How many books do you read a year?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

My total for 2013 to date is 73. I never listen to audio books. I just can't get the same experience out of it.

I've never been able to get into audiobooks, but as NPR takes up more and more of my drive time with soft news and feature stories, I'm thinking I might give them a try again.

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by issybird

I've never been able to get into audiobooks, but as NPR takes up more and more of my drive time with soft news and feature stories, I'm thinking I might give them a try again.

I'm pretty sure that listening to podcasts is what trained my brain to be able to concentrate when listening to audiobooks. When I first tried audiobooks many years ago I couldn't listen without getting distracted. Now I listen daily when doing mundane tasks.

[Latinandgreek]

I think I average about 80 or so a year, some years reading as many as 130 or so. I can't recall the last time I didn't read at least a book a week, I usually get through 2 or 3. I have read a very large number of long books (700+ pages) though this year, so I have probably read fewer books than usual in 2013, and I've been busy with the baby and my thesis, but I still think I've surpassed the 61+ mark. I am not including academic reading in this number. The last year that I kept track of my books read that year I think I hit about 130ish, but I am honestly too lazy to keep trick most years.

[mvo]

Well, I put myself in the 49-60 group, but when I counted up my actual tally for the past 12 months I have read 83 books. Quite surprising. I don't get much time to read for leisure, but I do read reasonably fast.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

And that's why I can't take part in a lot of discussions here. People read stuff into posts that is just not there. I never suggested anyone wasn't being truthful. Nor did I insinuate that "getting through the words" was somehow "bad" or an inferior way to read. I only meant to imply different. It IS a very personal experience and I've tried SO hard to be very clear about what I'm trying to say (they were two bullet points a while back in case you missed them), which is why it's so frustrating when people hear what was never said or implied. So let me try one final time:

I question this poll's accuracy insofar as it representing any actual breakdown of the MobileRead membership's reading habits.

And I question whether "book" is even very relevant to the data the poll proposes to be collecting (which I'm admittedly assuming was "how much do you read in a year?").

Oh, and as for any perceived literary vs genre snobberation vibe that people might believe they're picking up on: forget about it. I'm not that guy. I primarily read genre fiction. Doesn't stop me from reading literary fiction occasionally; I just don't distinguish between them in how I approach the reading process. I use the same reading "technique" for both: wring 'em dry.

DD, I for one, hope you will continue to take part in such discussions for 3 reasons:

1. As someone who reads a great deal, yet only averages around 30 books a year, I've found your comments and reflections interesting and thought provoking.

2. You were respectful, and very careful with your word selection, and how you framed your points. However, a few people were skimming your posts, and reading in accusations and making assumptions that simply weren't there! Which is kinda funny, when you consider what is being discussed. And demonstrates your point, that how one "reads" is very personal.

3. Mobileread discussions are much richer, when there is real dialogue - otherwise they would just be groupthink pablum.

[leanansidhe]

I chose 37-48. I figure I read about 4 books per month, but there are a few series that I re-read throughout the year and I'm usually able to pretty quickly. LOTR I can read in about a week, same with Harry Potter. Dresden takes me over a month from the first book to the latest one, which there are 14.

I'm also dyslexic and it slows down my reading if I have to read the same paragraph a few times over before I understand what's being said.

DiapDealer I second everything Victoria says, please don't stop participating, I enjoy your posts (especially your sense of humour).

[silverraven]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

And that's why I can't take part in a lot of discussions here. People read stuff into posts that is just not there. I never suggested anyone wasn't being truthful. Nor did I insinuate that "getting through the words" was somehow "bad" or an inferior way to read. I only meant to imply different. It IS a very personal experience and I've tried SO hard to be very clear about what I'm trying to say (they were two bullet points a while back in case you missed them), which is why it's so frustrating when people hear what was never said or implied. So let me try one final time:

I question this poll's accuracy insofar as it representing any actual breakdown of the MobileRead membership's reading habits.

And I question whether "book" is even very relevant to the data the poll proposes to be collecting (which I'm admittedly assuming was "how much do you read in a year?").

Oh, and as for any perceived literary vs genre snobberation vibe that people might believe they're picking up on: forget about it. I'm not that guy. I primarily read genre fiction. Doesn't stop me from reading literary fiction occasionally; I just don't distinguish between them in how I approach the reading process. I use the same reading "technique" for both: wring 'em dry.

