How many books do you read/year for pleasure?

Between 1 and 3 per week so about 50–150 a year.

for pleasure probably more than 8 as I study most of the time…although I could kind of call that pleasure…in which case it would be more like…20 + if not more… I might count next year!!!

@janbb WOW I’d love to be able read that much… I spend too much time on the computer…

oh that’s terribly, terribly depressing. was this fiction? or any book ever?

Probably about 25. It varies widely, as I also read a number of magazines in between times. I can’t believe that study is right, though. Eight books just seems like too few for the high end of the spread.

I’d say I probably read about 50 books a year. I would love to read more, but most of my free time is taken up with knitting.

I’m on my 16th so far but only two of them were fiction. I like the sort of stories you can’t make up. Like the one where Pushkin spits cherry pits at his opponent rather than drawing his pistol for their duel. Apparently Pushkin was kinda an ass.

One goes out of one’s self through social and work discourse, certainly, but more profoundly through one’s personal selection of a lifetime of reading, cogitation and then again social and work discourse about all of the above….... it’s all a worthy cycle that at the same time is defining of one’s self and also of the sphere of those around one’s self. All those interacting spheres form the community of selves that give man self-esteem and a holographic presence in the universe. I read a lot; books, news, online, snippets I’ve conjured out of the webmist and saved, peer-reviewed/published scientific papers. I would die professionally and personally if I could not participate in all of the above.

Wow… I read quite a bit, but a lot of it is the scifi/fantasy mags I get, so there are a lot of short stories & novelettes. What portion of a full-size book does one issue of Asimov’s count as?? :-)

I have a yearly goal of fifty, and I keep track. I should be finishing book number sixty-two for 2009 later today.

I can do about 1100 pages a week, so I’m not sure what that adds up to. I read out loud to my 3 month old. I’d die without feeding my brain!!

@MacBean ” If you have to ask the price of something , you cannot afford it.”

This is my poor twist on my concern that in the end, we should be more concerned on the breadth and quality of what we read, rather than ‘count how much we read’. The 2, sometimes go together, but occasionally not. Some really focused , driven minds , while terribly bright and productive might not want any outside contamination to distract themselves from their quest..

I would guess over 8 per year. but then, my reading comes and goes in spurts (no seuxal innuendo there, okay?) I usually read historical works, or novels based on history (my recent book, The Indifferent Stars Above – Daniel James Brown, I’ve just started), and at other times, one of my two favorite fiction authors, Anne Rice and John Varley. I read mostly when I find the time. Winter is a good time for reading, or slow days at work.

I read at least two books a week, so over a hundred books a year. If I don’t have a new book to read, I’ll pick something from the many books stashed around the house to re-read. My latest reads were Revenge of the Spellmans (very funny), Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, and (currently) Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. I have The Year of the Flood around here somewhere, which is also by Margaret Atwood but I can’t find it or I’d be reading that right now.

I don’t have a lot of time for reading, so probably 4 a year. I just finished Choke, and am currently trying to decide what to read next.

I probably average 1–3 a week. If I include re-reading favorites and books in my library that I haven’t read in a while, more like 3–5 per week.

@virtualist: Thanks for your concern. I’ve always kept track of what/how much I read, and I started the 50-per-year goal when I realized that I’d easily topped that several years in a row and didn’t want to drop below it when depression/anxiety/agoraphobia started seriously affecting my ability to do anything even for fun. Do my hobbies and habits and the way I go about them meet your approval now that you know that?

@MacBean

I apologize. I was struck that, we were all starting to emphasize number over quality and I wanted to write to that point. You got caught because I realized that only after reading your post. I should not have addressed what I said to you , personally.

more than 30 per year.
This reminds me-I need to get new books.

@virtualist: No harm done. Sorry for snapping. I’m overtired and therefore oversensitive and really should not be Fluthering right now.

@ccrow I’d say Asimov’s counts as about ten books a year.

Before I got sick, I probably read fifty novels a year, two science fiction magazines, and one just plain undescribable magazine (which taught me how to ask questions), and the New Yorker.

Now I read only Asimov’s and perhaps one other novel per month. And the New Yorker.

And fluther. What does that count as?

I read a ton! I probably read a book a week…I’ve always loved reading…ever since I was a kid :) I hope I can pass the love of books on to my daughter!

@daloon: How exactly did getting sick affect your reading? Is it a loss of motivation or interest or a diminished attention span or what?

I definitely read more than 8 books in a year. It’s closer to 50, I think.

@MacBean What a good question! I think it is a combination. For one thing, I changed my interests—and starting participating obsessively in online question and answer sites. Also, I did have a diminished attention span. For some reason, being depressed made me seek out places where I could have contact with real people. I just couldn’t bring myself to stay away long enough to read.

However I have read a few novels in the last few months, so I feel a little better about this.

