• Home
  • About Me
  • 5* Elements
  • 2019 Reading Challenges
    • Other Reading Challenges
    • 2013 Reading Challenges
    • 2014 Reading Challenges
    • 2015 Reading Challenges
    • 2016 Reading Challenges
    • 2017 Reading Challenges
    • 2018 Reading Challenges
  • My Bookish Lists
    • My Classics Club List
    • Reading the Newberys
    • Reading My Own Books
Smiling Shelves

Does Reading Pace Affect Your Opinion of the Book?

9/22/2016

5 Comments

 
Now that I have a kid, my reading time is more limited. I'm still reading more than I thought I would, but that's not consistently the case. Some weeks I can get through two or three books. Other weeks I'm lucky if I get through one.

That happened most recently with my September book club book - Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas. It took me almost a week to get through what normally would have been a couple-day read. I found myself not liking the book very much, getting annoyed by little things that I probably wouldn't have noticed if I had read it faster.

It got me to thinking - can how fast or slow I complete a book actually affect my opinion of the book?

In the case of Prayers for Sale, I think the answer is absolutely yes. If I had been able to get through the book in just a couple of days, I probably wouldn't have been irritated by the author constantly dropping hints about the unnamed matter that the main character had to deal with before she moved in with her daughter. I probably wouldn't have thought that the thin overarching plot was just an excuse to lump together a bunch of short stories and character sketches. I probably would have been drawn into the story more, rather than feeling distanced from the characters and events. I probably wouldn't have felt that it was so predictable, because I wouldn't have had as much time to ponder over the plot.

Please don't think that Prayers for Sale is a bad book. It's actually really good, as evidenced by the opinions of everyone else in my book club. I really think that the fact that it took me a whole week to read influenced my opinion of it.

Knowing this about myself makes me doubt my opinions of other books that have taken me a long time to read. I'll have to remember that that's a factor.

I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this. Have you disliked a book that took you a longer or shorter time to read than it normally would have? Or have you liked a book more than you expected because of the length of time it took you to read it?
Picture
5 Comments
Kate @ Opinionated Book Lover link
9/22/2016 01:54:07 pm

I think it goes both ways for me. How long it takes to get through a book can impact how I feel about it - especially if I forget some of the details with the long breaks between readings. But I also notice that books I'm not enjoying take me longer to get through because I'd rather read something else. I usually have a lot of books going at once, and if I'm at home and have easy access to several of them, then I often pick up the one that's interesting me the most.

Reply
Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
9/25/2016 09:38:27 pm

I've run across both of those problems, too. I have a book that I only get to read when I'm rocking my little guy in the nursery, and I often have to pause and go "Who is that character again?". It definitely disrupts the reading process. I usually only read one book at a time, but if it's one I'm not enjoying very much, I'll find myself avoiding it and playing on my phone instead. It just takes that much longer to get through, then! :)

Reply
Kailana link
9/22/2016 08:41:19 pm

Jennifer Estep. I like her, but when I read one of her books slower, I notice she repeats herself way too much and uses annoying wording for stuff. I just read her slowly recently, so she immediately popped into my head!

Reply
Julie @ Smiling Shelves link
9/25/2016 09:35:55 pm

That's exactly what I'm talking about! I kind of feel bad about not liking a book just because I read it slowly, but shouldn't an editor or somebody have noticed the author repeats themselves a lot? :)

Reply
Christine @Buckling Bookshelves link
9/29/2016 09:35:27 pm

This is absolutely true for me as well! I am still working on a book that I started Sept 3rd and my slow pace is definitely affecting my enjoyment. It's an author who I have really loved before, but in this case, there is a back and forth between two time periods and there are some mini cliff-hanger type moments as you reach an important point and then jump back (or forward) in time -- and then by the time I get back to the original time period, I don't even remember what that cliff hanger was! This may be a bit of Mommy brain going on too. But I'm hoping to read the last 100 or so pages at a better pace and hope that it all comes together in the end.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    My name is Julie, and I own a lot of books. As in, they are stacked on the floor because I've run out of room on the shelves. And those shelves? There are so many books on them that they smile -- not sag; smile. This blog will cover book reviews and all manner of other bookish things.

    You can contact me at julie@smilingshelves.com.

    Picture
    What are 5* Elements all about?

    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Follow on Bloglovin

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Currently Reading

    Clara and Mr. Tiffany
    A Little Folly

    2019 Reading Challenge

    2019 Reading Challenge
    Julie has read 9 books toward their goal of 75 books.
    hide
    9 of 75 (12%)
    view books

    Archives

    November 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013

    Categories

    All
    5* Atmosphere
    5* Characters
    5* Learning
    5* Learning
    5* Meaning
    5* Plot
    5* Plot
    5* Voice
    5* Voice
    5* Writing
    Book Club
    Book Club
    Challenges
    Children's
    Classics Club
    Fiction
    Historical Fiction
    It's Monday
    It's Monday
    Library Loot
    Life
    Newbery Reading Challenge
    Nonfiction
    Read A Thons
    Reading
    Review
    Saturday Snapshot
    Smiling Shelves Soapbox
    Stacking The Shelves
    Top Ten Tuesday
    Travel
    Young Adult


    Picture