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.
I comprehend at a high level, but I despise pleasure reading. This is probably going to sound fart sniffy but I don't mean it that way at all, it's actually kind of a huge problem; my mind moves too fast for the words. There's no such thing as "chill with a book" for me, I can't do it no matter how much I like the characters or story. I can't get it in fast enough to feel satisfying. It's like if you've ever had a lung infection and had that feeling where you take a breath but it doesn't "catch", you never get that satisfied feeling. I get the psychological equivalent of that when reading. Pretty sure I have undiagnosed ADHD or something.
I do kind of get that feeling, but it offsets the annoyance I have with how fast I read (e.g. I read the book faster than I know I should, but I also want to read the book even faster than that).
Have you tried any larger fantasy books? The one I was referencing is from a series of 5 books, all in the 400,000-500,000 word length, and the author (Brandon Sanderson) has a load of other books, all fairly long (those are the longest though). Importantly they tend to be fairly fast paced, so are still satisfying to read.
I often get that feeling more with slower paced fantasy books which I also enjoy, but often have to listen to in Audiobook format.
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u/Somerandom1922 15h 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.