I wish it was more. Before grad school it was maybe 10–15, and now I’m lucky if it’s 3.

Hurm… I started grad school around the same time I started Fluther… I wonder which one I can blame?

What janbb said. I am never without several books (some novels, some non-fiction) and I listen to books on CDs to put me to sleep every night.

In my family, we grew up reading Life, Look, New Yorker, Sat. Evening Post, Colliers,two morning newspapers and, if desperate, the backs of cereal boxes.

I think it adds up to something like 50–150 a year for me.

Regarding the stats, notice that you do not know how the people who read “more than eight” are distributed. It is possible there is a gap between say 10 and 50, so that your theory that most people who read a lot really do read A LOT holds. :)

Jeez, not many, like…7? I wish I had time for more. I keep a stack in my room of books I’ve purchased that I’ve yet to get to. Definitely going to try to get a few done over Christmas and THanksgiving breaks.

I read about 20–30 books a year. Most are in series like Discworld or something so it keeps me interested :)

Zero

I’d say about 10–15 good length novels; however I read hundreds of children’s books in a year. I find them a great way to calm myself or lift my mood when I’m feeling down :) I’m one of the only women you’ll see in the “Kids Corner” wearing a full business suit giggling to the likes of Robert Munsch, Judy Blume and Roald Dahl. It’s a great way to end a stressful work day! – LB

I believe it is around 10–15 books as well.

I read at least 10–15 books like @terenced. I once read 7 in one week. Yes, I am a nerd.

probably around 15–25, depending, I never really keep track.

@IBERnineD: How can you possibly equate the love of reading to nerdiness? Think of how miraculous it is to translate those random dots, lines and curves to coherence? And think of the multitudes doing the same with Cyrillix, Sanscript, Hebrew, the Oriental ideograms, Arabic and all the languages I am unfamiliar with.

@IBERnineD don’t worry, nerds are sexy. ;)

@ABoyNamedBoobs03 Nerds are totally sexy!! I’m damn proud to be one! :D – LB

edit: Cyrillic (and throw in γρεεκ).

I’m guessing between 30 to 40 books a year.

I don’t think one can read too much, but I know I read too little. I am considering a Sony e-book reader, but I am not sure I would enjoy reading when I can’t flip pages.

I’d say about 1 book a month so about 12 books a year. Would love to read more, but hard with 2 jobs :(

If it’s for pleasure alone then probably about 15 to 20. Not as many as I’d like. If it’s for pleasure and school work then I don’t even want to count.

As many as I can get through in teh year, it depends how busy I am, or how into the book I am. I can read 1 book in a weekend and finish a second over the following week, sometimes it takes me 3 weeks to read a book, either because I just can’t get into it or I have no time!
Reading is one of my luxuries and I love reading in the bath!!

@sakura I like it too, but I don’t do it that often. I often just destroy the book with moisture while reading in the bath.

I usually end up dropping my fav one in the bath!!

I don’t usually count, but for some reason or other, I recently went through my LibraryThing account to figure out how many books I’ve read since the end of 2007. The number was in the mid-40’s, so I guess that puts my reading frequency at just over 20 books a year.

I have to say, I was shocked by that number. I’m a person that complains a lot about wanting to read more, so I expected that number to be much lower. I guess I’m sneaking it in without realizing it.

i depends how much good books appear a year.
I read about 50 if it’s a good year
About 20 if not.
I read science books,sci-fi books and thrillers

Somewhere between 10–20 a year. I’d read more if I had a tad more time…although right now I’m in the middle of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which technically contains five books….so I guess my number will go up! I think I’m going to invest in a Kindle, which is lighter and a little more conducive to me being able to throw it in my purse and read on the bus.

@gailcalled I call myself a nerd in the highest sense. Nerd has no bad connotation! :)
@ABoyNamedBoobs03 yes nerds are indeed sexy :)

Not as many as I’d like it to be.

I’ve participated in 50books a few times, and it’s always taken me about 6–8 months to do (as opposed to a full year). However, more recently, I’ve been reading a lot of fan fic, which cuts into my “real” reading time. And, like @knitfroggy, I’ve also been doing a lot of knitting recently (Christmas knitting, sigh).

If there was a library close by, I would definitely be reading more—unless it’s for class, a book rarely takes me more than a few days to read (and some really good ones take a day or less!).

@IBERnineD: Why not simply call yourself a reader? “Nerd” historically has some vague negative connotations.

@gailcalled Honestly growing up being a “Nerd” was a good thing, and was actually used as a term of endearment. Even in middle school and high school, if you were a nerd it wasn’t a bad thing. So, “historically” for me at least (I obviously can’t speak on behalf of your experiences) “nerd” is a great thing. Also I am a reader and a nerd. Not all “nerds” are readers.

