this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2023
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Thought for the day
How many books do you read per year?
Fiction / non-fiction doesn't matter.
I don't have a goal number; but try to get 1-2 per month. I also have a book club that I'm in, just a bunch of people from university, we "meet" on Signal and post our hot takes. Beyond books, I also read a lot of articles and papers, but generally avoid the "news".
I go on spurts of reading, and then not reading for a bit.
I used to always think that I didn't like reading, but I've now learned that I don't like reading Fiction, but really like reading Non-Fiction. I think because when you are at school, most of the prescribed reading is Fiction, I assumed I hated reading in general.
Now I'll read a handful of books a year, mostly in a row, then take a break for a bit until something piques my interest.
Now you’ve got an ereader I recommend dabbling in a bit of fiction! I also thought I didn’t like fiction until I found the things I actually enjoy reading. I particularly enjoy speculative/science fiction myself. Sometimes you find a book that you end up reading in a day or two because the story keeps you wanting to find out more. I liken it to watching TV or movies, but in my head.
School reading is always literary fiction, which is great but doesn’t really do it for me. I can see why it turns people off reading. I didn’t start reading regularly until after 30.
True. Come to think of it - I actually did do a bit of a fiction reading a few years ago, and that was the Dan Brown Series. Really enjoyed the fast pace of those.
I have a hard time looking at a fiction book, and making the decision whether I would enjoy it or not - seems more hit and miss than non-fiction for some reason to me.
I read a good mix of both fiction and nonfiction, but there was a moment of realisation where I understood why I don't get as immersed in fiction as others.
There's a wide range of ability to visualise things in your head. Some people I know can invent fantasy worlds and walk through them in their minds.
I'm far at the other end of the spectrum, with virtually no ability to "see" things in my mind, sometimes called aphantasia.
Others I've spoken to have been in disbelief. I've been asked how I get any joy from reading if I can't visualise the fantasy world. I think I enjoy reading fiction for other reasons, but I don't enjoy re-reading anything I've read before, and I enjoy nonfiction just as much as fiction.
Is there some kind of test to see if you have aphantasia?
I admit I sometimes have trouble and need to reread descriptive segments as I can’t picture it.
I think there are other reasons to enjoy fiction too, the plot lines or characters, sometimes just even the dialogue.
The word "aphantasia" is very recent, and I believe it's not a well studied area. I remember reading on the wikipedia page (though it's no longer there) that for one study they asked participants to visualise something specific and rate out of 10 how vividly they saw it in their mind - 2 or less was considered aphantasia.
On looking around at other sources, it seems some definitions require zero visualisation - if you can sort of vaguely see something then you don't have it. This is me, for the right thing and if I concentrate I can kinda see something.
I don't think there's any test. It's not well studied and doesn't seem to even be well defined.
Yes, I enjoy the plot and plot twists, empathising with characters, and yes clever dialog is always a bonus. But unlike others I know, I can't read a book twice. As soon as I recognise the plot it's just kinda boring to me, I guess because I'm not immersed in the world.
Ah that’s interesting.
I’m with you there, I haven’t re-read a book in years. There are just so many books out there to read, I’d rather look for something new.
I have aphantasia this is a good test.
My aphantasia is total, no visual/audio/taste/emotional sensation in my memory.
As for re-reading books, there are a few, Discworld being #1.
I got...
Hyperphantasia A unique thinking style characterized by an extraordinary ability to visualize, enabling a vivid and immersive inner world.
I can pretty clearly create images in my mind, but I just learned I really suck at doing people. Lake with mountains and trees? Well, what kind of trees? Little ripples in the wind or small waves? Snowy or rocky mountains? Easy as. My sister's face whom I just saw? ... uh... kinda?
My issue with tests like this is I'm asked to describe the image, but I do not know which of the options is correct. I can't say I can see a dim and flat image. I don't really "see" anything, but I kind of "know" the image. How does this compare to the normal experience? I have no way of knowing, so I have trouble putting myself on that scale.
I know it says that you only "know" you are thinking of the object, but it also says no image. I kind of "know" the image, in colour, but can't actually see it. It's so incredibly hard to describe!
When it starts asking about walking around and stuff, no, not even close to that.
My way of explaining this is; I know what an apple looks like but can't see it. I can rotate a block in my head but without an image. It is like there is an image but with a big black sheet in front, if the sheet were moved I'd see the image.
Ah that's interesting. I have a family member with complete aphantasia but they read almost entirely fiction for their personal reading. I think they are quite plot-focused as they can't picture characters or scenes.
I'm the other way, I get annoyed if someone in a book or a movie walks somewhere that doesn't correspond with the 3d map my brain has made of the space they are in based on previous information and/or laws of physics.
Over a hundred. If we count re-reading, then well over over a thousand.
