# Do you skim or read every word?



## Violanthe (Mar 7, 2006)

When you're reading a new book, do you read every word? Do you ever skim? If so, what parts do you skim? Does it depend on the author? How the story develops? Your mood at the time?


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## Ithrynluin (Mar 7, 2006)

Of the books I pick out myself, I never skim or skip a single word. In fact, I'll go back to parts that were particularly interesting or intriguing, or sentences that were worded in a way that left an impression on me or that contained an unusual or striking metaphor or simile. I only ever skimmed some books that were imposed upon us back in high school; books that dealt with matters, times and people that simply were of no interest to me.


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## HLGStrider (Mar 7, 2006)

Generally I read every word, but ironically, if I really, really get excited about what is happening in a book my eyes may start to flutter about trying to look ahead faster than I can read. Sometimes I catch myself doing this and have to reread passages.


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## Violanthe (Mar 14, 2006)

I give every book the chance to impress me. But if it doesn't, if I find I can skim and still get most of the important stuff, I do it.


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## Barliman Butterbur (Mar 14, 2006)

Violanthe said:


> When you're reading a new book, do you read every word? Do you ever skim? If so, what parts do you skim? Does it depend on the author? How the story develops? Your mood at the time?



All of the above. It depends on what kind of book it is, more than who wrote it. Some books demand being read starting at the very front and going in strict order right straight through to the back skipping nothing, and others are open to skimming, dipping, diving, sampling, jumping, etc.

Like Elgee, sometimes a book is so riveting to me that I have a tough time keeping my place and want to skip ahead to see how something is going to resolve. But then I'd miss the whole process of getting to the resolution!

Barley


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## Rhiannon (Mar 14, 2006)

It depends on the author, whether I'm reading the book for the first time, and how caught up in the plot I am. If it's a fluffy novel, like Bridget Jones-esque chick-lit or an entertaining YA book, I skim. If I'm re-reading a book I might skim through a quick comfort read, or to get to my favorite parts (I am guilty of skimming just about every part of LotR that doesn't deal with Eowyn or Faramir). If I've been completely sucked into a suspensful plot and I'm going to die if I don't get to the end NOW, I will stay up all night long and skim. Or if I get bored with a book, I'll start skimming, and then possibly go to skipping, and then give up all together (*cough*GeorgeRRMarting*cough*). 

If it's assigned reading, I always skim. I don't have time otherwise. 

I used to skim everything when I was younger, and I had to teach myself to slow down when I started looking for more challenging literature--no skimming Jane Austen, and definitely no skimming Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Or poetry, unless yet another professor is forcing me to read Wordsworth and Coleridge.


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## Violanthe (Mar 15, 2006)

What made you give up on GRR Martin?


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## Rhiannon (Mar 15, 2006)

The writing was good, the characterizations were excellent, but there were too many POV characters and too many plotlines going at once. And when he left you with a cliffhanger it took him too long to get back to it--by the time he returned to a character I'd have to flip back and re-read because during the intervening 60 pages I'd forgotten what happened last. After the first book it got worse--I would need a diagram if I tried to read it again. And with so many plots happening at the same time, it took forever for any of them to progress. I would have loved the series if there had been no more than five primary POV characters, which is probably what frustrated me so much.


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## e.Blackstar (Mar 16, 2006)

Depends entirely on the book and why I'm reading it.  
I usually end up skimming unintentionally, though (kind of like what Elgee said), and sometimes have to re-read a page or two.


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## Lindir (Mar 17, 2006)

Rhiannon said:


> Or if I get bored with a book, I'll start skimming, and then possibly go to skipping, and then give up all together (*cough*GeorgeRRMarting*cough*).


For me it's the other way round: George Marin is probably one of the few authors I don't skim when I'm reading.
I often skim through parts of books with descriptions of scenery and these days I skip altogether most of the songs in LotR (but never Boromir's funeral song).


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## Rhiannon (Mar 17, 2006)

My brother is the same way--he's completely absorbed by them. But keeping up with everything was giving me a headache, and going 70 pages without finding out what was happening to my favorite characters (Arya, for instance--there was never enough Arya) really irritated me. I'm very single-minded that way


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## Violanthe (Mar 21, 2006)

In the most recent GRRM book, I found myself skimming many of the sections because he introduces so many new characters. I did a fair bit of skimming in the first books, too.


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## Confusticated (Oct 5, 2010)

Sharkey said:


> I only ever skimmed some books that were imposed upon us back in high school; books that dealt with matters, times and people that simply were of no interest to me.


 
I don't recall that I ever in my life read a book because school said to. Got lots of Fs too...:*D To see my grades through school one would think I am not even capable of reading _The Hobbit_.:*D


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## Firawyn (Oct 11, 2010)

I have a technique to reading. First time I read the book, I skim, looking mostly at plot development and just finding out what's going to happen next. Then, I re-read it multiple times, each time paying attention to a different thing. For examples: character development, descriptiveness, where there was foreshadowing, good one liners worth writing down, etc. I can read the same book fifteen times and enjoy it each time, for a different reason. 

:*)

And that's me.


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## Prince of Cats (Oct 13, 2010)

Books I love, like Tolkien, I read in slowww motion. Letting my mind form the world around the words and be further built as my imagination progresses along the printed lines; like an avalanche that is altered and added upon by the terrain it rolls over :*) _Every_ word

I love the songs, too. I like to slowly chant them and imagine how they're meant to be sung


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## Eledhwen (Oct 14, 2010)

When I'm reading a really good book I eventually stop seeing words altogether, and the book becomes like a film playing in my head. If it's a book where I'm reading every word, it's either non-fiction or not really my cup of tea.


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