# Poll: How many books have you read so far in your life? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 19, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747 "2005-11-19T01:24:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jillyvn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Jillyvn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jillyvn)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/41 "2005-11-19T04:00:44Z")
Ok, I’m a fanatical reader. I’d estimate at LEAST a book a week. Calculating since age 9, that puts me above 1000. I wish I’d kept a list. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/42 "2005-11-19T04:02:18Z")
Definately E++ thousands. Sindad and Sinkids built me 270 board feet of bookshelves in my basement for Christmas a couple of years ago. This was to supplement the floor to ceiling bookshelves in my living room, home office, and work office. And does not include; my bookcase devoted soley to travel books, the books under my night stand in the bedroom, the books in the bathroom, the books under the couch and the books in the end-tables. Sindad, who rarely reads, is a saint to put up with this. 🙂 Luckily I gave away hundreds of books prior to our most recent move 5 years ago. I have read all but maybe 50 of the ones in my posession now, cover to cover, at least once. This does not include any of the books I read as a child or young adult when I used the library because I couldn’t afford to actually buy books. Oh and I read and process books for the Gutenberg Project too. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/43 "2005-11-19T04:20:13Z")
Probably D. I’m not a fast reader; it usually takes me a week to finish a book even when I’m really into it. I read a lot when I was in elementary school but I slowed down in high school due to never having a good atmosphere in which to read. There was a rule in my house that the television had to be on whenever my mother was home, and she was always home, and we had very thin walls. So I dropped off. (My mom is one of those people who brags about not having to read.) I didn’t read much in college despite being an English major, just whatever we were assigned. Now, though, I’m back to an SDMB-acceptable level. I’ve read seventy books so far this year, which is a personal best. I’m hoping to break 100 next year. Not as impressive as some of you, but better than reading two or three a year. I still only own around 200 books though. I don’t see the point in buying them when I can get almost anything I want from the library or my roommate (who has 2000+ books). I just buy books I know I’ll reread over and over, and things I find on sale for a quarter or something. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/44 "2005-11-19T04:23:21Z")
Well, if we’re not counting rereading, that cuts down my total quite a bit. WAG: 3 books a week, every week, for the past twelve and a half years=~2,000. That seems just a tad low to me… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/45 "2005-11-19T04:30:37Z")
Definitely E. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/46 "2005-11-19T04:31:39Z")
I’m definitely an E ++ - I’m almost 45 and have been an avid reader since I was 5. There are over a thousand books in my office right now - most of them fantasy/sci-fi with a sprinkling of humor, reference, cats and mysteries. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/47 "2005-11-19T04:35:38Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > Many, many years ago I was watching “Family Feud” and the question was, “How many books does the average American home have?” > > The number one answer of 100 people surveyed was: twenty-five. > > 25! > > In an entire home. Isn’t that just awful? > > People owning more than 100 books were the least on the survey. > > I’ve read at least 500 books with plus 100-page counts in the last 10 years alone, mostly nonfiction. I’ve read three just in the last three weeks – and I’m not even living at home currently. Throw in all the reading material I’ve consumed in my entire life: newpapers, magazines, professional journals and comics collections – and the number is in the tens of thousands, easily. I’ve heard that the average adult American reads 11 books a year. This scares me, especially when we consider what might be considered books. Like Dianetics, or What Medical Experts Don’t Want You To Know. My husband’s parents might have had two or three books in their house, and at least one was the Bible. When we stayed with them for a visit, it nearly drove me crazy. My parents, on the other hand, have to go through their shelves and give away things periodically, though my mother holds onto all of her cookbooks. It’s interesting to leaf through old cookbooks and compare how ideas about food have changed. One of the things that I love about my house is that the den has floor to ceiling bookcases…and the wall with the bookcases is at least 20 feet high. I do have to have someone climb up on a ladder to get to the high shelves, but at least I have the shelves! ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/48 "2005-11-19T04:49:55Z")
Definitely E. As for the number owned, I just did a quick count of the books on the top floor of my house (this room and my bedroom): 220. I have more downstairs, but probably only another 100 or so. I don’t think I have any in the basement anymore. A few months ago I gave away 5 boxes (the kind that hold packs of copier paper) full of books to charity, and have since vowed to keep only the books that I think I will actually read again someday. In fact, doing this count made me realize that it’s time to re-read _Robin Hood_. 🙂 > [@Lynn Bodoni](#): > > I’ve heard that the average adult American reads 11 books a year. This scares me, especially when we consider what might be considered books. Well, that’s _almost_ a book a month, which is about what I’m averaging while working full-time and going to grad school and volunteering with Toastmasters. When school’s out I go up to 2-4 books a month, but I’ve been a reader for the past 30 years … I think a book a month for the average adult is pretty good! ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/49 "2005-11-19T04:54:48Z")
