People frequently comment on how quickly I read. Part of that is just me – I’ve always been a voracious and relatively quick reader since my mom used some flashcard program to teach me to read when I was three. (I had library priviliges in kindergarten and was sent to the library while the class was learning to read because I was disruptively bored.)
Another part of it is a class I took in community college to fulfill a requirement. That class, Efficient Reading, used the technology of the time (1986) to improve our reading speed, comprehension, and retention. (Efficient Reading and Typing were the two most useful classes I took in community college. I’m so happy to be free of my two index finger typing.) The final part of the speedy reading was grad school – after slogging through textbooks and academic treatises, reading popular literature and nonfiction can’t help but be faster.
If you’re interested in improving your reading speed and retention, you might try a program such as the free SpeedRead (Windows only).
Reading Update
Stars: Hidden Star & Captive Star (Book 1 & 2 of the Stars of Mithra Trilogy); Treasures: Secret Star (Book 3 of the Stars of Mithra Trilogy) & Treasures Lost, Treasures Found; and River’s End by Nora Roberts. Truly, the woman has written a seemingly infinite number of books.
The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman. Audio. I love Alice Hoffman’s style of magical realism and listening to this book made the trip to and from the cabin fly by.
Cry Wolf: An Alpha and Omega Novel by Patricia Briggs. First off, don’t even bother reading this book unless you’ve first read the short story in On the Prowl, because that short story is really the first chapter or two of this book. It was a decent read – there is some character overlap between this and Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series.
Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4) by Stephenie Meyer. I was equally annoyed with Bella and Edward during the early parts of the book, but the last third of the book redeemed it all for me.
Storm Born (Dark Swan, Book 1) by Richelle Mead. This is an extremely compelling, well-written, and racy paranormal romance. Highly recommended, although I must admit that I’m a little afraid of how the series will develop, as the heroine seemed a combination of Meredith Gentry and Anita Blake. But, hey, CarrieK, there aren’t any vampires! 😉
Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum) by Janet Evanovich. These are always fun, but they also feel sort of stuck in a holding pattern…
Knitting Update
Back in May, I won some lovely Wollmeise from Cathy-Cate; I started knitting a pair of Tidepool socks from it at the beginning of August.
“Gee, Mom, you sure haven’t made much progress on those socks in nearly a month, have you?” -Mayhem
Um, no. I started the sock on my usual KnitPicks 0s and realized the yarn was thinner than your average fingering weight. A-ha! A chance to try my Addi Lace 00s!
Ouch. Within a few days, I had poked painful holes in the tips of both my index fingers with the brutally sharp points of those needles. And then I started the Noroesque socks, which have occupied my somewhat limited knitting attention since (I’ve started the second sock!). I know I’ll get back to them, because I love how they’re turning out.
“Sure you will, Mom. I’ve heard that before.” -Mayhem
Oh, May! Give the momma some slack. You’d be hurting, too, if you encountered the pointy-points of those lace needles.
BTW, love the profile shot!
Hope I never have to use a needle that is less than “1”! I don’t know how you sock knitters do it.
Oh, ouch! 00s were designed to dig in for SSKs and p2togs and nupps and things in cotton thread and cobwebweight, I suppose. Personally, I never knew I used my fingertip to assist stitches off until I got the KnitPicks Options set, which is quite pointy, and kept pricking my index finger painfully. The KP circs in the smaller sizes are just a touch less sharply pointy, and work great for me, but I just don’t care so much for the Options as a result of my knitting style!
The Peacock Tidepools (hmm, interesting thought) are looking great, though. When you can stand to get back to them, I’m looking forward to seeing them done!
I’m a rapid reader too, which comes in handy in my work as well as in my training for said work; and also because I have less time for pleasure reading these days than I would like, at least I can finish books in a reasonable amount of time. But occasionally I find myself devouring good books overly fast and have to consciously make myself slow down and savor them, or even for a really good book go back and re-read it more slowly. Does that ever happen to you?
I thought my skein of Wollmeise looked really skinny. I’ve had those tattered fingertips before, so hopefully I can avoid them when I eventually start knitting with it.
Mayhem! Don’t get cheeky…that’s your MOTHER!
I, too, experience the pricked finger syndrome when knitting on teeny needles. I use a fingertip band-aid until I develop a sufficiently thick callous. I’ve heard that moleskin is good, too and even painter’s tape. Good luck!
The socks are lovely, btw!
I read pretty speedily but then forget that I’ve read it. Still slogging through “Winds of War” – but then the actual events took a while too !!!
That’s so funny – I always say that one of the most useful (if not the most) things I learned in high school was typing.
But those Wollmeise socks are so pretty! It’s just too bad you’re impaling your fingers every time you work on them!
Reading is a most excellent talent and activity. Neatnik is 3½ chapters from a restaurant celebration.
