How many books do you read a year?

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.

[ProfCrash]

I enjoy reading in long sittings. I don't like reading and having to stop quickly, so reading in line and waiting for things is not my style. Trying to find chunks of time to read with the little man around is a challenge. I want to spend time with him and my husband and our dogs and my other hobbies. I have gotten better since I got my PW2 and gave up trying to read on the iPad. I have read close to a book a week since getting the PW2 but I have to make the time, normally before I go to bed. I know as the little man grows that it will be easier to carve out time, or read while he is at practice, but this last year has been a bit more difficult.

[Rumpelteazer]

I've been keeping a record since 2011, when I read 120 books, last year I read 105 books. I'm now reading my 102nd book, and with my vacation next week I might make it 120 again, though I've read more short stories this year.

Before keeping records and getting in the habit of reading a lot during the day I probably averaged 75 books, before getting an ereader it was significantly less because it was more expensive.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I enjoy reading in long sittings. I don't like reading and having to stop quickly...

For me, requiring longer sittings is often a problem.

I need a lot of time to get going and feel like I'm "in to it", be it work, reading, playing a game, playing an instrument; it can take up to an hour, sometimes even more. During that time, I have concentration problems and can be distracted easily. If distracted, it takes longer to get going.

But boy, after I reach "The Zone"... you'd better not disturb me or I'll bite your head off. At that point, I keep going and going, even hating breaks or having to eat; because such a disruption snaps me out of "The Zone", and I require up to an hour again to get started again.

When I'm on a roll, I also read (and work) faster and faster. Hours seem to become minutes and at some point I even feel that I stop thinking consciously. I often had that when writing reports during my college years. I've been known to write over 50 pages for some reports in under 8 hours.

[aceflor]

I voted for 25 to 36. I decided this year to select quality over quantity, and although that did not always work out (I have read two or three books that were not as good as I thought they were going to be, by far), I am at 35 right now and quite happy at what I read, so I think I'll keep the motto for next year.

I like big books too, so I'll spend about three weeks on some big opuses, and try to compensate for a shorter one after that. But 3 books a month, taking time to reflect on what I am reading, taking notes and for the spanish ones reporting about them in my Lit class is what I can read right now without sacrificing to quality.

Since September I have had to read books in parallel and in different languages, which complicates things a bit. I always read in three languages but only one book at a time. Now I'll read fiction books in spanish for class, and in parallel either a french, english or german book for myself. I have also read more non-fiction this year, and am drawn more and more to non-ficiton.

I have to say I have enjoyed my readings in 2013 more than before, so I need to keep on resisting the call of the easy-reading, which in my case is a bit like chocolate, it satisfies my cravings but leaves me pretty empty in the end.

[MartyTX]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

I never listen to audio books. I just can't get the same experience out of it.

Same here ... tried it and don't like it.

My wife and I frequently take a 6-hour drive to Dallas; easy but boring. Several people we know have extolled the joys of audio books, so we tried it a few times.

For me, having to listen and concentrate became more like work than pleasure. Reading books is self-paced. I subconsciously speed up or slow down as appropriate. I can easily flip back a page or two if I think I've missed something.

It's like "eyes to brain" seems to works faster and easier than "ears to brain". I find it more relaxing to just drive and chat rather than having to multi-task and concentrate on an audio book.

[ProfCrash]

I like audio books for non-fiction, it is easier for me to pay attention. I don't know why but I lose track of what I am reading in a biography but if I listen to it, I do better. This is not a problem with fiction. It is probably a mental thing, I feel like I should be learning and paying attention to details with a biography but I read fiction works for fun and pleasure. Each requires a different type of focus.

[SampleAndy]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I think at least some of the "61 or more" landslide-majority have to be reading on someone else's dime (not that I wouldn't if I could).

Geez, guy! Keep it under your hat, OK? (and don't even THINK about mentioning the time on the forum)

Last time I kept track, when I was active on ... nevermind, I recorded 80 in a year. Since then, I honestly don't know. I DO know that I'm probably losing ground to my purchasing habits. (sigh)

[Yapyap]

Back when I still read paper books, I'd read an average of 60 pages an hour (in English), give or take a dozen depending on page and font size.

I read ~2-3 hours every evening. I don't watch TV at all and I rarely go out in the evenings, so getting 2-3 hours of reading time in isn't all that difficult.

