Books read per year?

[dlminehart]

I've heard some statistics lately about readership in America, and wondered how this group compares with the population as a whole. A recent Harris Poll ( see http://www.harrisinteractive.com/har...ex.asp?PID=891 ) found the following:



A couple things that jump out for me: (1) almost a third of American adults read less than 4 books per year; (2) Republicrats have similar reading habits, while Independents read significantly more; (3) women read significantly more than men, with the extra probably involving mysteries and romances; (4) seniors (63+ years old) read significantly more than those younger, who all have pretty similar reading habits; (5) elsewhere on the page, seniors report having more time to read, perhaps due to retirement, which accounts for at least some of their extra reading.

About how many books do you estimate you read per year?

[crokett]

Used to be I'd read way more than 10. Now I read about that in a good year. No time now to really read. After the kids are in bed I do all the things I couldn't do while they were awake.

[Knottscott]

Actual books read cover to cover....few to none in successive sittings, but I flip through articles in many woodworking books and mags.

[mschrank]

WAY more than 10 a year. I read three just last night:

• Horton Hatches an Egg by Dr. Suess
• Silly Pig Has an Idea
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Now, if you didn't mean children's books read to a couple of sleepy toddlers at bedtime, then I probably only read about 1-2 a year. Before wife and kids, that number was probably closer to 8/yr.

[poolhound]

I am also way more than 10. I travel quite a lot and airplane time gets through a lot of pages. I can sometimes do 2 per trip.

[DUD]

Me or LOML read at least one at night, and I read a book a week at least. We have

gotten Our oldest GrandDaughter to love to read, it has been good for Her and Us. Bill

[LarryG]

When I was younger I'd read a book about every two days, on average. I'd lay in bed at night, occasionally glancing at the clock and thinking, "It's almost two a.m., I have GOT to turn off the light and get some sleep!" Nowadays when I get horizontal, I'm usually good for about twenty or thirty pages before I'm off to the Land Of Nod.

I still probably read about 25-30 books a year, though -- mostly series mysteries (Grafton, Parker, Estleman, etc.), historical naval fiction (O'Brian, Kent, etc) and travel essays (Bryson, Theroux, etc). This is in addition to the time I spend reading magazines and leafing through woodworking books.

[BigguyZ]

A couple years back, before I moved up in my company, I worked at the call center. On slow days, or during the weekends, I was able to read a ton. During the two years at the call center I read way more than 10 books a year, which was probably more that I've read in total in my life previous to that. Now that I have my new positions, I can't read at work. And with WWing and my house, I don't have time....

[cgallery]

4-6, but that is all non-fiction, typically biographical works.

[Ed62]

I'm guessing 5 - 6 books per year. Not a big reader like LOML.

Ed

[Richard in Smithville]

Both LOML and I read loads of books each year. I get called the librarian at work because I usually read during lunch and breaks.

Our idea of a good camping trip is taking a few books each and relaxing around the camp site while the kids are off playing. We get our books from a local charity shop that only charges 10 cents/paperback.

[TB Roye]

I read 3-5 books a year. I read more magazine articles on book on my various hobbies. LOML reads a book a week. I need to have real good light to read otherwise these old eyes don't like me. I can't sit for hours and read like I used to but I love to read so it is in shorter time frames. Not really into fiction but like non fiction. On trips by car to Idaho from Sacramento, 8hrs. We listen to books on tape or Cd and there have be times where we have stopped to listent to the end of the book before we got to Son and DIL' house in Boise.

Tom

[Uncle Cracker]

Have an enormous specialty book collection considered by many to be the most complete of its kind in the world, and I've read every one of them. Now I get them before they even go to the publisher. Represents a huge investment in time, but worth every minute.

[Kristofor]

I figure I've hit the 1,000,000 page mark in the last couple years right around the time I turned 30.

I would guess for the last 20ish years I've read 100-130 books per year. SciFi, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Political Thriller, and non-fiction in roughly that order of frequency.

That said, my first child is about 4 months old now and I can already feel the pace slacking... No more reading until 4AM on work nights to finish a great book since I know he won't let me take a nap or hit the hay early the next day.

Kristofor.

[MilDoc]

I answered, more than 10. I actually average about 40 a year. All kinds, from "thrillers," to sci fi, to "real books," especially about history.