Do you read books word-by-word or do you scan the book?

[Jolyon Trevelyan]

I read books word by word.

[Kaitlyn12]

I am a fast reader, but I still read the book word-by-word. I don't like missing anything and scanning a book just seems like you would miss a lot.

[RachelErmutlu]

I think I read word by word. There will be sometimes when I get distracted and seem to be just skimming, but I will normally go back to reread. Although, when I go back I normally remember what I had skimmed.

[agreenwood]

I also read word-by-word and find myself annoyed if I cannot fully concentrate on my book and feel as if I've not understood a sentence or paragraph. I must go back and re-read to make certain I've gotten all the words and understand the book. Kind of a pet-peeve of mine.

[moderntimes]

Having a career in science and engineering taught me to read precisely and carefully. And although I read novels and such for the pleasure of it, I still read with a precision. I find that I can do this and still enjoy the rhythm and language, maybe even better if I am focused.

[tortoise keeper]

I pretty much read a book word for word especially if I really like it. If I don't care for a book, but don't want to not finish it, I will sometimes skim it through to the end. At other times I will skim the last chapter just to see how it ends.

[MaggieMariee]

I always read word for word. I don't like to miss any important details or any parts of the story just by skimming through the book.

[Sarah_Khan]

For me it depends on what language I'm reading in, if I'm reading in English (which is my mother-tongue) then subconsciously I don't really read each and every word. It's more like since I read a lot of books my mind kind of knows how the sentence will end so usually I just scan the rest of the sentence.
But if I'm reading in French then I read every single word since I'm not as familiar with the language. Also if I'm trying to read fast then I'll end up just scanning the words.

[ANCD]

For the most part, I do read word for word. But like others said, I may scan through unnecessary or repetitive scenes. This, of course, is not the case when reading a book with the intention of writing a review afterwards.

[MRogue]

I read a book word by word. I am a fast reader and this does not affect my speed.
I find that when I scan the book, though I may get the general idea and plot of the book, I may not be privy to the details and the in-depth feeling of the book.

[Zroogz]

I read books word for word, and then paragraph by paragraph for the sake of memorization. Skimming the pages can lead to a lazy pattern of comprehension and retention.

[moderntimes]

Same here, Rogue, I'm a very fast reader concomitant with high comprehension. So I zoom thru novels and even though the reading is fast, I remember what I've read.

Therefore I don't need to "scan" a book, because I read the thing totally all the time anyway.

[jott_2009]

I read word for word. Unless I've already read the book once or twice, then I may jump to my favorite places in the book.

[moderntimes]

What I find is that for books I've read before, such as great novels (Ulysses, other classics) I savor the words on re-reading. I read them with joy and pleasure, maybe repeating a paragraph or phrase which grabs me.

But for "standard" books -- for example the mystery novels I review for a website -- I read each word. I don't think it would be fair to write a review of a book that I just skimmed.

[Beautiful_Soul]

Word for word. Sometimes I read a sentence or paragraph more than once just to make sure I'm comprehending it correctly. A slow reader but thats better than not reading at alll.