• How Many Books Have You Read?

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 7:47 pm**

I run a second hand book exchange in my spare time and I meet a lot of people who tell me they don't have the time to read.

I just wondered how many books people think they've actually read?

Less than 10?
More than 50?
More than a 100?

Thank you.

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 7:55 pm**

Thousands and thousands.

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 7:58 pm**

Well over a thousand, but that is one of the benefits of a lengthy commute for the last 30 years.

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 7:58 pm**

More than 50 but maybe not quite 100.I've not been in a reading mood for quite a while but the wife is still a regular reader and enjoys a good browse in bookshops/stalls and often exchanges books
Is this book exchange local to Burnley?

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:01 pm**

Well over a hundred..maybe over a thousand ..

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:06 pm**

Probably around 50.

Ain't read a new book in years.

It's travel writing for me

(I gave up buying most of them when I stopped falling for "funnier/edgier than Bryson" on the back of every one... Only Peter Moore ever came close)

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:07 pm**

well in excess of 5k

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:08 pm**

One a week or so for the last 30 years.

Just started "Out of the Silent Planet' by CS Lewis this AM.

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:12 pm**

Certainly in the thousands

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:13 pm**

Into the hundreds, not including the ones I've read several times.

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:19 pm**

Probably under 50 - which is odd as I don't mind reading and retain a lot of random facts but my mind just wanders and it takes me about 3 months to read a book.

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:26 pm**

I've actually got here around 300 books, some of which I haven't read. I would guess I have read treble that. So say 1,000. I'm 64 years old but didn't start reading properly until around 20, so that's 23 a year/one a fortnight. That sounds about right as I often read heavy going books on historical or science subjects.

I've read very few books more than once. Two of my favourites that I've read multiple times are:

One of Our Submarines by Edward Young

The Worlds of Robert F Young

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:34 pm**

Hundreds, but I only came to reading quite late in life. My wife is a very big reader and EVENTUALLY I decided if you can't beat 'em......We don't tend to enjoy the same kinds of books so rarely swap, but that's not an issue. "Stoner" by John Williams and "The Devil All the Time" by Donald Ray Pollock are my 2 favourites so far. Both totally amazing in very different ways.

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:37 pm**

Zero
Last book I attempted was when I was 11 years old, and laid up ill, it was Digby the Biggest Dog in the World, I got better when I'd read around half of it,in 4 days,.I have not attempted to read a book since.
I can't concentrate enough to read full newspaper articles, my mind goes off at a tangent but I can get the gist of most stories by the headline, the first paragraph, highlighted bullet points pictures and the final few lines.
I have an English literature O'level and was often praised for good comprehension.
I can handle fact based literature and current affairs to a degree, but fiction would render me comatose in minutes, daren't even attempt it.
Conversely I can study number based articles for hours.

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:39 pm**

Thousands. I am not happy unless I have about 20 books waiting to be read. The idea of not having a book to read is scary.

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:42 pm**

Well up in to the thousands
Cant imagine not having a book to read.

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 9:28 pm**

0 well not properly

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 9:37 pm**

More than a 100 if I include all from school that I need to read

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 9:38 pm**

Couldn't tell you.

I've got 3-4 different books on the go at anyone time usually and now after getting the Kindle and phone app last year I read more than I've ever done before.
I've read 20-30 books just this year so far.

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 9:43 pm**

Thousand's....
I must actually own a thousand plus, too.
Though never thought to count.

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 10:18 pm**

Thousands, always 3 or 4 on the go
Read some books numerous times
One of life's greatest pleasures

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2017 10:28 pm**

Plenty of auto biographys and football story violence books but no proper ones.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:07 am**

Not a clue but it has to be a lot.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:14 am**

100+ definitely, probably 1000+
My reading habits have changed over the years. Something like : Kids fiction - popular adult fiction - science fiction - English/US/European "literature" - biography/historical - sport - political - music - scientific.
I read less books nowadays but plenty of newspapers/mags/internet articles etc.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:17 am**

Not many, but I've coloured in quite a few.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:45 am**

Did a degree some years ago that cured my appetite for reading.

Now, as the song goes, "I get all the news I need from the weather report"

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:58 am**

A lot

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:14 am**

Hundreds.
Of thousands.
I read about three a week.

My all time favourites are the Aubrey Maturin novels, I read the entire series about once every two or three years.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:23 am**

Thousands, though have to agree with Ralph as well.

Didn't pick up a history book for a couple of years after finishing my history degree, but back on the saddle now.

Just finished "Shattered Sword", which is about the Battle of Midway and next on my list is "Where the Iron Crosses Grow" which is about the Crimea in World War II.

and for the lighter stuff "The Mask of Command" which is a historical novel set towards the end of the Roman Empire in the West. V Good as well, fourth in a series as well.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:27 am**

Not sure how many Ive read I know get them on my Amazon fire both paid for and from lancashire Library possibly read 3 per month, but also play chess and backgammon on the fire too,
I have 4 banana boxes in my loft with books i have read with several hundreds if not thousand of books,
Used to go to book stalls, exchange shops , WH Smiths and odd ones from Waterstones.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:56 am**

Not many, I'd say under 50 ( if you mean proper books ) Too busy at this moment in my life.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 9:32 am**

I did an A to Z on wiki of book titles, one rainy weekend, when my computer had a volume problem.

