How to Read an Entire Book in One Day

You put off reading this book for several weeks, and you were supposed to read it all by tomorrow. Whether you’re heading to school or trying not to look like a lazy bum at a book club, don’t give up hope. You can go through this tome, not forgetting about everything and not leaving with anything.

Reading an entire book in a few hours may seem like a daunting task, but it all comes down to simple math. The average adult reads about 200-400 words per minute. The average length of a novel is between 60,000 and 100,000 words. If your reading speed is right in the middle of 300 words per minute and you are reading an average novel of about 80,000 words, you should be able to knock it out in about five hours. or less.

It may seem like a lot, but it is quite possible. And you can do it without any of the gimmicks of fluency or speed reading , which can be a bad thing when it comes to really assimilating the information. For the most part, you can read at your normal pace, process information at your desired speed, and all you have to do is pull yourself together, find the time, and get started as soon as possible.

Find the perfect reading spot

Distraction is your enemy. Anything that distracts your attention from the book will increase the amount of time you need to complete it. The internet, sounds, screens, games, pets, toys, friends, and random people you don’t know are all trying to steer you away from those words. Even as I write this while sitting at the airport, I constantly find myself watching people and losing concentration.

Separate yourself from everything. Lock yourself in a room with earplugs, head to the most uninhabited spot in your library, throw a blanket in the low-traffic section of the park. Damn it, if you have nowhere to go, hide in the car (while it’s not hot). Think about how much privacy you need and then double that. If you can’t get away from distracting sounds, grab a pair of noise canceling headphones or do what Emerson Spartz, owner and operator of Harry Potter fan site Mugglenet suggests , and listen to the white noise . Listening to white noise helps him maintain concentration and even helps him read a little faster, Spartz says.

You also want to be in a place that is comfortable enough not to distract you, but not so comfortable that you fall asleep. Read at a table instead of a bed, or choose a chair instead of a comfortable sofa. Comfortable furniture is great for reading, but you’re not reading for pleasure right now – you’re reading to finish. If you are reading at night, it is important to avoid what Thomas Frank of College Info Geek describes as “the call of the pillow.” When you’re next to (or on) your bed, chair, or couch, you’ll be tempted to check in for a nap. If you can, go where you can’t, and come back before you’re done.

Read in intervals and stay active

You may have a critical time, but you still have enough willpower to devote it to one task. When you focus on one task for too long, you experienceego depletion , which is your psychic energy, self-control and willpower to be destroyed . If you don’t take regular breaks, your motivation to keep reading will all but fade away, and it will mean game over for you. So, if your book is not very exciting, you will eventually get tired of reading it and have to mix things up.

Set a timer and read for 20 minutes, then do something active to keep yourself energized for 5-10 minutes. Think of it as a tomato reading method . I go for walks, do my daily exercise, play video games, or just turn on music and have some fun. Whatever you decide to do, make it active, involved and, ideally, have nothing to do with the subject you are reading about. The point is to give yourself a break so you can come back and feel refreshed.

You can also try breaking the book into segments instead of timing yourself. Bookmark reading intervals or mark a specific percentage. For example, you can insert three bookmarks into a book to divide it into four reading sections. Once you’ve reached one of the bookmarks, you can reward yourself with something like a special snack, some video game time, or an episode of a show you’re currently obsessed with.

Take notes about everything

Keeping active will help you stay focused while reading. Taking notes of what you’ve read or highlighting passages you want to remember later can break the monotony and help you remember information better. Check them all! Words you don’t know, what you read between the lines, the motivations of the characters, the thoughts, and even how you emotionally relate to the main plot points.

Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren, authors of How to Read a Book , suggest that you write an analytical book review that follows these four rules when you finish reading:

1. Classify the book by subject.
2. State what the whole book is about. Be as short as possible.
3. List the main parts in order and ratio. Outline these parts as you have outlined.
4. Identify the problem or issues that the author is trying to solve.

If you write it all down now while it’s fresh in your head, you don’t have to try to remember later when your memory is fuzzy. Come to a discussion or writing an essay, perhaps you already have several pages on which your exact thoughts are laid out.

If you have time to dig even deeper, take the time to expand your notes . You can do this after you finish, or even during reading breaks. Look for definitions of words that you are not sure you understood, take another look at the plot points that stand out to you, and search the Internet or other texts to clarify what you do not understand. You can even compare your notes with SparkNotes and CliffsNotes to see what you might have missed. It’s not ideal to rely on these sources for everything, but it can help fill in the gaps when you’re reading a book quickly.

