The average adult reads at a pace of about 200 to 250 words per minute. But we only speak at around 125 to 150 words per minute. Your brain, without you even realizing it, reads nearly twice as fast as anyone can talk.

That difference is more than just numbers. It explains a few things.

Ever listen to an audiobook and found yourself drifting? Or bumped the playback to 1.5x or 2x just to keep up with where your mind wanted to go? That’s not impatience. That’s your brain operating at full capacity. It’s built for reading. Built to take in language quickly and efficiently, to interpret and reflect in a way that conversation rarely allows.

We speak in real time, but we read in something closer to thought-time. Reading gives room to pause, reread, imagine. A line can land, and instead of passing by, it settles. Sometimes a sentence catches you off guard. You read it again—not because you missed it, but because you didn’t want to miss what it might become inside you.

That’s where books set themselves apart.

Audiobooks have their place. They’re invaluable for folks on the move, for those who can’t or don’t want to sit down with a page. They’re a gift. But even as that technology improves, most listeners still find themselves adjusting the speed. There’s a reason: the brain wants more than it’s being given. It’s not just hearing words—it’s waiting to absorb them.

And when it comes to remembering those words, reading still wins. Study after study confirms that we retain more when we read, especially in print. Not because we try harder, but because the experience is different. Reading is tactile. Intentional. Anchored.

Writers know this instinctively, even if they don’t talk about it. They craft sentences hoping a few might live longer than the page. And they often do. Readers remember a line years later, not because it was loud or clever, but because it met them in silence and stayed.

Talking, even when powerful, fades. But reading—reading leaves a trail. A good sentence can outlive its speaker. It can change how someone sees the world long after the writer is gone.

So when someone says they don’t have time to read, maybe remind them: their brain was built for this. It wants this. And it doesn’t need hours at a time. It only needs a sentence worth remembering.

That’s the kind of trivia worth sharing.

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If this trivia made you smile or taught you something new, why not pass it on? Readers love curious facts—and writers do too. Here’s how you can help:

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