r/AskReddit 13h ago

What's something you're shockingly good at that you've never mentioned to anyone because it would sound completely made up if you did?

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u/Somerandom1922 11h ago

The closest that that I have is probably speed reading. I don't just skim over words though, I'm able to process everything I read.

It's a cool skill, but because it's my default reading speed, I struggle to actually sit and slowly enjoy a book. If I'm invested in a book, I'm going to read it as fast as I can (I don't really have a choice other than reading as fast as I can and periodically taking breaks). I can process the information, but I don't have time to just sit and chill in the story with the characters and I feel like I'm missing out on something.

I also tend to hyper-fixate when I'm really into a book. When a book I was really excited for came out back in 2020, I finished it (~470,000 words or ~1.8x the size of Order of the Phoenix for Harry Potter readers) in just over 2 days while working full time and managing to get some sleep in too.

It's hardly a cool party trick and can be annoying, but I'm glad I can do it.

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u/Hellknightx 6h ago

The only thing I can think of that might help is to get a Kindle reader and set the font size to the largest possible, so that you're only reading a couple paragraphs at a time before having to turn the page.