How many books people read
-
i'm the son of an English professor, how could i not be?! :)
I'll be that has its downsides too.
regards, Paul Watson Ireland & South Africa
Fernando A. Gomez F. wrote:
At least he achieved immortality for a few years.
-
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 perpetually read online (on any given day I read at least a couple hundred pages worth of text), but I haven't read a complete book (that is, more than a chapter here and there, or for reference, and excluding manuals/magazines/etc since I seldom read all of them) in at least 8 years (when I was in school and had required reading). I read some short stories 3 or 4 years ago from a couple compilations when I was bored at the house of someone that maintained a small personal library, but that was mainly because I didn't have a computer. I couldn't say with absolute certainty whether or not I've read a book in digital form in that time, because it wouldn't register as a book in my mind. Curiouser-still: I don't own a TV, which seems to amaze people more than the lack of books.
-
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
I agree with except I have fun reading programming books, but other non-technical books stand no chance with me.
-
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
Oakman wrote:
I was thinking ....
Good point. I think my reading speed may be a function of what I'm reading. A thriller as you've described goes quickly. I don't sit a read for long periods of time, what I do is squeeze in some reading when I can. I typically read myself to sleep and something like say a Vince Flynn book is done far faster than a Creighton novel. I just finished, "Next". I enjoyed it but it wasn't a page turner for me so it took around 4 days. Flynn or maybe a Jack Reacher goes in 2. On vacation I'll go through a novel a day but I'm selective and sort of save up favorite authors for the trip.
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.
-
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
Most people I know just don't read, or if they do, they read mind numbing best sellers. I generally read a book a week. That's actually way down from when I was a teenager, when I read 3 a week (when I had no life). I also read a bunch of magazines and online articles. It helps that I read very fast with full comprehension. Most of what I read is fiction, but not all of it. I read technical manuals, of course, and history. Every once in awhile I'll pick up something unusual, like a biography or a graphic novel. I tend not to discuss books with most of my friends, since barely 50% of them actually even read the news on a daily basis.
-
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
-
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
:laugh: You were the only one to admit that you are not a Reader.
Do we weigh less at high tide?
-
I agree - I read a lot of history, and stuff to do with brain science. I don't read any fiction at all, the closest I get is rock star bios from time to time ( read the Slash and Nikki Sixx books recently ). I would easily read 50-60 books in a year. I find it really frustrating when I have no new books to read.
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 )
-
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 believe the problem lies in the question. "How many BOOKS do you read". So they mean paper created books. The younger generation is growing up reading everything online: Newspapers, magazines, research articles, as well as books. They obviously like the Facebook type sites and one has to read the text of their friends all the time. The question should be phrased as "How many works by a publishing company do you read?". This would included all the above, but exclude blogs and Facebook type sites. You would also need to ask in terms of time, and then number of works. Most people will know time, but not numbers of works. I read voraciously all the time. A lot is on the internet, mostly computer related or science related items. Paper based materials would be about 12-20 per year for books, and about the same for magazines. However magazines are "scanned" for information, meaning I don't normally read it cover to cover.
-
i read 10/year, probably.
-
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
Dude, we are in 21 century - flooded with information; who cares about amount of reading??? The real question is how much we think or how much you write. A. Jann.
-
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
Could it be that some people are just too busy to read? Take me for example, I go to school, work full time, have a wife and two kids. Plus there's the house duties, family (extended) duties, and the social life. Doesn't leave that much time for reading? Then there's other interests? I love playing an old board game called Go[^], which is both stimulating and challenging. I play online with people all over the world. It's not that we don't have books - We have a nice library of books, so the issues isn't availability, it's just maybe some people are different? Or is it our culture, were information seems more important at times then books. With blogs, forums, and web chats, where the flow of information is more in flux and sometimes instantaneous, the average book can become quite out-dated? My 2-cents, Jeremiah
-
ROTFL - I know what you mean. My daughter wanted 'one fish two fish red fish blue fish' so often, I can quote most of it. I find I can't get to sleep easily unless I read for a half hour, that's where most of my reading occurs. Watching TV or a computer is the worst thing you can do just before bed.
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 )
-
I perpetually read online (on any given day I read at least a couple hundred pages worth of text), but I haven't read a complete book (that is, more than a chapter here and there, or for reference, and excluding manuals/magazines/etc since I seldom read all of them) in at least 8 years (when I was in school and had required reading). I read some short stories 3 or 4 years ago from a couple compilations when I was bored at the house of someone that maintained a small personal library, but that was mainly because I didn't have a computer. I couldn't say with absolute certainty whether or not I've read a book in digital form in that time, because it wouldn't register as a book in my mind. Curiouser-still: I don't own a TV, which seems to amaze people more than the lack of books.
So, is the point about reading to be informed or just for pleasure or both? I guess I read to be informed, whether about technology, politics, religion, etc. I rarely read for pleasure, not much time?
-
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
How old are you? I would be willing to bet you were born ~before~ 1988. I know I read all of the time (born 1965) and so does my wife... but my kid's peers (circa 2000 and 2001) would rather play on their video games and watch TV and they have a short attention span. We are "forcing" our kids to read by having them sit and read as part of their homework for 30 minutes everyday... I don't know where this country is heading... but it is not a good place... we are one of the more illiterate, self-centered, in debt and morally bankrupt countries in the world. I pray that people start waking up and smell the coffee REAL SOON !
-
Could it be that some people are just too busy to read? Take me for example, I go to school, work full time, have a wife and two kids. Plus there's the house duties, family (extended) duties, and the social life. Doesn't leave that much time for reading? Then there's other interests? I love playing an old board game called Go[^], which is both stimulating and challenging. I play online with people all over the world. It's not that we don't have books - We have a nice library of books, so the issues isn't availability, it's just maybe some people are different? Or is it our culture, were information seems more important at times then books. With blogs, forums, and web chats, where the flow of information is more in flux and sometimes instantaneous, the average book can become quite out-dated? My 2-cents, Jeremiah
People make the time to do whatever it is they want to do. You for example make the time to play "go", you make the time for your family and social life. Believe me if you really wanted to read, you would find the time, just like you find the time to play "go"
-
Most people I know just don't read, or if they do, they read mind numbing best sellers. I generally read a book a week. That's actually way down from when I was a teenager, when I read 3 a week (when I had no life). I also read a bunch of magazines and online articles. It helps that I read very fast with full comprehension. Most of what I read is fiction, but not all of it. I read technical manuals, of course, and history. Every once in awhile I'll pick up something unusual, like a biography or a graphic novel. I tend not to discuss books with most of my friends, since barely 50% of them actually even read the news on a daily basis.
Is it that your friends can't read :) that you don't discuss books?
-
Is it that your friends can't read :) that you don't discuss books?
It's not that they can't read, they just don't. They are a bunch of TV addicts, mostly much older than me (in their 50's and 60's). My friends my age (I'm 35) are too busy drinking, working, and playing video games. Of course, that's not all of my friends. Two of my friends are published writers (and I am as well), and one of them is actually an award winning writer, and they are both readers. My best friend and I discuss books all the time, though we like very different things. He's more a short story anthology person, and I'm more a novel person.
modified on Friday, January 18, 2008 11:05:24 AM
-
I'm constantly reading. If I'm not eating lunch with someone (and I usually don't) I always have my nose in a book whilest consuming. Depending on the length of the books, I average 2 - 4 per month. Judy
I'm a fast reader. At an hour or two a day, I can go through 2-3 full-length novels per WEEK.
-
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