During school, I was always self-conscious about the fact that I was a slow reader. I don’t mean a wee bit slower; I mean significantly slower than the class read. To top it off, I was in the lowest reading group and still struggled. Despite all this, I still enjoyed reading. Well, not when it came to school, but outside of school, I enjoyed it.

As I moved into Secondary School, I felt worse about my reading. The class could get through the book faster (from what I understood), my teacher was moving on with the work, and I would still be pages behind. Since reading for school was stressful, I fell away from reading as much, thinking I was “a bad reader” since I couldn’t keep up. However, after Secondary School, I got back into reading. Since I was on a TV Production course, there was no pressure to read fast. 

During my two years away from education and my time at University, I started questioning the importance of reading speed. Like, yeah, they are essential, especially in education. I’ve had to read so much as part of my English and Journalism degree, but I’ve not read them, more skimmed the readings. There is too much and not enough time, so skimming is faster, but these readings weren’t for relaxation or fun; it was work.

So, does a fast reading speeds make you a good reader? 

Honestly, no.

If you want to consume a lot of books and genres, then yes, faster reading speeds help, but if you just want to read and write, then fast reading speeds aren’t that important.

I tested my reading speed from May to July, and these are my results.

My reading speed in May – 162 words per minute

My reading speed in late May/early June – 183 words per minute

My reading speed on the 2nd June 2023 – 211 words per minute

As you can see, I’ve improved over two months. The average reading speed is 300 words per minute, and I started at just above half that. The only difference between the start of May and the start of July is how much time I have. Before May, I was full-time at university and never read that much. I was either studying, tired or doing other stuff. However, after the first of May, I finished university and had time to read, which has resulted in my reading speed slowly increasing as I’m using the skill more.

Which I think it is. I think having a fast reading speed is a skill.

Two main things I’ve experienced in life that made me ashamed of my slow reading speed; Social Pressure and Preference Level. Both points leaned heavily on my reading speed, but I don’t care about either now.

Social Pressure

“You’re not a real reader if you don’t read X amount of books per year.”

This is sometimes self-inflicted. For example, looking at everyone else’s Goodreads Goals (or even the stats Goodreads put out for the average book goals). I found myself doing this.

The average Goodreads Goal this year is 42 books. My goal is 10.

I have surpassed my goal this year, but this is my first year surpassing it because I started reading Graphic Novels this year, which I can get through fast.

Preference Level

Reading Repeats, Lower Reading Levels, or Easy Reads Slowly

Sometimes shame can come from re-reading a book you’ve read multiple times, reading a book at a lower age level or if the book is considered an “easy read”. 

For me, I re-read the Harry Potter series or short stories (and count them towards my reading goal).

Honestly, any shame for either of these from one person to another over this is bullshit. 

Like, I get it. There is something in every job, industry and hobby that requires skill, and people take pride in it. Hell, I take pride in my reading speed getting faster and my love for words, languages and writing. However, no one should feel like shit for not being as good.

I’ve been reading for as long as I can remember, and my reading speed is still below the average; my Goodreads goal has only just been met this year at 10 books (keep in mind, I messed up, and Goodreads counted the book AND individual volumes of the graphic novel I read), but hey — who cares?

At the end of the day, I don’t think reading speeds matter. If you want to read faster, just keep reading. You’ll naturally get faster the more you read; if you don’t, that’s okay too. Even if you read the same book repeatedly, it’s okay. It still takes me about a week of one to two hours a day to finish Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. AND THAT ISN’T BAD. 

Unless you’re going to enter the world’s greatest speed reading competition against The Flash, I think that as long as you are reading at a pace where you are taking in the story and information, your reading speed is fast enough.

(Also, if you’re trying to read faster than The Flash, I wish you the best of luck.)