How many books people read
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I was reading a bit about why Stevo thinks the Kindle won't go anywhere: because no one reads (as opposed to the real reason - it sucks and it's a lame device). Which I thought was a typical ridiculous comment from Jobs until I googled for more information. And lo and behold, what I found seems to back him up! Some of the stats claim that, in the U.S. at least, 1 in 4 haven't read a book at ALL in the last year. There was a similar statistic quoted for the UK. Is this in fact true? I find I read 20+ books a year. Granted it's a lot of Sci-Fi, but still, to not read, at all? I can't even comprehend that.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! VCF Blog
Well so far I've read about a dozen or so novels. I am voracious reader though I go in spurts. There are some months where I will only read one or two books and other months where I will read 20+. Most of my friends like to occassionally read, but my family is like me.
Some people sail through life on a bed of roses like a knife slicing through butter.
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Is that Horton hatches the egg ?
Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++ "also I don't think "TranslateOneToTwoBillion OneHundredAndFortySevenMillion FourHundredAndEightyThreeThousand SixHundredAndFortySeven()" is a very good choice for a function name" - SpacixOne ( offering help to someone who really needed it ) ( spaces added for the benefit of people running at < 1280x1024 )
Horton Hears a Who, I believe.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Kacee Giger wrote:
Dr. Seuss and the like count, I read about 500 books a year
Good for you! That's one place where my wife and I decided, in advance, to be as indulgent as possible. If my daughter asked to buy a toy or a piece of candy, the answer was often no. If she asked to buy a book or go to the library, the answer was almost always yes. As a result she's become a voracious reader, an excellent writer, and a pretty good student overall.
Software Zen:
delete this;I agree. My son (6) in 1st grade is reading at 3rd grade level and he's the youngest in the class. He and his friends are very much into collecting Pokemon cards at the moment and he has to read all the descriptions to them, because they either can't read it or can't be bothered to read it.
Sunrise Wallpaper Project | The StartPage Randomizer | The Windows Cheerleader
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I was reading a bit about why Stevo thinks the Kindle won't go anywhere: because no one reads (as opposed to the real reason - it sucks and it's a lame device). Which I thought was a typical ridiculous comment from Jobs until I googled for more information. And lo and behold, what I found seems to back him up! Some of the stats claim that, in the U.S. at least, 1 in 4 haven't read a book at ALL in the last year. There was a similar statistic quoted for the UK. Is this in fact true? I find I read 20+ books a year. Granted it's a lot of Sci-Fi, but still, to not read, at all? I can't even comprehend that.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! VCF Blog
I read tech books all the time but since I finished all the great science fiction authors I am left wanting for really good literature. Every once in a while I will pick up a Sci-Fi anthology but there selection is usually rather lame.
Need a C# Consultant? I'm available.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -- Ernest Hemingway -
I probably haven't read a book for 5 years. With three young children and long hours at work it's often difficult to find time to eat and sleep, let alone read. Of course, if Dr. Seuss and the like count, I read about 500 books a year.
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Horton Hears a Who, I believe.
Software Zen:
delete this;You get the '5' for the correct Horton reference.
:..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..
Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL -
I usually have three books in process at a time. One for the livingroom, one e-book in my office and one in the bedroom for last thing at night.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
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I read ~58 books in 2005. Even have the list; just haven't got around to putting it up on my site. 2006 and 2007 were far less prolific. I read ~15 each, but still more than one a month.
Cheers, Vikram.
"If a trend is truly global, then that trend ought to be visible across ANY subset of that data" - fat_boy
That sounds about right. I read lots of everything.
"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning." - Rick Cook "There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance." Ali ibn Abi Talib "Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri?"
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Oakman wrote:
I read about three books @ week - Mostly SF or Detective fiction.
Not retired (just yet, but within days) and have read 1 to 2 fiction novels a week for longer than I can remember. Wife reads more but she's a natural speed reader. Mostly police procedurals, legal novels, detective novels. During the cold war, read a lot of spy stuff.
Mike The NYT - my leftist brochure. Calling an illegal alien an “undocumented immigrant” is like calling a drug dealer an “unlicensed pharmacist”. God doesn't believe in atheists, therefore they don't exist.
Mike Gaskey wrote:
Wife reads more but she's a natural speed reader.
I was thinking after responding to this thread that how many books you read and even whether you enjoy reading is due, in large part, to how fast you read. I've been clocked at 620 wpm which means that, for me, an action novel is filled with as much excitement as a good FX-filled movie - and has the advantage of being available on my schedule. I've known and worked with folks who have a clocked speed of less than 100 wpm. Apparently they actually subvocalise while they read which slows them down to talking speed.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
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I can't comprehend how people don't read either. I'm constantly reading. Whether its horror, sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, etc., I just can't survive without books. But I know a lot of people who don't read books for fun at all and they blame mandatory reading projects in school for it. Personally, I found some great books through our summer reading lists and required book reports.
Have faith in yourself; amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic.
Let me help you understand why I don't read for fun. Look at all the other activities I can do. Exercise Make Beer Drink Beer Play Video Games Have Quality Time with the wife Kayak Clean my house Cook Eat Play with the dogs Program Surf internet and or masturbate watch a movie Target shoot with my shotgun ride my bike hike smoke something make beef jerky clean my car garden post in the lounge on codeproject There are so many things to do that are more fun than reading. That is why I don't read for fun.
