I Have Statistics to Back That Up

I remember (or think I remember, which amounts to the same thing) having a conversation with Roger where he shared his view that it's a shame the more you like a book, the faster you read it and vice versa.

I respectfully stated that the reverse was true in my experience. When I'm enjoying a book, I like to take long breaks and think about it - chew it over in my mind - in order to prolong the feeling of satisfaction.

Well...I haven't kept records of my reading for the past 14 years for nothing. I decided (after taking six days to read a 212-page biography of one of my heroes, Michael Faraday - which I thoroughly enjoyed) to see what the statistics were on the various ratings of books I've read.

Books I've rated a 2 on the 10-point scale averaged a Flash-type speed of 129.55 pages per day (sounds like quite a bit of skimming).

3s & 4s were 81.56; while middle-of-the-road, nothing-to-write-home-about 5s were close to my overall rate of 73 - 74.98.

6s & 7s held my attention slightly better at 61.93.

8 - 10s were read at the easy, mulling-over, semi-languid pace of 56.77.

Statistical proof that the more I like a book, the longer I take to read it!