techniques because I'm impatient & usually have a stack of books in my 'to-read' pile.