Are you going to make the one hundred books read goal?

[Tessie6]

I've crossed the 200 mark and am close to250

But you should see the dust on my furniture

[issybird]

I can see it from here!

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

Perhaps, but either is a way of processing information, and in the case of books, the same information. You can learn by listening or looking (or touching; i.e. Braille).

No. Listening to a book means you are getting an actor's interpretation of the material. Different actors will emphasize different elements and bring different sensibilities to the material. Using a theater analogy again, seeing a theatrical performance with one actor is different from seeing the same performance with another actor.

I don't think that the comparison is similar. In the case of going to a live performance versus watching a video of the exact same live performance, the way of processing the information is the same.

Of course it's often nicer to go to the theatre, but that's because of the environment and scale. Live, everything is all around and in the moment, while on video you're focused on a small screen. I don't see a similar difference in reading text versus listening to someone speaking the text.

I'm not talking about the environment for purposes of this analogy. I'm talking about the way the performance is force-fed to the viewer in a video. The camera is rarely static during a video of a performance. There will be close-ups and wide shots and camera angles that force the viewer to focus on certain elements. At a live performance, a member of the audience can choose to pay attention to some other element entirely.

It's similar to an audio book wherein the actor interprets the material for the reader, rather than the reader doing the work.

As I said earlier, I don't see any reason that an audio book shouldn't count as a book read for our purposes here. But listening to a book is still different.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^I completely agree that it's different. Inflection, emphasis, and pacing are all different. I really don't understand what the argument is really about. People count what they want to count. If people are worried people are padding their reading stats while listening to books while they are asleep, that is their problem. They will eventually graduate from elementary school at some point.

[Namekuseijin]

well, I should've counted comic books too. Then I'm far ahead of the mark...

[HomeInMyShoes]

Once I start counting the books I read to my two-year old before bed, I'll be way past 1,000 for the year.

[Dazrin]

So, you are saying board books count? Excellent. My 1 yo would rather read than do almost anything else, so we go through around a dozen a day. I hope re-reads count too!

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^I completely agree that it's different. Inflection, emphasis, and pacing are all different. I really don't understand what the argument is really about. People count what they want to count. If people are worried people are padding their reading stats while listening to books while they are asleep, that is their problem. They will eventually graduate from elementary school at some point.

I guess it's just competitiveness and a desire to compare apples to apples. I must admit I'm astounded by the people who've read 150+ books, and I'd childishly like to think their totals are so high because they've included audio books, children's books, comic books, etc.!

[HomeInMyShoes]

^The path to enlightenment requires one to release their comparing mind. Some people are also retired and don't have two-year olds.

I included three sub-100 page novella kind of things, but then I read Ulysses to compensate.

For what it's worth I'm part way through books number 52 and 53 right now. Which is probably my ending total. Still more than double what I normally manage to read.

[issybird]

Some people don't watch television. That didn't make a difference to me as I hadn't watched tv anyway, but I cut way back on my evening internet habit and my total jumped this year.

[Fbone]

Not sure what I'll do next year. I may spend time catching up on movies and tv shows. I haven't finished watching SG-1. My TBR list is small and manageable. And maybe I'll take the PRS-650 out of its box.

[Shack70]

I have 94 done so far. I'm pretty confident I am going to make it. I do not plan on challenging myself to 100 books next year, I think I will try for 50 and take my time a bit more. I did end up not reading a few books that I wanted to read simply because of size. By picking 50 instead of 100 I can read these larger books

[KenFisher]

I have finished 110 books this year. 49 of the books are unabridged audiobooks, including a 57-hour monster.

My personal challenge for 2012 is:
1. All the new Baen ebooks (48 minimum)
2. 50 audiobooks (from my too large listen to pile)
3. The complete set of books in the "1632" universe
4. 35 to 50 general books from my To Be Read pile (another large list)

Total goal 150 to 160 books or about 25,000 pages.

Ken

[orlok]

Originally Posted by KenFisher

I have finished 110 books this year. 49 of the books are unabridged audiobooks, including a 57-hour monster.

As a matter of interest, what was the 57 hour one? I recently finished The Passage, and at 36 hours it was the longest I've ever listened to, a real marathon.

Well done on the 110 too.

[KenFisher]

Originally Posted by orlok

As a matter of interest, what was the 57 hour one? I recently finished The Passage, and at 36 hours it was the longest I've ever listened to, a real marathon.

Well done on the 110 too.

It was The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer and read by Grover Gardner. I read the book as a teenager and it was released as an unabridged audiobook earlier this year.

I just picked up War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk and read by Kevin Pariseau. It is 56 hours long.

Ken