My reading pattern

[BeccaPrice]

Kiwidude - I didn't mean to insult your plugin! My issue with how accurate it is isn't based on the estimations it gives, but on the quality of some of the files I have. I have one library book where a lot of paragraphs were written

L
i
k
e

T
h
i
s

and the page count was in the 7000s because of it (I tried to open the file to correct it, but all I got was gibberish, so I just deleted it. When I tried again to download the book a few weeks later, it was just fine)

I'm sure your plugin's results are about as accurate as the file quality allows it to be, bearing in mind your issues above and that I recognize it's just an estimate.

[latepaul]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

The whole idea of bookkeeping reading alienates me the same way as bookkeeping sexuality would.
It's not the "how long with how many, how frequent " that matters. What counts is the enjoyment of every unique experience in its own right.

heh

Based on that analogy even without the book-keeping part I'm already an appalling slut because:

• I'll get through several in a month, never mind a year
• will have more than one on the go at once
• will shamelessly dump one for something that looks better
• or just because I'm bored
• and all decisions centre around what maximises my pleasure

[JDK1962]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

The whole idea of bookkeeping reading alienates me the same way as bookkeeping sexuality would.
It's not the "how long with how many, how frequent " that matters. What counts is the enjoyment of every unique experience in its own right.

OMG . Just got this image in my mind of a site called Goodsex, where you set targets, review encounters, see what other people are thinking about the sex they're having, forums for specific...ummm...topics, etc.

Thanks a lot for THAT mental webpage, Freeshadow.

[kiwidude]

@BeccaPrice - don't worry, I wasn't in the slightest bit insulted . The question of accuracy comes up a lot on the count pages thread itself, I just wanted to potentially enlighten people here who don't venture that far. And yes if you have a really bad PDF conversion which is what your results above show, then it is going to skew the results, garbage in, garbage out for sure.

But equally using a page count from somewhere else like Goodreads is very approximate as well, unless you read that exact same edition and their database happens to have the page count populated for it. Which a lot of ebook editions do not have.

My point being of more relevance to this thread that if you measure your reading progress for the year by #pages, then unless you are sticking to reading the paper editions and recording their page counts it is a fairly suspect measure. Not that I have a better suggestion of course - just enjoy your reading and it matters not how fast or how many

[elemenoP]

Ooooh, I have a question about the page count in Calibre. I totally understand why it can't match the page count of a print edition. But why can't it match the page count on my reader, which matches the page count in ADE? I have heard from others on this board the basic algorithm of how ADE counts pages (1024 something something) so why not use the same algorithm in Calibre?

eP

[kiwidude]

@elemenoP - you can, it just isn't the default for the plugin. If you go into the plugin options there are three choices of page count algorithms. The default one when you install is "Paragraphs (APNX Accurate)", the second option is "E-book Viewer (calibre)" and the third is "Adobe Digital Editions (ADE)". So if you choose that third option you will get the same ADE calculation which should in theory be the same as your device? I used to believe that the calibre e-book viewer used the ADE calculation, however I have only just realised that is not the case and hence there are now three options in this plugin as of v1.4.3, rather than the historical two.

The reason why the "Paragraphs (APNX Accurate)" option is the default one is because I am biased towards Kindle owners being one myself. As Kindles don't use the ADE page count, users tend to want something that is more realistic towards the actual # of pages in a book, which is what the "Paragraphs" based algorithm attempts to do. The ADE page count gives you very large numbers which bear no relation to the real world paperback page counts. However the ADE calculation does have the benefit of being consistent across books and is supported by some readers such as you obviously have.

Any other questions about the Count Pages plugin just ask on this thread, I didn't intend to derail things here.

[soulfuldog]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I read about 3 books at a time.

Novels? How do you keep track of what's what in each book!?

I've read about 40 or so books so far this year. Although two or three of them were short stories, and two or three I've given up without finishing. I was a regular reader of (mostly) library books prior to getting my Kindle, but I've never read as many as that in the space of six months before.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by l_macd

Novels? How do you keep track of what's what in each book!?

I've read about 40 or so books so far this year. Although two or three of them were short stories, and two or three I've given up without finishing. I was a regular reader of (mostly) library books prior to getting my Kindle, but I've never read as many as that in the space of six months before.

I don't know, I guess I've got a good memory. Sometimes I will forget hair or eye color and have to backtrack to find out what they are but other than that I don't have a problem remembering details, plot and other parts of the story. I read mostly Romance, Urban Fantasy and Cozy Mysteries. I keep track with GoodReads So I don't forget what titles read.

[pidgeon92]

I also read 2 - 4 books at a time. Different genres, but usually all novels. I also always have an audiobook in progress.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

I also read 2 - 4 books at a time. Different genres, but usually all novels. I also always have an audiobook in progress.

Audiobooks are like candy to me seeing I can't have Candy they make a good substitute for it. Luckily my library has plenty I can checkout for free and I'm a audible platinum member.

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Audiobooks are like candy to me seeing I can't have Candy they make a good substitute for it. Luckily my library has plenty I can checkout for free and I'm a audible platinum member.

I, too, am a platinum member, but I can barely finish one audiobook per month. At my current rate, I will need to up my pace by 30%, I will need to live to 240 to finish them all.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by pidgeon92

I, too, am a platinum member, but I can barely finish one audiobook per month. At my current rate, I will need to up my pace by 30%, I will need to live to 240 to finish them all.

I listen to about 2 to 3 a week. Most are 9 to 12 hours long. I use my Sansa Clip Zip that is so small it clips to my shirt so I can listen to my books while I do housework. It's great for drowning out noisy neighbors or hubby's TV shows.

[Chi Cygni]

I tried audiobooks, especially on the plane but they are not my thing. I prefer to read in silence in my cave rather than hear voices in my head My thoughts always wander off and then I miss part of the plot and it doesn't help if it was a "whodunnit" book.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Chi Cygni

My thoughts always wander off and then I miss part of the plot and it doesn't help if it was a "whodunnit" book.

I'm the same way. I want to make use of audiobooks, but my mind wanders terribly without some sort of visual anchor. The narrator gets reduced to a buzzing in my ear. It's a shame, because I think they'd (audiobooks) be perfect for a lot of my "reading" needs.

Off-topic, I know, but does anyone think I could "learn" to focus on audio books? Is there any sort of mental exercise that would help? Or is it simply a "Nope. It just ain't gonna work for you" type of scenario?

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Off-topic, I know, but does anyone think I could "learn" to focus on audio books? Is there any sort of mental exercise that would help? Or is it simply a "Nope. It just ain't gonna work for you" type of scenario?

About ten years ago I gave books on CD a try in the car, and I hated it. I couldn't focus on the text and I decided they weren't for me, even though my boss at the time kept pushing them on me.

When podcasting became all the rage, I started listening to podcasts that I like in the car. Leo Laporte and his weekly tech news podcasts, NPR's Wait Wait, Don't Tell me, stuff like that. Audible was one of Leo's sponsors, and every week I'd hear the ad for the trial, and I finally gave it a shot. I found I can now concentrate on the text while driving (perhaps listening to podcasts trained me to pay attention?), and look forward to listening to a book when I am stuck in traffic. I listen when I am at home cooking, it makes tedious tasks like chopping vegetables far more enjoyable.

I did try listening to audiobooks at the gym, while on the treadmill, and found that extremely dull, as my eyes had nothing to focus on. But as long as I have something to look at, such as while driving, I listen just fine.