How many books did you read last year?

[1981slater]

Please vote!

[FDG]

Around 30 I think...

[1981slater]

BTW, lingerie catalogs don't count as books

[silverchris9]

I think between 11 and 20. I mean, it depends on how you count poems, but I think between classes and fun, I read between 11 and 20. Also, I tend to find books I can skip around in. I rarely read cover-to-cover, except, obviously, novels, which you can pretty much only read cover-to-cover.

[Jarno]

6 to 10.

I only read books that add something to my knowledge and are not a waste of my precious time.

[krieger]

Beginning to end? None. Zero.

[Eldanen]

6 to 10.

I only read books that add something to my knowledge and are not a waste of my precious time.

No fiction? That's so sterile.

[Jarno]

No fiction? That's so sterile.

Sometimes I read true crime. For example "Chopper", about the australian psychopath.

edit: oh wait, that's no fiction either. Oke then you are right.

[Beautiful sky]

The last option is hilarious. I reread all the classics last year, that was my goal.

[1981slater]

No fiction? That's so sterile.

I understand what Jarno means, but you can learn lots of things from fiction books: Techno Thrillers, for instance are a source of interesting information. Romantic novels, on the other hand, may not be the best way of increasing our knowledge

[Brilliand]

Hmm, I put 11-20, but that's counting Donald Duck comics. I might've done something like 2, not counting those.

[Wynch]

I took this to mean fiction and non-fiction. I haven't had as much time to read novels lately () but if you combine the reading I do for school with the reading I do casually I've definitely read more than 20 books in the last year.

[Rubicon]

I started so many that I never finished. Probably read 2 or 3 all the way through.

[1981slater]

BTW, we are talking about "full" books.

I (I guess most of you too) read articles and chapters of books, of course. Together, they could count as a few more books.

[Wynch]

I understand what Jarno means, but you can learn lots of things from fiction books: Techno Thrillers, for instance are a source of interesting information. Romantic novels, on the other hand, may not be the best way of increasing our knowledge

You'd be surprised the kinds of interesting things you can learn from romance novels. While their plots are hilariously predictable, they often contain a few gems of interesting information.

[Rubicon]

I (I guess most of you too) read articles and chapters of books, of course. Together, they could count as a few more books.

[1981slater]

I took this to mean fiction and non-fiction.

Yes, and bad, useless books count too

[Rubicon]

You'd be surprised the kinds of interesting things you can learn from romance novels. While their plots are hilariously predictable, they often contain a few gems of interesting information.

lol.. I think "few" is the operative word there?

[1981slater]

You'd be surprised the kinds of interesting things you can learn from romance novels. While their plots are hilariously predictable, they often contain a few gems of interesting information.

pssst! let them read techno thrillers and let's keep cheap romantic novels under the radar!

[1981slater]

I started so many that I never finished. Probably read 2 or 3 all the way through.

I'm sure there is a relationship between users' answers/behaviour and temperament

[1981slater]

Who needs Chaos Theory when you can read the adventures of Jenna Jameson?

[munenori2]

I read 0.5 books last year.

[1981slater]

I read 0.5 books last year.

So basically you started it and decided to shift to the movie?

[1981slater]

So basically you started it and decided to shift to the movie?

All Jenna Jameson readers do the same

[munenori2]

lmao

[Wynch]

lol.. I think "few" is the operative word there?

The way I see it, if you've learned something from a romance novel, that's more than if you read nothing at all.

[Brilliand]

I frequently read fiction from middle to end, then start at the beginning and make up the difference.

[Aiss]

I frequently read fiction from middle to end, then start at the beginning and make up the difference.

I do that only if I really need to read the book, but it's deadly boring. This way I have to do some guesswork reading the second half, then read the beginning to check if I missed something.

[olduser]

I dont think i've ever started a book and not finished it. that's bizarre to me. I read probably a book every couple of weeks. Sometimes have dry spells. I also read my textbooks page to page and that is like 5 books worth reading in one.

[FDG]

I dont think i've ever started a book and not finished it. that's bizarre to me.

Yeah me too, even absolutely awful books, just can't help it. OH THE BURDEN OF RATIONAL TYPES or whatever.

[discojoe]

I am always, um... "simultaneously" reading several books at once. I find that, with history books, I retain more information if I am able to casually pick one up, read ten pages or so, then set it aside, than I do if I stick with just one book. It probably has something to do with ADD, because while it works well for me it also bothers me and offends my need to always neatly complete everything I start.

Right now I am reading:

The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene

Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories by John Updike

The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Balthasar Gracian

The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand

Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke

The Complete Sherlock Holmes

Plato

The Best of H.P. Lovecraft

The Second World War: A Complete History by Martin Gilbert (Almost done this one.)

The Golden Ratio by Mario Livio

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

The Classic Myths in English Literature and in Art by Charles Mills Gayley

The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith (Almost done this one too.)

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Wester Civilization by Anthony Esolen (The Politically Incorrect Guide series is a good way to balance out the bias in college textbooks.)

[FDG]

I am always, um... "simultaneously" reading several books at once. I find that, with history books, I retain more information if I am able to casually pick one up, read ten pages or so, then set it aside, than I do if I stick with just one book. It probably has something to do with ADD, because while it works well for me it also bothers me and offends my need to always neatly complete everything I start.

Yeah I usually do that too, although 5 years ago I've said to myself "no more than 3 books", and thus far I've been able to stick to that. I always finish them tho, sooner or later.

[Absurd]

Voted none because I don't remember.

[The Exception]

Yeah me too, even absolutely awful books, just can't help it. OH THE BURDEN OF RATIONAL TYPES or whatever.

I don't feel obligated to finish a book I don't like. There's been several books I started and gave up on. Sometimes I'll still want to know how it ends and I'll end up googling the plot line.

[The Exception]

I probably read somewhere around 100 books last year. I'm a librarian so that's not too surprising. I kind of have to be well read for my job.

If you count children's picture books, then you can triple that total. I have to keep abreast of children's literature and sometimes I'd do the storytimes when the youth services librarian was absent, so I'd go through piles of picture books deciding which ones to read.

The number of books read is inversely related to the time I spend on this forum.

[discojoe]

Yeah I usually do that too, although 5 years ago I've said to myself "no more than 3 books", and thus far I've been able to stick to that. I always finish them tho, sooner or later.

I wonder if it's a rational type thing (I think you are LSI like me, but we don't need to discuss that here): On the one hand, we want to finish everything we start, but on the other hand we don't think it's rational to read something we aren't fully enjoying, so it leads to a building up of unfinished books.

EDIT: I should have said "I wonder if it's an IJ thing."

[pinkcanary]

...

[jessica129]

I started two. I don't know if you'd even consider them worthy of being called books though. They're all specific information reads with a specific purpose for reading them. I dont see the fun in reading. Zero time, zero patience. Much rather be doing something.