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RULES (updated 01/22/25)
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Almost entirely fiction, a couple dozen a year. I'm currently rereading a book series with around 20 books, I think.
Not considering audio books in the statistic is a little weird and comes off as attempted gatekeeping... If someone has taken the time to consume book media, it shouldn't matter if it was listened to or not. My wife is dyslexic and listenes to quite a few audio books a year, but can only finish a couple print books.
Not considering audio books in the statistic is a little weird and comes off as attempted gatekeeping
Nah, not meaning it to look like that. I just like picturing people sitting reading. I listen to audiobooks myself. But I like reading the words. So it was just my personal preference for the post, not a judgement on audiobooks.
I have read about 2,000 pages on ebook so far this year, which is an average month for me. And I listened to about 20 hours by audiobook. I do count audiobooks, and I listened to less in January than average.
Split is about 75/25 fiction/nonfiction.
I hold zero affection for physical books. Less than zero even. I've moved too many times. I have maybe 50lbs of textbooks, high school year books, and reference books for hobbies and that's it. I would have to be ready to settle into a home for the rest of my life before I could bring myself to buy physical books, and I'm still way too restless for that.
Enjoy your pulp books! I hope they're good, even if "so bad and cheesy, they're good".
Yeah, I am a great lover of e-books, and in fact have been on the e-book train since pda's. I even had a rocket book. Long before kindle or anything.
But a lot of the strange crap I read isn't in ebook format. But after I fill my shelves, I'll probably be done with paper books. I like the look of a good study.
My house is paid off, so I'm not going anywhere. This is my forever home. And if by some chance I became sick or something and had to move, then books would be the least of my problems.
But e-books are def my main reading and in fact, a source of income for me since I write them.
Not many these days, barely one a week.
When I was younger, easily 30-40 a year. Now that I'm not forced to go to a building with an in house library every day... some years none, others up to 6.
How many fiction books do you all read? E-book or paperback. But not interesting in audiobooks. I’m curious about physically-read books.
To answer your question, I read fiction (be it novel, short stories, poetry, plays) less than I read essays, history, science(s), philosophy, sociology, spirituality books, and stuff like that. But I will always be reading some fiction, at any time. I love fiction, I just have to prioritize other kind of books if I want to read them ;)
The number of books depends the type of book I’m reading and their author, and in what language. I'm French, but I read a lot more in English and can also manage my way through not too complex Spanish books and this year I hope I'll be able to really start reading in German but obviously I will not read as fluently in any of those languages than I read in French, not even in English. And that's true not just for fiction.
I mean, I’m reading Jean-Jacques Rousseau at this moment and I obviously do not read him as quickly as I will read a novel but I also read Rousseau much quicker than I have read, say, Kant (Kant’s style is not as easy going as Rousseau’s, and his thought process is not as straightforward either, even though they ideally both require a lot of thinking in order to get anything worth out of reading them).
Even only considering fiction, my speed does vary a lot depending the author and their style, the length of the book and the type of book as I have personal preferences that will help me read a lot more than with anything written by an author or even in a genre I may not appreciate as much. I’m also much more likely to quickly finish a volume of short stories or a short novel than say Anna Karenina (which is probably my all-time favorite novel, btw) because I can read it even when I have much shorter time available to read.
Right now, I’m reading Proust In Search of Lost Time (I read it in French) and I know I will probably spend the whole year reading it. So, that’s one book a year? Not really, since I will read other fictions (and already have read others) during that time but still, it’s a whole year spent on a novel, or not?
Also, should I count the books I start and don’t finish for whatever reason, or not?
And then, even more so with fiction than with essays, I always have multiple books started at once. I don’t care much about finishing one book before starting another as I’ve pretty good memory and can instantly get back into the story where I left of and get back in the mood/atmosphere when I'm switching book), like when I'm watching a movie or a series. Even years after, I just have this odd memory.
So, it’s kind of a difficult question to answer but I would say: a lot ;)
I have a Kindle, but I will always prefer physical books. Recently, I have mostly been reading nonfiction, but I'm feeling the urge for some fantasy.
I'm a big fan of betterworldbooks.com for used books.
Thanks for that link. I'll check it out!
I have always read, but it is only in the last decade or so - prompted by the internet, of course - that have thought about counting the books that I do read. Since then, the lowest in a year has been around 6 (an extremely busy year) and the highest around 60. A normal year is probably closer to the latter than the former. I am half way through my 3rd book so far this year.
However, just at the moment I am reading that book - Consider Phlebas - partly as e-book and partly as an audiobook, depending on where I am and what I am doing. Does that count? I am finding myself doing this more often lately.