We approve.
one thing i really appreciate is that you don’t smoke with your toes, it would ruin the pictures of these nice socks if you had a smoldering butt crammed between two toes. just sayin’
I just finished a book last night that I was DRAGGING through. It was so slow and I felt like I’d been reading it forever, but once I start a book I’m hard-pressed to quit. I had to know what happened…and now I know. (It wasn’t that good of an ending, either. Hmph.)
My mum was a speed reader…she took these tests when she was young to see how many words she could read per minute and I don’t know how many it was, but it was a lot.
I’m definitely hoping that my son will take to reading soon and love it as much as I do. I’m a super fast reader as well when I’m reading for fun – it always blows my husbands mind because he reads slowly to process everything going on in the story.
I always think about getting Addi lace needles but I use my fingers to slide stitches off and I’m sure I’d be a pin cushion in no time flat.
I used to read fast…and you’re right, grad school does improve your speed and retention.
I’m poking holes in my fingers with the Harmony 0s. I don’t think I’ll go to 00s! Thanks for the warning!
(((hugs)))
Single and smarter-this-decade-than-the-last are fantastic. Toss in a couple of companion kitties and life seems to be pretty perfect. It’s the knitting that pushes that woman over the edge. 🙂
Knitting gets more strange looks than single.
Sometimes I wish the cats would talk back. And then they get me back.
That sounds like lace yarn to me… 2.5mm is absolutely the smallest needle I want to use for socks.
I am also a huge believer in my highschool typing class. Thanks for the book thoughts, I’m always looking for more to read!
Chris- I can read a book in an evening. My father used to pick up a paperback (detective and cop stories) on his way home and he would be finished before bedtime.
What do you think about the Wollmeise?
I am also a really fast reader. Sometimes, when I am reading a book where I want to savor the language, I have to use a book mark or index card under the sentences to slow me down.
Sigh. Wollmeise.
May – you look like one side of a coin!
I may try that speedreading thing… I read fairly quickly, but I never get through as much as I want.
I’m glad to see that someone else didn’t hate Breaking Dawn – I loved it. And yes, Roberts has written a ridiculous number of books, but I think she actually writes them all herself! And most of them are good! I’m in awe.
I always look forward to your book lists 🙂 (and B & N just loves to see me coming afterwards!)
I read fast too, and so does my 10 year old daughter. I don’t think I have ever knit with 00!!
Book rec’s Thanks!! Course, you know I love me some vampires, lol. but I didn’t go past book 2 of the Twilight saga, got bored or annoyed or something, don’t recall. Love the colors in the tidepool sock!
I get what you’re saying about 14….hopefully SOMETHING will happen in 15. Something man/relationship wise of course.
Love the profile of May 🙂
Such a lovely shot of Miss May! I never knew she was a glamor girl.
will have to try those paranormals, as I am an fan of both Anita Blake and Sookie Stackhouse… even if there aren’t any vampires.
I agree. Typing skills and speed reading are critical. Too bad I can’t speed read through my texts and journal articles.
ps. don’t bother with the knitpicks options needles. even sharper than addi lace needles. OUCH OUCH OUCH
I really like how the Wollmeise socks are turning out.
A speed reading class was required in my high school. I was a pretty fast reader to begin with; we were supposed to triple our speed over the semester, and I started where most people needed to finish. I couldn’t triple my speed without losing too much retention, but I did become a champion skimmer, which was tremendously helpful in grad school.
Mayhem is pretty sassy for a cat without opposable thumbs.
The Twilight books are my son’s absolute favorites. I enjoyed them, but I kind of liked the Jacob character, and he didn’t because of the whole Bella Edward triangle, so he doesn’t have much patience for my thoughts on the books. Who knew a 12 year old boy would get so caught up in all that?
I spent nearly all of 3-6th grades in the library because I was disruptively bored after we moved from a greater Seattle area school to those the greater Denver area.
You say that but vampires are sneaky. Besides, the phlebotomist took enough blood from me today to feed a quorum of vampires.
I love Alice Hoffman! But I think I have her last three books on my shelves, unread.
Disruptively bored? Lol. The things one will do to be able to go to the library….:)
Is the Wollmeise everything I have heard it to be???? I have been dying to try it but always seem to miss out because it sells out so fast! If you tell me it isn’t as great as everyone says, I might feel better about that.
I am a super fast reader. No one can ever believe I am actually reading because I finish things so fast.
Thanks for the speed reading software link. I can read fast but often I don’t. I like the Wollmeise yarn!
I am a faster reader since grad school, but compared to the lot of them (and you), I’m still slow
Very pretty socks. Hope you get back to them soon.
My step-daughter just gave me the book Twilight. Is it good enough to read (real paper pages!) even though I listen to all my books now? I’ve never read a vampire book. Are they addictive?
Ouch – those are pointy needles.