# How many books (for entertainment) do you read per year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013 "2014-06-17T21:23:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/21 "2014-06-18T06:41:17Z")
I did 134 last year and so far this year I have finished 77. My shelves of unread books groan under the weight of, at last count, 319 books. If I had more work coming in I would have less time for reading but more money for books, but that’s another story. ---
**Author:** ![Krav\_Manga](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krav_manga/32/3153_2.png) [@Krav\_Manga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krav_Manga)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/22 "2014-06-18T09:13:21Z")
As someone who is interested in neither organised sport or modern television I find that I generally read 4-5 books per week. My preferred media are leatherbound first editions or imprints signed by the author. I mostly read sci fi, although much of what I read is derivative of the ‘big three’ - Asimov, Clarke and Rothman. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/23 "2014-06-18T09:27:45Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Wow. I didn’t even realize I could have a “finished” folder on my kindle. And keeping stats is way beyond what I could imagine doing. For the record I’m 56, forgot to mention it previously. Neither did I! Good to know. I used to read endlessly. One a week at least. Now I waste far too much time on the internet and would be lucky to read one a month. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/24 "2014-06-18T11:38:33Z")
53, female, handicapped. I read about half a book a day, sometimes a whole book. I read almost exclusively ebooks as on a really bad body day I can manage to sort of coocoon myself in pillows so I can just hold my droid in front of my face and advance the text with my thumb. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/25 "2014-06-18T11:58:46Z")
“6-12 - one or two per month” Shouldn’t that be 12-24? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/26 "2014-06-18T11:58:52Z")
I’m 60. I read 1 or 2 books a week, a fairly wide range of fiction and non-fiction. For the past year, most of my reading has been done in the Kindle app on my iPad Mini. I have bought a few ebooks, but I get most of them from my library. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/27 "2014-06-18T12:24:08Z")
I’m 60. I read a book a week and like: - science fiction (e.g. Larry Niven) - fantasy (e.g. Terry Pratchett) - detective stories (e.g. Rex Stout) - historical adventure (e.g. C.S. Forester) - comedy (P.G. Wodehouse) - chess, bridge and poker ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/28 "2014-06-18T12:47:02Z")
About 275, guess. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/29 "2014-06-18T12:52:34Z")
I read 20-25 books per year. It would be more if I had more time for reading but I tend to read large non-fiction books and only have 30-60 minutes each day to read. My wife reads about 200 books a year. Our 11-year-old daughter probably reads 300 books a year. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/30 "2014-06-18T13:11:07Z")
I would do little else but read for pleasure if it were up to me. A few years ago, I realized reading was getting squeezed completely out of my life, so I decided to prioritize it. Now I get up extra early in the morning, drive to work, then sit in the parking lot and read until it’s time to go in. It’s the best part of the day! Last year I read 55 books. Since I started tracking, my best year was 87 (counting audio books). ---
**Author:** ![Swamp\_Adder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@Swamp\_Adder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swamp_Adder)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/31 "2014-06-18T13:16:44Z")
I’m 25 and I read about 60 books a year, in dead tree form. Whenever I see people talking about reading a book a day, I have to wonder: do you people have jobs? Do you do anything with your free time _except_ read? 'Cause I used to think I was a serious reader, but… apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/32 "2014-06-18T13:32:58Z")
I read like other people breath. I easily read about five books a week. Easily 300 a year. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/33 "2014-06-18T13:38:25Z")
It’s hard to say because I usually have a number of books going at the same time. I’ve been reading _Anna Karenina_ for half a year now, and have finished a dozen books in the mean time, but have also started reading _The Three Musketeers_. I don’t get as much of a chance to read as I’d like, and I read books that are not necessarily page turners… I’d say I get up to 20 or so in a year. BTW: 6-12 books a year =! 1-2 books a month ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/34 "2014-06-18T14:27:04Z")
I said 13-30, but that’s a sort of mean over my entire life. The truth is, there have been entire years when I read few or no books, and others were I read nearly 100. I tend to read in spurts. I read a LOT more since I got my Kindle a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/35 "2014-06-18T14:31:21Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > **I would do little else but read for pleasure if it were up to me.** A few years ago, I realized reading was getting squeezed completely out of my life, so I decided to prioritize it. Now I get up extra early in the morning, drive to work, then sit in the parking lot and read until it’s time to go in. It’s the best part of the day! > > Last year I read 55 books. Since I started tracking, my best year was 87 (counting audio books). So would I. That’s one of the first things I think of when I hear someone say they can’t imagine retiring. “What would I do all day???” Really? Not long a go I ruthlessly weeded my “To Read” list on goodreads down to 323. I have stacks of books in my house identified as “to be read” with only about a third of them recorded on the goodreads list. What would I do all day? My mom passed on not long ago and in a couple weeks most of her books will come to live with me, and get added to the list. She was retired, and managed to keep up quite a few activities and still read an astonishing number of books. Inspired by you I am here and now publicly declaring that I am making reading a priority, right now, today. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/36 "2014-06-18T14:41:57Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I read like other people breath. I easily read about five books a week. Easily 300 a year. Same here. I try to read a book a day and days that I don’t get to I get kind of depressed for a couple of days. ---
**Author:** ![misling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@misling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misling)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/37 "2014-06-18T14:43:32Z")
As best I can calculate, I read 3 or 4 books a week. However, half or more are re-reads. If you just count the new books, 1 or 2 a week. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/38 "2014-06-18T14:46:56Z")
Before Amazon, and the ability to download books to my phone, I would read perhaps 4-5 books a year. Now I am at about 40-50. It’s just so damn easy. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/39 "2014-06-18T15:10:35Z")
> [@gwendee](#): > > Inspired by you I am here and now publicly declaring that I am making reading a priority, right now, today. Awww. I take full credit for the increased happiness you are going to experience! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-books-for-entertainment-do-you-read-per-year/691013/40 "2014-06-18T15:12:46Z")
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