
Ask HN: How many hours (on average) does it take you to finish a technical book? - questionr
Given all the recent book threads.<p>How many hours (on average) does it take you to complete a technical or mathematical book?<p>(I feel that &quot;days&quot; would be too coarse a measurement)<p>Does that include completing all the exercises&#x2F;programming assignments?<p>If not, do you feel that your understanding is lessened?<p>And if you were to do the exercises, how much more time would that add?<p>Could you state any specific examples of book to hours?
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brudgers
Depends on the book.

Many of them I don't finish. Some because starting the book meant just sort of
browsing around and they stayed that way. Some that I started and read
sequentially until I didn't and then maybe I browse in it or maybe I don't.
Some because the book's content gets beyond my knowledge or interests or both.

Of the technical books I finish, it depends on the book. Depth of content, my
level of relevant knowledge and the length of the book all play a role.

The pace at which I tend to read technical books when I am committed to
reading them (but perhaps not finishing them) tends to be about twenty or so
pages a night most nights while I am in that mode. That might mean ten pages a
night for a deeply technical book (or thirty if it is so deep I am skimming
it). It rarely involves doing exercises though sometimes it involves reading
them.

For full clarity, I don't really worry about what I miss or not getting
'everything' out of everything I read. A lot of books are over my head. A lot
extend beyond my interests. Also, I'm not in a hurry because the more other
things I learn, the more I will tend to get out of any particular book.

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daly
Measure your reading rate in pages/hour over a year. I average 33 pages per
hour. My wife reads faster than I do, although the only measure is that she
completes the same books faster (she has never tried measuring). As for
understanding, I average 3 books on any given subject, 5 on some. The first
book is really just an introduction to the subject (regardless of whether that
is the target audience). The second book is much clearer because the terms are
clear and the "goal" of formulas make sense. By the third book I can usually
manipulate the ideas well. These days I usually also watch several youtube
videos related to the subject. When using the material I often revisit certain
books. I have several books that have chapters falling out from overuse, so
"finishing a book" is not a way to think about it, more like "paging out to
backing store" so I can retrieve it when I need it.

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ktRolster
3-4 hours a chapter, just like in college. Math books more, books in a domain
I'm familiar with less.

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stenecdote
About the same for me as well. The only thing I'd add is that if the book has
exercises and some of them are algorithmic in nature, I often require days of
background thinking time.

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alexdgg
I'm always going back to them, never 'finished'

