How Many Books Do You Read?

[delboy]

Was just flicking through some author websites when I discovered that Nicolas Sparks reads over 100 books a year every year. I can recall Stephen King and Dean Koontz both producing very long lists of novels they'd read in particular years, and just about every book I've ever seen on writing says in order to write successfully one must read, read, read. I absolutely agree with this, and luckily I adore reading. But 100 books a year? I reckon on reading about a book a fortnight, but it only takes a bit of a weighty tome to bring my average way down. Maybe I'm a slow reader - but two books a week? I might manage it if I gave up writing (and everything else) - but that would kind of defeat the purpose. When I was a kid I could read a book in a day, but such occasions (free days) are rare beasts as one gets older. How much does everyone else read?

For interest (or, at least, ofr the record) this years book list (excluding non-fiction) looks like this:

The Lonely Silver Rain - John D MacDonald
Rat Race - Dick Francis
Severed - Simon Kernick
Playback - Raymond Chandler
Stand by, Stand by - Chris Ryan
A Key To The Suite - John D MacDonald
Crusaders Cross - James Lee Burke
Evening In Byzantium - Irwin Shaw
Promised Land - Robert B Parker
The Thin Red Line - James Jones
The Friends Of Eddie Coyle - George V Higgins
Dead Cert - Dick Francis
Leaving Cheyenne - Larry McMurtry
The New Girl - Emily Perkins
Resolution - Robert B Parker
Frenchman's Creek - Daphne Du Maurier
Moonfleet - J Mead Falkner
Blood On The Moon - James Ellroy
Risk - Dick Francis
Roadside Picnic - Boris & Arcady Strugatsky
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Cell - Stephen King
A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

Kind regards,
Derek

[Grillmeat]

I'm probably good for one or two books a month. I read the paper regularly and trade journals but I can't seem to find the time to actually sit down and read anymore--very sad.
I used to read 4-5 books a week but that was before the wife, the kids, the mortgage etc........

[Rook]

First off, I think non-fiction, depending on the subject, should count. Second, I wish could remember which books I read this year!

I am a quick reader, and if I don't read two books every week, there are more than a few where I read five or six. Not all of them are difficult, or long, but, I'd say I am a prolific reader. I'm counting re-reads, too-- though if it's been more than two years, it might as well be a new book-- I have a crappy and sporadic memory. 

If I recall accurately, in 'On Writing', Stephen King says he is a slow reader, but he listens to a lot of his reading on tape. That would make it easier to find the time to do it. There are a lot of chores that require one's hands and eyes, but not one's mind.

Personally though, I don't like books on tape, perhaps because I am a speedy reader. I become annoyed at the drama some try to instill, and I like to control how quickly I process the information. -- And I just like the written word.

I don't have even a close estimate, but I would guess it to be close to a hundred, if not more.

But I am single, without any kids... have a minimal social life... 

I've recently cut out a large amount of TV time, too. I'm down to my real vice, 'Criminal Minds', and some PBS. Damn the addictive talking box...

[Rev. Austin]

Most of my reading this year has been the anthologies I'm in, not to mention all the stories I've had submitted for anthos I'm editing, so I guess they count.  I read King and Straub's Black House recently, and earlier this year I read a bunch of graphic novels (the latest Walking Dead and one of the Marvel Zombies).  When I was with my ex I used to pop in the Waterstones in Nottingham and pick something new up every other week (she was remarkably patient with me  ) and/or Geoff Blore's Bookshop, but since I no longer go to Nottingham on a regular basis I'm stuck with the Scunthorpe branch of WHSmith, which is rubbish, and the local library, which I've already exhausted (in terms of books I'm particularly bothered about).  And we don't have any second-hand bookshops, which is even worse.

[delboy]

Thinking about it the CD comp probably constituted a novel's worth of reading, too!

[Cory Cramer]

My goal this year was to read 50 books. So far I'm on book 41 and will probably end up somewhere around 45, not including  70-100 short story reads. Considering the length of some of these books (I'm reading Anna Karenina now, and it's around 900 pages.) I feel pretty good about what I've read this year. I'm hoping to round the year out with some shorter works:

Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and
The Awakening by Kate Chopin

[jingold]

A few years ago, when I worked at Borders, it was around 5 books a week.  I'm a fast reader and can usually read a book in one sitting.  The bad thing is that I probably bought more books each week than I could read!  I didn't write as much then, though.  Now it's down to about two per week, not including short stories.

