Is it normal to start reading a book but then suddenly realize that you have no idea what's going on in the plot because you have been reading the words but ignoring their meaning?
Happens way too often to me.
edit: I had no idea this was such a common issue!
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It happens to me with books, and also equally often with podcasts.
My theory is it happens when something else has (often subconsciously) hijacked the language processing part of my brain. E.g. if I'm reading and there's another conversation going on in the background that I'm slightly interested in. (The reason I mentioned podcasts is because this revelation happened to me when I discovered that I can do a sudoku puzzle while listening to a podcast but not a crossword.)
I've noticed this as well, where I can't listen to something with words (podcast, someone talking, TV show, etc) while doing a crossword or other word puzzle. I never really broke it down to realize that it's likely because the part of my brain that processes language is completely incapable of multitasking.
I also have to avoid music with words while working; I'll end up typing out the lyrics to the song instead of the email response to a user that I'm supposed to be composing.
Lol I can’t listen to podcasts
I need to see the text or else I’ll space out way too often