My counts about 320, but I like to reread the classics. I've read Gone with the Wind twice but I've never seen the film in it's entirity. Part two is mega boring in comparison to the novel.

I've read quite a lot of Russian stuff, similar in volume to 'War and Peace'

but not for a while.

Gettng ready to reread "The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler, an absolute must read.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 9:42 am**

halfmanhalfbiscuit wrote:I run a second hand book exchange in my spare time and I meet a lot of people who tell me they don't have the time to read.

I just wondered how many books people think they've actually read?

Less than 10?
More than 50?
More than a 100?

Thank you.

Probably nearer a thousand mate. I used to have two/three books on the go at once depending on my mood. I don't read that many now and when I do it's often online (now that you won't want to hear I'm sure).

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 9:45 am**

halfmanhalfbiscuit

I see you are named after an excellent band by the way (Why Do All Gargolyes Look Like Bob Todd; The Trumpton Riots - classics).

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 9:49 am**

RalphCoatesComb wrote:Did a degree some years ago that cured my appetite for reading.

Now, as the song goes, "I get all the news I need from the weather report"

Are you the only living boy in New York?

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:26 am**

Not as many as I should have. Only really read on holiday and mainly an autobiography or football related book. Just this minute finished Richard Branson's whilst toasting in Paphos!

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:34 am**

I've read hundreds of books but don't read as much as I'd like these days as I have a fairly long drive to and from work at the moment. It takes me a week to wade through 'Private Eye'.

I read a lot when I'm on holiday. I had 2 weeks away this year and took 2 good-sized books with me - went through both of them in the first week.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:37 am**

boiledclaret wrote:I did an A to Z on wiki of book titles, one rainy weekend, when my computer had a volume problem.

My counts about 320, but I like to reread the classics. I've read Gone with the Wind twice but I've never seen the film in it's entirety. Part two is mega boring in comparison to the novel.

I've read quite a lot of Russian stuff, similar in volume to 'War and Peace' but not for a while.

Gettng ready to reread "The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler, an absolute must read.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 10:43 am**

Ooops, don't know what I did with the previous post.

midlander63 wrote:I've read hundreds of books but don't read as much as I'd like these days as I have a fairly long drive to and from work at the moment.

Audio books, maybe? although might be tricky when driving.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:24 am**

houseboy wrote:Are you the only living boy in New York?

Went to the Old York once. We WON !!!

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:28 pm**

Interesting to see so many people say they've read thousands and thousands, when even the poster whose reading habits were a book a week for 30 years still only adds up to 1,560.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 2:58 pm**

UpTheBeehole wrote:Interesting to see so many people say they've read thousands and thousands, when even the poster whose reading habits were a book a week for 30 years still only adds up to 1,560.

Is UptheBeehole a euphemism?

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 5:30 pm**

Where is this book exchange, and do you want some books?

I get lots of books to dispose of from time to time at work, and at the moment have boxes of the things in my garage from one estate that I didn't want to throw out without trying to find a good home for.

The woman had (inter alia) about 100 cook books (some of which I have found a good home for). When I asked how it was that she didn't have an occasional grubby page near the recipes that she liked, I was told that she couldn't cook - she just liked looking at the pictures.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 5:57 pm**

100+

I read in bed most nights until I start to doze off and the iPad drops onto my face.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 6:06 pm**

A year or so I wondered this (and also got bored of starting books which I'd actually read 5 years ago and having a nagging feeling it was familiar) and set up an account on Goodreads to keep track. I'm currently reading my 40th book of the year which I reckon is a bit lower than previous years.

As I've got older I think my reading has got more lightweight, more fiction to relax after a day at work. Virtually all my reading is now on a Kindle although I try to stay away from the trap of reading terrible books just because they're 99p.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:14 pm**

I have been an avid reader from an early age and have maybe read nearly every day in some form or other. I had the Bible in Pictures in the early 60's both Old and New Testaments and it was far better than the Hotspur or Valiant.

I read on my Kindle mostly now and although it is probably your 'enemy' I find it to be a wonderful invention. Kindle Unlimited membership means I haven't been in a Library now for around 2 years.

I have probably read 1500+ books since I learnt to read but it's hard to quantify.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:37 pm**

Difficult to put a number on it, somewhere between 2 and 3 thousand, we have 12 Billy bookcases dotted about the house everyone packed with books.
My daughter who is 12 reckons she has read close to a thousand books!

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:29 pm**

Both of mine twice.

Posted: **Fri Nov 17, 2017 12:18 am**

You can never read enough books. I used to keep them but they take over your house so now give them to charity shops which is where I usually buy my next one. current book, Leonard Cohen biography while re-reading Spike milligans trilogy of his war effort.

Posted: **Sat Nov 18, 2017 7:03 am**

Thanks for all the replies. It's interesting how many books people have read.
I started my book exchange as I discovered people had been throwing away and even burning books.
It's more a recycling project than anything else. I don't have a set rule of 2 for 1 or anything like that. People give me books and take away books. If people have no money, they can happily take a book for free. It balances itself out.

If you read 10 pages a day - roughly ten minutes - over the year you'll read end up reading something like 10 books.
Think about how much TV people watch, or how much time they'll spend on the internet, or just looking at their phone.
We can all find ten minutes.

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