[delph_ambi]

I don't read as much as I should. Weeks go by when I only read stuff on forums, and whilst some of that is superb stuff, much simply isn't, and when I pick up a 'real' book again, I think, "Bloody hell, THIS is how to write!". And then I get stuck in and read fabulous writing for a few weeks with the result that I write some of my best poetry, but then I get distracted by forum stuff and I forget to read again.

[Caz]

I reckon I read a 400-500 page book in about a fortnight. Not a fast reader but not that slow at a guess. Started off the year with King's 'Under The Dome' - took a bit longer than a fortnight that one. Had a bit of a thing for John Wyndham at one point and... I can't remember what else I've read. Memory, it sure is foggy in here.  

[Ed]

Since my work situation changed, I haven't been reading anything -- I just don't have the time, and in my free time I'm either too tired to read (or write) or I have other commitments to attend to. I don't watch any tv either. Only Criminal Minds, in bed, as I drift off to sleep. Don't think I've ever watched the end of one, come to think of it.

The only time I read anything lately is when I'm on holiday. Then I generally read two or three in a fortnight.

Interestingly (for me at least), when I was at the WHC in Brighton earlier in the year, I listened to a panel discussion on the state of reading, and one of the panel (Tanith Lee) said she absolutely never reads anything in the genre she writes in. Reason being, she's afraid she might accidentally plagiarise something. I know that feeling myself. There have been times when I've written something that I think in hindsight seems familiar, like I might have read it before somewhere else. Hopefully it's just me being paranoid, but I can't be 100% sure.

[Rev. Austin]

That seems a little bit daft - it's like being in a band (hello!) and not listening to any bands who make the music you do.  Of course it's possible, but I take the opposite viewpoint of wanting to know if I've inadvertently ripped something off (then you don't spend ages trying to convince people you've never heard/read/seen whatever it is your thing is similar to).  Plus, it's like that old adage (I'm paraphrasing) "The mark of a good musician/writer/artist is knowing which bits to nick" 

[Rook]

That seems a little bit daft - it's like being in a band (hello!) and not listening to any bands who make the music you do.  Of course it's possible, but I take the opposite viewpoint of wanting to know if I've inadvertently ripped something off (then you don't spend ages trying to convince people you've never heard/read/seen whatever it is your thing is similar to).  Plus, it's like that old adage (I'm paraphrasing) "The mark of a good musician/writer/artist is knowing which bits to nick" 

I agree. There are only so many songs/stories/phrases in the world; if you aren't looking at what's out there, how can you know when you've stumbled into kicking a dead horse?

Besides, you would be missing out on a lot of great things. You'd think her editor would keep an eye on that for her, if she has a tendency to do it. 

[Pharosian]

I don't read as much as I should, either, but I manage to increase my book count by listening to audiobooks. While there are a few (very few, I think) terrible narrators out there, I'm usually impressed with the ones I listen to. Notable examples were Heart-Shaped Box, Across the Nightingale Floor (and its sequels), The Host, The Secret Life of Bees, Sharp Objects, and Dark Places. Oh, and the early books in the Janet Evanovich series narrated by C.J. Critt.

An unskilled narrator absolutely wrecks the book. Scott Brick is one of the most prolific narrators, and he does a good job, especially when foreign accents are involved, but he has a verbal "tic" that drives me nuts; when he narrates questions, his inflection is weird.

My drive back and forth to work isn't very long--only about 15 minutes--so it takes me a while to get through a book that way. I guess I'm a medium-speed reader of books on paper. It usually takes me two days to get through a book if I read at the weekend, and maybe 3 if I read during the week--except I'm apt to get so engrossed that I stay up until the VERY wee hours of the morning to finish and get up after 3 1/2 hours' sleep feeling awful. But I don't seem to learn any better. 

I'm guessing my annual count is around two dozen, but I don't have an accurate count.

[Bec]

I used to read a lot more before I had kids. Nowadays my attention span isn't what it was... hang on, it was never that good back then either...  

I recently read a whole Guy N Smith book in less than 24 hours - but it was a small book and gripping, and I didn't get much else done. But these days I normally fit in reading in a few mins here and there - I usually leave a book/mag lying around in the kitchen so I can read a bit while I'm burning cooking dinner.

I'm currently reading Geoff Nelder's Hot Air on my computer - it's good.  

[starktheground]

I usually read 2 to 3 books a week, but for some reason whenever I'm pregnant I can't focus for very long.  I'll be reading and the next thing I know ten minutes have passed and I'm on the same page, thinking about something inane and unrelated to the book! So, right now, I'm reading about a book every 2-3 weeks. At least I'm saving a little money, I guess!