Content Comprehension

What balance of comprehension and speed defines the happy medium?

When I was in elementary school, there was a program that encouraged reading called Accelerated Reader or AR. You would read a book, take a quiz for points, and redeem those points for prizes. In second grade (?) our class mascot was a dog. For AR, each student had a dog bowl, and their AR points were represented by bits of kibble. I was very proud at the big pile of kibble I had on the wall. I don't remember the prizes if there were any in that class but I do remember the wall.

An exploit was found, after a while: the computer quizzes could be taken as many times as needed. I assume now that was to allow for rereading to improve comprehension. The questions themselves were very simple, just multiple choice on different events that occurred in the book. More points were awarded for more difficult books. This meant that I could read a book quickly and then take the quiz until I passed it. This definitely made me a big reader when I was a kid, a common trope nowadays.

As a kid, I remember reading The Count of Monte Cristo by flashlight under the sheets, long after I was supposed to go to bed. There was a passage where Edmond has two halves of a letter, presented to the reader on two different sheets. Engrossed, I wanted to read the contents just as Edmond would have, turning the pages back and forth, line by line, until the letter was read. You can imagine the chagrin when a few pages latter, the letter from

But as I grew up, I lost the motivation to keep reading for pleasure. There was plenty of reading for education and eventually work. But always something that was assigned and never chosen. This wasn't sudden, but a gradual change. Each time, the joy of reading diminished and eventually flickered out, for a time. Reading more and more difficult books, being forced to close read and "discover" themes. Finding literary tools, and other items that, though enjoyable when elected by choice, is significantly less enjoyable when done for a grade.

I think what discouraged me first, was the drop in speed. Previously, I could read quickly and just enjoy a novel for what it was. I supposed this is only cursory reading. "Cursory" as though that is supposed to be a derogatory phrase. But that's not fair to simple enjoyment. The more you read, the more you can get out of each reading. The emphasis is unfounded on an initial reading: read a story and if you enjoy it, read it again more closely.

Paper vs Screen

Less often, as time passes, that I pick up an honest to goodness paperbound book. Most days, it's an e-reader like my Kindle. However, I think this is a useful trade despite it being a screen. It is "e-paper" so it draws little battery and I can load whatever document I want onto it, across a variety of formats. From .pdf to .epub, the Kindle can just handle it. There is just so much content on the internet that I can load whatever I want into Calibre and upload that onto my Kindle. I've been reading and listening to SCPs so this converter by lselden on Github has been a marvelous tool.