But if we aren't counting books read to kids, then I aim for one a month and am doing pretty poorly these last few years. I did 10 last year and have finished 7 so far this year (another almost finished).
I read a mix of fiction and nonfiction, a mix of genre, and a mix of physical, ebooks, and audiobooks, though these days it's mostly ebooks.
If we count kids books.....wow my numbers look very impressive, 3 - 7 every night and some during the day....so many 1000's
Two of mine have moved to mostly (introductory) chapter books, so that affects the stats 😆. But then the three year old wants Mrs Wishy Washy over and over so that boosts my numbers!
If you count manga as well, according to my reader app I've read 315 books so far this year, with a total of 1,751 hours spent (= ~74days).
You've read on average over 5 hours a day? Is that typical for you or was this year abnormal due to having time off work?
Definitely abnormal due to having time off work this year. Now that I'm working fulltime, it's more like 1-2 hours a day, and 6-8 hours on weekends.
I used to average around 35 a year, them I got a Kobo subscription and churned through more than a hundred last year. This year I had to cancel Kobo and am sitting at 68 so far. It's mostly all fiction but I want to get into nonfiction next year as well.
I have Discworld on my list for next year, so there are 41 in that.
I'm mostly non-fiction these days. But I do like to mix it up.
I don't know. I don't understand how anyone can really keep track of how many books or movies they consume in a year. To be fair I learnt to read when I was 3 or 4 though so I'm fairly fast by most people's standards.
I guess I read a few a week? Ramping up to about 4 or 5 if I'm stuck in bed, but I re-read a lot and some of it is light fiction and very fast to read.
I used to have to read acres and acres of nonfiction for work, but nowadays I only do that if I feel like it, and I try to make myself slow down.
I live in spread sheets 😆
Also there's Bookworm.nz, if you want a federated goodreads type site. I track on there as well as the spread sheet.
I generally don't re-read, other than some parenting books I've re-read when the kids got older for a new perspective, but when I re-read I don't write it down again. I'm more tracking which books I've read.
You do seem to love spreadsheets!
I washed out of goodreads. Was thinking about trying again with bookworm but I don't think anything has changed with me so it probably won't stick.
Doesn't help that if you write a book review for local print you can get $20-$100 for it, so writing them for a website can feel like misplaced priorities. But I guess you could just input the book without commenting...
I just use it for tracking what I've read, I haven't written any detailed reviews.
I use goodreads.com. It helps me find new books/series. It keeps track of how many I read (150-200ish a year).
I made an account there once, but it felt too much like a chore to have to remember to input them and write about them all the time.
Also someone on there had given a book I was involved with 3 stars, which felt bad, so then I felt bad about rating things.
I like reading other people's reviews on there though, and getting ideas of things to read!
You have to be honest with your ratings or the book recommendations won't work for you. Early on, I was obviously too generous with 5-star ratings or something, because the site recommended I read the memoir of a young actress.
So I did. And it was bad. I guess if you liked the actress it would have been ok, but I wasn't a fan and didn't really care about her life. After that debacle, I've been honest with my ratings. I've given some wildly popular books bad ratings, and it helps the site improve. It's far better at predicting whether I'll like a book than it used to be.
So don't take a 3-star to heart. It could be a wonderful book, but just ok for that person.
True, thanks for reminding me of that. NZ is so small I recognised the person, which didn't help! Felt shy of them ever since.
I didn't realise the algorithm is that tailored and actually recommends things you would really like. I can see the point of that.
I was averaging around 30 per year, but have slowed down a lot in the last couple of years. I felt I was rushing a lot of books and would have a couple on the go at the same time. I try to read for enjoyment now, mainly fiction. Been awhile since I’ve read a good non-fiction book.
Try "atomic habits" or "the subtle art of not giving a fuck"
Thanks for the recs. I’ve heard of both of these, but I’m not very into self help books anymore. I’ve read a number of them over the years, eventually they all feel very much alike and don’t seem to bring anything new to the table.
If new stuff isn't to your taste; I would recommend Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and some of the early stoic philosophers.
The works of Epictetus are also worth a read.
Thanks again. I've read Meditations, Epictetus' Discourses and another work by Seneca I think? Albeit it's been awhile since I've read those. I'm finding as I get older I don't find reading philosophy all that interesting.
I think I prefer non-fiction based around subjects I'm interested in - Nature, science, astronomy or interesting events or history. The last non-fiction I read was Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
However, you've inspired me to find a non-fiction book to read once I've finished my current book.
That's two upvotes for Marcus Aurelius!!
I rarely read books and newspapers these days, prior 2010-2012 I still read them. Over time, a number of publishers went out of business.
Since pandemic I read webtoons mostly. In a single day I can read 4-5 webtoons with 1-10 chapters each webtoon.