Feed Your Reading Marathon Properly

It may sound like a fun experience, but a marathon of reading will tire you out. At some point, even those strenuous activities that you do in between reading will not allow you to work at full speed. Introduce your favorite drug, caffeine . Drinking a caffeinated beverage may not sound like good advice, but there is a right and wrong way to do it. Here are some things to avoid when it comes to caffeinated beverages:

• Do not start your reading marathon with a caffeinated drink unless you feel absolutely necessary. Save this in case you actually start dragging me around and need to pick me up. It’s like a race in the critically acclaimed Fast and Furious movie: if you hit nitrous oxide too early, you will crash and not win the race.
• Don’t choose caffeinated beverages that can be drunk almost instantly (5-Hour Energy, Starbucks Doubleshot, etc.). They pump you up, oh yes, but they will hit you all at once. It’s best to drink something that gradually introduces caffeine into your body over time. You are not trying to fly into space, you are simply trying to maintain concentration and energy.
• Don’t drink something that contains a lot of sugar . A little sugar in coffee for flavor is fine, but some of the more sophisticated drinks contain a ton of sugar. Returning to my quick and furious analogy, keep sugar out of the gas tank. Sugar will revive you a little, but when both caffeine and sugar stop, you break down even more.

Of course, if it’s early enough and you have time, a 30-minute nap can be more invigorating than a cup of coffee . Better yet, if you’re good at swinging, try a caffeinated nap and get the best of both worlds. Otherwise, stick to a gradual caffeine intake as you start to pull heavily.

Food is also essential for any reading marathon. A pile of sugar in coffee may not be perfect, but you still need a little fuel to keep your mind running at full capacity. Again, there is the right way to grab a bite to eat. User lil ‘writergirl on the National Novel Writing Month forums offers some useful rules:

Make sure the appetizer:

• Should not be greasy or damp as this can damage the pages.
• You can eat without looking.
• You can eat with one hand.
• It takes time to chew, so the bag can last for a long time.

The last thing you want to do is damage the pages, especially if it’s a book that you want to sell back after the lesson is over. Dry some young carrots with a paper towel, a lot of dried fruit, or bury some of the mixture. However, a couple of chopsticks will help you to easily eat with one hand.

Taking a break to eat pizza or other potentially dirty food is fine, but don’t try to tame the fat while you read . She also notes that many books have what could be called “boring” parts in which the action is drawn out. These are some of the best snacks. Instead of losing interest and wondering when something good is going to happen, snacking will help you stay active and content enough to get through it.

Change your phone to a book

If you think you can’t set aside five hours to read in one day, I have news for you: you’ve probably read so much already. According to a recent study from Lancaster University in the UK, published in PLOS One , the average person spends about five hours a day with their smartphone. Much of a person’s smartphone interaction is reading things like news, Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, online dating profiles, and Lifehacker. So, switch the book from your phone.

If you can handle it, leave your phone on for the day, or at least hide it with Airplane Mode activated. The same goes for everything you use to consume information, such as tablets, laptops, televisions, and protocol droids. You are in emergency reading mode, so you need to select all those minutes that you usually “kill” and transfer them to your book. Which means wherever you go! Instead of pulling out your phone while you’re in line at the grocery store, waiting for a food order, or any other time you would normally take out your phone, pull out a book and read instead. You forget that you have a lot of time, which is easy to return. Of course, if your book is on your phone or tablet, you can still use it, but keep it in airplane mode and avoid frivolous distractions at all costs.

Turn on audiobooks

Alternatively, you can use ears instead of eyes. Maybe you have things to do today. Or maybe you really want to exercise but can’t afford to waste that much time. This is where audiobooks come in handy . Depending on your reading speed, you may actually read faster than an audiobook can read to you, but they are perfect for filling in the gaps if you are really short on time.

For example, you can read for a couple of hours, download an audiobook and listen to it while you drive, shop, do housework and exercise, and then return to your book when you’re done. You may even find it much easier to listen to the whole thing. The only drawback is that you have to pay twice for the same book unless you planned to listen to the audiobook in advance. Also, depending on what you need to read, there may not be an audiobook version. Lesser-known literature and academic writing will probably need to be read the old fashioned way, but if you’re reading in the Kindle app (or Instapaper and Pocket for shorter texts), you can use text-to-speech to listen. … It won’t sound as good as a real audiobook, but you can listen at different speeds and it’s a good option. No matter how you manage to listen to your book, it can save you a lot of time.

Don’t make reading marathons your favorite pastime.

Now, before you dive into the heart of the matter, keep in mind that books are generally not meant to be read during the day. Like a TV show split into a series, books are divided into segments that you gradually consume. Skimming through the book and giving yourself time to reflect on what you’ve read will always be better for your overall understanding. Reading an entire book in a day should be a joy to you when you run out of time, and you’ll obviously be better off doing simple things to find time to read .

That being said, taking notes, looking for definitions, and even jotting down your own thoughts about exciting moments in the book will help you hold onto what you read. Sure, there are some downsides to reading an entire book in a day, but it’s possible to cross the finish line with important information in tow.

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