When I was in grad school I only read 4 or 5 books a year for pleasure. It was hard to find that much time with attention for something other than my studies and my kids. Now it’s between 50–100 per year.

@MacBean: I keep track of what I read because I tend to forget titles. I remember stories. I can get a chapter into a book and then realize I’ve read it before. So, now I keep track so I can check.

This woman amazes me. I could never read that much, that fast, for that long.

@cyndyh I used to remember every book I read; now not so much. That is, I can remember if I read it and what it was about usually, but if someone asks me what I’ve been reading, I sometimes can’t remember. I’ve tried to keep a list lately, but I usually forget to put things on the list!

I always have a pile of books to read and a list on my Kindle. How many are for pleasure per year? Maybe 10–20. The rest are for parenting, homeschooling, or general knowledge.

I’d guess I read around 50 per year. Now I’m thinking I should keep track of it like @MacBean does maybe a journal for this purpose!

@oratio—the Sony e-reader looks like a good one. Have you tried a Nook at B&N yet?)

Another Great Question @cartman!

@janbb : I have to put things on the list before they go into the “back to the library” pile or the “reshelf this when you get around to it” pile or the “sell this” pile. It took a while, but it’s habit now.

Wow. You guys read a lot. I guess I just don’t have much time during college to read like that. Weekends are no good because Friday and Saturday are for hanging out and Sunday is for doing work. And then during November I have to write a book! Oh well…I will start a new one eventually…(I finished Stephen King’s It recently, which, mind you, was over 1000 pages).

@DominicX Once you’re out of school you’ll be able to read for pleasure more often. It helps ease the stress of the “real” world, when there is no longer “hang out” time available.

I love Stephen King. My fav read at your age was Misery

@gailcalled Я читаю много, но не русски книгa.

I actually I did a kids read along audiobook in Russian but there were an awful lot of words I didn’t know. I guess I should read it again since my Russian isn’t even at five year olds level any more :/

@DominicX

Sounds like we are both participating in NaNoWriMo. :D

@nxknxk

Yep :) http://www.fluther.com/disc/56781/who-is-signing-up-for-nanowrimo-2009/

@fundevogel
I think it should be: Русские книги

Being the Besserwisser

I love reading books in russian as well, Cartman!

@turtlegrrrl and I also love turtles :) Crazy about them and has been since I was a kid.

My bad, being a lousy besserwisser.

I should be: много русских книг, I just plain forgot the много

I should have said in and on russian, too. I love history, biographies, some languages (Spanish is WAY too difficult for me) and other nonfiction. Only the occasional novel. I’ve had & loved turtles since I was a kid as well, freshwater breeds especially, just wish they smelled a bit better :}

A year? When I first looked at your details I thought it was a monthly amount. I read between 2 and 4 books a month, so roughly 40 books a year.

I read absolutely nothing for leisure.

I average one book a week….

@fundevogel and @Cartman: Are you saying you read a lot of books in Russian or you don’t read any?

And what does besserwisser mean? Wiseguy?

много means “a little” which is generous way to describe the amount of Russian I read.

@Cartman I knew I was screwing something up. What case is that?

Everything I read is read “for pleasure.” I take pleasure in reading, whether I read to relax, or whether I read to learn. In the last few years, I’ve been reading about 90 books a year. Over the last 20 years, I’ve averaged in the neighborhood of 60 books per year.

Am I the only one who wants to know the name of the “undescribable magazine” that taught @daloon to ask questions?

@daloon—would you care to share the name of it? Do you think some of us might like to learn how to ask questions?

I have absolutly no idea! I usually start a new book every week or two so I read alot! Reading is fun! lol! :)

Well… i started my fourth for the week today…. and it’s only wednesday (a little faster than usual).... bu i’ll usually limit myself to about 5 within any given 7 day period.
do i qualify as a nerd now?

Nope. As I said, you qualify as a reader.

@fundevogel много means many. Don’t remember the cases.

I read somewhere between 50 and 60 books a year. Who was the sample for the study? and how many people were in the study? There would need to be a lot of data points for it to be a good survey and the number seem drastically low

@gailcalled yes, besserwisser = wiseguy, I’m not like that in real life. And no, unfortunately, I don’t read many books in Russian, I’m not sure I would be able to any more, my Russian has deteriorated into a sad state.
@fundevogel it’s genetive, and, to do it again, много meant a lot :)

Still haven’t read anything for leisure.

@Fred931 Ever?

@Cartman: Wow. That was a lucky guess. I am going to incorporate besserwisser into my armamentarium of lovely words. I like it much better than “know-it-all.”

@Fred931: You are missing out. Why do you not read for leisure?

one to two a week.

This is amazing…I considered myself a pretty heavy reader and I probably only finish in the neighborhood of 10 books a year. I have been reading The Known World since August and can’t seem to make much progress.