Please don't stop discussing, I enjoy hearing other people's points of view.
For example, I am always amazed when talking to my husband about music he knows all the words to songs. No matter what genre, cause he listens to all kinds of music, he knows the words and what the song actually means.
Me? Eh, I have music on in the back ground, but I don't digest it like he does. I like having something going while I'm cleaning house or driving, but ask me an hour from now what songs I heard I might be able to name one, maybe.
That doesn't make one or the other of us a 'bad' listener, just different. Each of us use the music for different purposes. I think people are like that with reading too. Well, actually, people are probably like that with everything if we really compared stuff.
Wouldn't it be a boring world if we were all the same?
S

[orange!]

According to my My Books > Status page on Goodreads, I read 72 books last year, and 54 so far this year. I set my goal at 60 this year, but I selected 61+ in the poll because I'm only going to read short books for the rest of the year!

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Proust's In Search of Lost Time

Yow, that's an expensive version! By the way,when I was a lot younger, I tried to read Proust's work 3 or 4 different times, but never got past the first volume. At the time I was reading it, the title was translated as Remembrance of Things Past. Anybody know when/why the translation of the title changed?

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by orange!

Yow, that's an expensive version! By the way,when I was a lot younger, I tried to read Proust's work 3 or 4 different times, but never got past the first volume. At the time I was reading it, the title was translated as Remembrance of Things Past. Anybody know when/why the translation of the title changed?

In Search of Lost Time is the title in French (À la recherche du temps perdu) so it was preferred by certain more recent translators.

[Chi Cygni]

Aww, I jinxed myself methinks. I started reading Michio Kaku's "Physics of the Impossible"

http://www.amazon.com/Physics-Imposs...mm_kin_title_0

and while it is excellenty written and fascinating I can only take it in small doses as in I need to digest what I've just read... and it takes loong time so I may not reach 52 books this year

[mizzlia]

I haven't read as much as I should this year so far about 25 next year Ima reach higher

[discopig]

I like to read about a book per week, I could go faster but I like it like this. I tend to average 50-55 books per year.

[VictoriaP]

I've actually read far less than in the last two years than typically, but I'll still be over 100 books this year. The first year I had a Kindle, I was at over 300. And I suppose you could say it was on another's dime, because it was the first year I was disabled--the Kindle was a gift from my husband, because I could no longer handle paper books.

But I have always been a ridiculously fast and heavy reader even during school or my work career, averaging 100 pages an hour in paperback or hardcover. One summer when I was young, I stayed with an aunt for six weeks & had access to my cousin's scifi & horror collection. According to my journal during that time, I read 10,000+ pages during that six weeks (and drove my aunt nuts, she thought I should be out with friends more. I was in heaven, who needed to go out?! LOL) Even twenty years later, if I have a free day and feel like reading, three genre books in a day isn't unusual. I don't watch TV & don't do movies; that time goes to books instead.

But I don't see myself as average in this respect. Obsessive is probably more accurate. Still, most of my friends are reasonably frequent readers, and paper or digital, they'd still fit comfortably into the 61+ a year category. And none of them can read on the job--they carve out time whenever they can, the same as you do for any other hobby.

Out of curiosity, I asked hubby--who is a reader, but not a "heavy" reader in his opinion, how many he thought he'd read this year. He said ten. Then he started actually counting...and found to his surprise that he was up over 40 just in e-books. Add in half a dozen audiobooks, and an unknown number of dead trees. (Unlike me, he also watches TV, movies, and yes, works full time. He's never timed his reading, but he thinks he's probably average or not much above.)

I don't doubt the numbers seen here. There's nothing scientific or statistically significant about an Internet poll on a forum; you've got a targeted group who's self selected both to participate in the forum itself and actually interested enough to respond to the poll. A group of people, who are passionate enough about e-books and their platforms/devices to be active on a forum about digital reading, is quite likely to be overbalanced in favor of heavy readers.

[applesauce]

I should just top 100 books this year. I am pleased with that. My first goal was 50. I doubt there is more than 5 books under 350 pages, and I would say 30 or more with page counts over 500. This was my first year keeping track and I have to say I have enjoyed the process. I love finding out how many and what books others have read. This forum is great for this. I found this thread interesting to see how many audio book addicts there are. My husband has turned into one. This has given him so many more books to enjoy as he can listen to them while he works.

applesauce

[Crusader]

Mine varies. In 2010 I read 113 books and in 2011 I read 122, but that cause somewhat of a reading burn-out for 2012 where I only read 41. I'm well on track to read more than 60 this year. Most of the books I read now average more than 500 pages which accounts for the lower numbers this year. I also have constant internet access now which offers a myriad of distractions.