Most of the books I read fall in the 350-500 page category and they tend to be fairly easy reading (I read literary fiction and classics when I was much younger and it wasn't so taxing; after 8-12 hour days of technical translation, I want to read easy fiction as that's all I have energy left over for), so I average a book every 2-4 days.

With about ten books (or more) a month, 120 books a year isn't at all difficult to manage - and no, I don't do it on my employer's time (I work from home so my time is my own anyway, and I get paid by number of words translated, so if I do sometimes spend some time reading also during the day on slow days, I'm not cheating anyone out of anything; those days are few and far in-between though and most of the time I don't get around to reading until 7-8 pm).

[Chi Cygni]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

It's a lifelong problem, alas.
I'm not picky on length. (Two of my all-time faves are barely novellas--BURROUGHS' THE RIDER and BRADLEY'S SPELL SWORD--but big ones like MOTE IN GOD'S EYE and most of the Honorverse saga are high in the list, too.)

When I was introduced to Tolkien at 17 I read the whole set twice, back to back...in one week. Shortly afterwards I read the 25 volume Tarzan series. Took me a month cause classes had started. Drove my roommates nuts. Although, truthfully, they were nuts to start with. One of them dreamed Tolkien.
Woke us up ranting "Gandalf can't be dead!"

I'm not picky about length, it is just that I'm not happy if a book ahead is mere 250-300 pages. It is a snack. 500 is decent average, 600-700 is all right. Anyting above is a feast (except Under the Dome by Stephen King, oh how I suffered!) Last year I started page count as my average book was 450 to 500 pages, some 800, so book count didn't exactly correspond to the amount I read. But couldn't be bothered to sum it up in the end. I don't read novellas or short stories and wouldn't add them to the count if I did. And as for a break in between I just like to think the story over and still be for a while in that particular world, not jump into another reality immediately.

I remember it was long before ereaders, I borrowed LOTR vol.1 from local library, read it and when I wanted to borrow vol.2 they were all out! Oh!!! I angrily stormed into a bookstore and bought all 3 volumes. Still have them.

And by the way me and Proust don't get well together.

[BookGyrlinMO]

I have so far this year read 109 books, most of them between 300 and 500 pages. It seems that I read faster on my Fire then I do a paperback. I have yet to venture into audio books.

[latepaul]

I've always loved to read but never been a fast reader. I realised a few years ago I had only read four books the previous year (as far as I could remember) so I started having a goal each year and keeping track on my blog (as well as reviewing each book as I go).

So:

2008: 4 books
2009: 18
2010: 14
2011: 30
2012: 34
2013: 28 so far.

I was aiming for 40 and was on track but I hit a period where I didn't feel like reading. Was discussing this with a colleague at work today. When I was younger I probably read slightly less than at the moment, say 20/year, I wasn't counting. However I did used get that experience of feeling immersed in a book, so that when you stop reading you feel like you're "coming back" to the real world, like when the lights go up at the cinema. Now there have definitely been books I've really enjoyed in the past 5 years but that immersive feeling has happened a lot less. My colleague said he finds the same thing.

[Beyond genius]

Beggars the meaning of read.

I expect to take two years on my current read, to read it and then re-read it with all of its references and citations tracked down.

Karl Popper's The Open Society and Its Enemies, the 2013 800 page one volume edition.

[latepaul]

Originally Posted by Beyond genius

Beggars the meaning of read.

Not really. You're talking about studying a book. Which by your own account involves reading it multiple times.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Mainly because I am curious. I know that people on this site read more then the average bear (or monkey, chucken, mouse, dog, cat, naked mole rat) but how much more?

Think of your average year, I know we have some down years, but on average...

Years ago, I have been able to finish my books in a single instance. I didn't read every day, though.
Today, because of work, family and such, it takes about 3 days to finish the average book. I read almost every day, so I'll make about 100 to 130 books per year.
Usually, I read 3 to 5 books in parallel. Most of the times, 1 title for entertainment (John Katzenbach, Scott Turow, John Grisham, ...) and the rest about business, self improvement and the likes. The entertainment ones I either finish quickly (1 week tops) or I don't finish them at all. The "more serious" ones I often put aside for weeks and come back later on...