I tried to make a list just now and could only come up with 8 so far this year.

On the other hand, Google Reader tells me I’ve “read” 1,509 items in the last 30 days. Although some of those are just pictures or videos, and some I’ve just scrolled past so they’re marked as read.

And I read 50–100 pages of journal articles every week, which is agonizingly slow and takes probably 6 to 20 hours/week.

I read a LOT. And I buy most of my books, which is a terrible habit. I should be supporting my local library more.
Anyway. I read a lot of books about psychological problems. People suffering from bi-polar disorder, eating disorders, etc. Lots of fun for me :P

@pinkparaluies You can find good books at garage sales and thrift stores….

@nikipedia Ha ha! As we speak I have two books sitting on my deck which I will read when I go out to take a break. (I have two because I lost one for a while, so started another one, then found the first one.)

@nikipedia ”I considered myself a pretty heavy reader and I probably only finish in the neighborhood of 10 books a year.”

Maybe you still are. Are you reading Of Mice and Men-sized books or War and Peace-sized books? People were amazed at my book count one year, until I pointed out that I found a stack of old Goosebumps books that summer and read eleven of them in three days. They’re only 100–120 pages long, and written for kids. Typically, the books I read are three to four times that length.

@MacBean: I looked up the page counts for the 8 books I could remember and calculated the following statistics:

Range = 104 to 352 pages
Mean = 293 pages
Median = 312 pages
Mode = 304 pages
Standard deviation = 79.65.

Can you tell I really don’t feel like working right now?

@nikipedia GA for superb procrastination skills and general geekiness. Lurve!

I’ve read about 6 books so far this year. Not too many, but not too little. I’m okay with that.

@nikipedia If you’re still reading The Known World since August maybe it’s time to put it down. One thing I’ve given myself permission to do is give up on books and that is one I put down.

I just decided to get the condensed version of The Gulag Archipelago. Three huge volumes translated from the Russian, seemed overwhelming even for me, the masochist of reading.

@Likeradar Ever.

@gailcalled & @Cartman crap, I meant нeмного

@Fred931 Why?

My guess would be between 40 and 50! Give or take about 10!

Usually about one a week, so around 52 for me.

yeah, I’m probably in that last category too, though it basically depends on whether I find any interesting books to read that I haven’t already read (I never read a book twice as a rule). But it’s usually more than 1 a month, so maybe around 20 a year.

One book a week on the average.

I usually have a book or two that I’m reading, but lately I haven’t been reading much. Right now I’m probably reading about two books per month outside of classes.

But, I do have reading hiatuses every now and then. There was a week in August where I was completely and utterly alone in the woods for a week and a half, when I read several full length books per day.

I probably average something between 30 and 50 works of fiction, and between 10 and 20 nonfiction books for pleasure annually.

As many as possible.

I read them i don’t count them! lol
I don’t know the number, but I read all my books for pleasure!

Between work and pleasure it’s usually sixty or more, the work I know is maybe about six or seven per year. But just over august I read about twelve books.

twenty- thirty. I read one after the other,until I have to take a break for a few weeks.

I get through about 50 books a year although when i used to read the M&B romance books it would probably have been around the two hundred mark.
But i soon got bored with those, when you read one you’ve read them all came to mind very quickly.Lol

Around 50–80, depending on what I’m currently obsessing over (I typically read paperback mysteries quicker than hardcover histories, for example). I don’t feel right about my life unless I’m reading something.

About 15–20.

This made me think. I don’t count. :)

I’d like to revise the answer that I previously submitted in this thread. I think I’m going to be reading even more books now that I’ve recently purchased an Amazon Kindle. I have 50 books on it so far and I think I can get through all of them before 2011.

oh wow, it really depends, I love to read but I don’t read as often now as I did when I was younger, when I was still in high school I read about 19 books a month or so. But now maybe i’ll read 1 or 2 a month. I really need to set aside more time for reading.

Greetings and bon venue. I read as many fiction novels as I can get my hands on. it varies between 25–100 books.

I’ve literally read 113 books in the last 12 months. If I start to read a book and it bores me…I stop and read something else. Hence, I enjoy every book I finish.

more than 50 a year i know that

I still average a book a week…

Wow, I just came back to this @Cartman to say that when I’m in full swing homeschooling (as I am now) I read about 3–4 books per week.

Our son is 5 now. I read him about a 150–200pg book during schooling for the week, then another of similar size at bedtime each week. I read at least one book every 5 days.

This year I’ll definitely read more than 150. Of that, at least 90 will be “just for me”.

Everything I read is read for pleasure, even if it’s educational and/or nonfiction. I just love reading.

I read 97 books last year. That was a record for me. Average over the last six years has been about 81.

This year I set myself a goal of 20 (which seems pitiful) but I’m already over half way there I think.