I didn't get any requirements for the signature
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My average is probably closer to 4/week than 3, and I'm working. While out of work after college I was probably closer to 10/week, maybe even more. Baen's probably responsible for at least half of my new acquisitions. Not the free library though, I'm one of the suckersfans who buy the $15 ebooks of major titles a few months before release instead of waiting for the cheaper ebook or treeware versions.
But I like exploding spaceships.:cool:Otherwise [Microsoft is] toast in the long term no matter how much money they've got. They would be already if the Linux community didn't have it's head so firmly up it's own command line buffer that it looks like taking 15 years to find the desktop. -- Matthew Faithfull
dan neely wrote:
My average is probably closer to 4/week than 3, and I'm working
I think I'd be higher, but I've developed cataracts which aren't bad enough to force an operation yet, but are bad enough to make it a little harder to focus.
dan neely wrote:
Baen's probably responsible for at least half of my new acquisitions. Not the free library though, I'm one of the suckersfans who buy the $15 ebooks of major titles a few months before release instead of waiting for the cheaper ebook or treeware versions.
Thats where working has an advantage over retirement. I still buy books and just picked up Ringo's latest from Baen, but the days of buying the hardbounds are gone for me, I am afraid.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
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Oakman wrote:
I usually have three books in process at a time.
Nothing for the "reading" room? You know, that one with the porcelin throne in it? :)
Mike Poz
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I read tech books all the time but since I finished all the great science fiction authors I am left wanting for really good literature. Every once in a while I will pick up a Sci-Fi anthology but there selection is usually rather lame.
Need a C# Consultant? I'm available.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -- Ernest HemingwayTry picking up some of the Eric Flint or John Ringo books from Baen. Or John Birmingham's "Axis of Time" trilogy.I used to feel that no-one could match the great ones of the past, but some of the new guys have got a lot going for them.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
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Let me help you understand why I don't read for fun. Look at all the other activities I can do. Exercise Make Beer Drink Beer Play Video Games Have Quality Time with the wife Kayak Clean my house Cook Eat Play with the dogs Program Surf internet and or masturbate watch a movie Target shoot with my shotgun ride my bike hike smoke something make beef jerky clean my car garden post in the lounge on codeproject There are so many things to do that are more fun than reading. That is why I don't read for fun.
I didn't get any requirements for the signature
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From September of last year till just this past week, I've gone through at least 20 books, probably more. And I've been muddling through the first study book for my MCPD for about three months now (it's so boring!)
Please don't bother me... I'm hacking right now. Don't look at me like that - doesn't anybody remember what "hacking" really means? :sigh:
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Mike Gaskey wrote:
Wife reads more but she's a natural speed reader.
I was thinking after responding to this thread that how many books you read and even whether you enjoy reading is due, in large part, to how fast you read. I've been clocked at 620 wpm which means that, for me, an action novel is filled with as much excitement as a good FX-filled movie - and has the advantage of being available on my schedule. I've known and worked with folks who have a clocked speed of less than 100 wpm. Apparently they actually subvocalise while they read which slows them down to talking speed.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
-
I was reading a bit about why Stevo thinks the Kindle won't go anywhere: because no one reads (as opposed to the real reason - it sucks and it's a lame device). Which I thought was a typical ridiculous comment from Jobs until I googled for more information. And lo and behold, what I found seems to back him up! Some of the stats claim that, in the U.S. at least, 1 in 4 haven't read a book at ALL in the last year. There was a similar statistic quoted for the UK. Is this in fact true? I find I read 20+ books a year. Granted it's a lot of Sci-Fi, but still, to not read, at all? I can't even comprehend that.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! VCF Blog
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I was reading a bit about why Stevo thinks the Kindle won't go anywhere: because no one reads (as opposed to the real reason - it sucks and it's a lame device). Which I thought was a typical ridiculous comment from Jobs until I googled for more information. And lo and behold, what I found seems to back him up! Some of the stats claim that, in the U.S. at least, 1 in 4 haven't read a book at ALL in the last year. There was a similar statistic quoted for the UK. Is this in fact true? I find I read 20+ books a year. Granted it's a lot of Sci-Fi, but still, to not read, at all? I can't even comprehend that.
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! VCF Blog
Depending on the book (and type), I can easily get through about 100 books a year. I read a lot of technical books, but my fiction tastes are very far ranging, from crime through science fiction, fantasy to Jeeves & Wooster and historical/scientific books.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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I like how sleep didn't make it onto the list. That's how we know you belong on CP: no time/use for sleep.
Have faith in yourself; amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic.
You speak truth. *** time for another cup of coffee.
I didn't get any requirements for the signature
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Mike Gaskey wrote:
Wife reads more but she's a natural speed reader.
I was thinking after responding to this thread that how many books you read and even whether you enjoy reading is due, in large part, to how fast you read. I've been clocked at 620 wpm which means that, for me, an action novel is filled with as much excitement as a good FX-filled movie - and has the advantage of being available on my schedule. I've known and worked with folks who have a clocked speed of less than 100 wpm. Apparently they actually subvocalise while they read which slows them down to talking speed.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface
Not sure what my rate in words/min is, but I typically do 65-80 pages/hour reading fiction in mass market paperback format. Depending on the writing style and lines/page anywhere between 50 and 110 isn't totally unheard of. Nonfic tends to be around 40 or 50pph.
Otherwise [Microsoft is] toast in the long term no matter how much money they've got. They would be already if the Linux community didn't have it's head so firmly up it's own command line buffer that it looks like taking 15 years to find the desktop. -- Matthew Faithfull