Is there an expression or word that describe the action of reading a book very quickly or enthusiastically?
asked Dec 28, 2015 at 4:04
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2Well, "speed reading" is the (teachable) skill of reading a text quickly while still maintaining reasonable comprehension.– Hot LicksDec 28, 2015 at 4:09
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Yeah but I mean more as if you're extremely into/excited about a book and then read it very quickly because of that rather than as a skill.– Bernardo MeurerDec 28, 2015 at 4:10
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The reader perhaps "drank in" the book.– Hot LicksDec 28, 2015 at 4:11
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5 Answers
devour
dəˈvou(ə)r/
verb gerund or present participle: devouring
read (something) quickly and eagerly. "she spent her evenings devouring the classics"
Source: google search
I'd suggest, gobble up
: to read rapidly or greedily
Conceptual Domains and the Acquisition of Metaphor
Table 4 (Continued)
E: The boy gobbled up the book
C: He read it in one whole--he read it--I’m not sure...gobbled up...
E: Do you know what gobbling means? Like when you gobble up food?
C: Yeah--but he couldn’t gobble up (laughs)--I don’t know, he’d have to have an operation (laughs)
E: So what was he doing if he was gobbling up the book?
C: Reading it
"I couldn't put it down." This expression covers the "enthusiastically" part, but not necessarily the "quickly" part.
If you cannot put a book down, you are unable to stop reading it until you reach the end:
It was so exciting from the first page I couldn't put it down.
Tear through (or tear into) might work, as in
He tore through (into) the entire collection of Hardy Boy mysteries.
American Heritage offers this example
To begin to do or eat something with great energy: tore into the meal.
Also lapped up is heard.
(I note that many of the offered answers use food analogies.)
You could also say "The book was a real page-turner," meaning that it was so fascinating that you continued reading and turning the pages quickly.