> [@Silver Fire](#): > > No, not really. I stopped buying books (I definitely own less than 70) when I remembered that such a thing as a “library” existed. And there are tons of people who can’t justify to themselves the expense of owning a book. That doesn’t mean they don’t read. But the most telling indicator that one reads is that one owns books, not that one has a library card. Most libraries are media centers these days – with CDs and DVDs and free internet access bringing in patrons. When there’s no books in the house – or mostly books of neglible reading value – well, that’s a big indicator they probably don’t ever read, and that’s issue with me, particularly as a former educator. It’s a dealbreaker when I’m with a woman and I’m debating whether to get serious with her and see no books or few substantive books in her house/apartment. New books, I grant you, are expensive. Which is why I rarely buy them new. 90% of my own book purchases at at the remaindered stacks in book store chains, used book stores, yard sales, thrift stores and increasingly, online. One of the reasons books are expensive is that not nearly enough people buy books. If every bestseller had the volume of a new JK Rowling book, there’d be lots more readers out there. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/50 "2005-11-19T05:14:24Z")
The last time I did a realistic count of how many bboks I owned was about ten years ago; I had a software program that let me enter and categorize my library. But I eventually discovered that it only allowed 10,000 entries. Based on what I had already catalogued, I estimated at the time that I had between 12,000 and 15,000 books. But in the years since then I’ve certainly at least doubled and probably tripled my library. As for how many books I’ve read, I’d estimate I read 200-300 a year, going back over thirty years, so let’s call it at least 8000. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/51 "2005-11-19T05:18:17Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > But the most telling indicator that one reads is that one owns books, not that one has a library card. Most libraries are media centers these days – with CDs and DVDs and free internet access bringing in patrons. When there’s no books in the house – or mostly books of neglible reading value – well, that’s a big indicator they probably don’t ever read, and that’s issue with me, particularly as a former educator. It’s a dealbreaker when I’m with a woman and I’m debating whether to get serious with her and see no books or few substantive books in her house/apartment. I’m not going to reduce my already tiny amount of living space and make it harder for me to move from city to city just so I can prove I read. My guess is that there are many women like me out there. You may be making false assumptions about people. Also, there are people who have tons of books and hardly ever read. My dad is a compulsive hoarder who has collected almost a thousand books (all of the “Health Secrets Your Doctor Doesn’t Want You to Know!” type) and has maybe read twenty of them. If you’d look at his den, you’d think he’s a reader, but you’d be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/52 "2005-11-19T05:42:24Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > My answer is also E+ - thousands and thousands. > This got me curious. A quick count comes up with 629 books in my place, not counting computer game manuals or the Project Gutenburg stuff I have on my computer. > > **Idle Thoughts** , you want to expand the poll to include book ownership? 🙂 Yes, please, if you don’t mind. 🙂 Also, if you could maybe change E to “701 - 1000” add a “F” and “G”(or whatever the next letters would be) and have them be 1000-1500 and “over 1500” respectivly. I’d really appreciate it. Man, I guess I hit quite a nerve with members here. We all seem to love to read immensely. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/53 "2005-11-19T05:57:32Z")
Uncounted Thousands, but I’ve had lots of years to read! I expect that I’ve averaged somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 hundred each year. Reading really is a different experience than anything else…one can really loose self in a book. ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/54 "2005-11-19T06:00:44Z")
I doubt I’ve gotten up into the multiple thousands, but there’s no way I’m below E. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/55 "2005-11-19T06:07:12Z")
> [@davenportavenger](#): > > I’m not going to reduce my already tiny amount of living space and make it harder for me to move from city to city just so I can prove I read. My guess is that there are many women like me out there. You may be making false assumptions about people. I don’t think my assumptions are false. You pretty much summed up what I’m looking for in a wife: a homebody with a big place with lots of (interesting) books who would not just up and move from city to city, in part because her books would keep her (and us) rooted. It’s not enough to just _read._ I agree: owning lots of books isn’t proof of reading or even a love of reading. I never said “prove” or “proof.” I said it is a strong indicator that one reads – especially if the owner can talk about the book’s contents/subject matter/author, and if the books are well-displayed, are quite evidentally used and reveal a thoughtful variety of topics. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/56 "2005-11-19T06:14:01Z")
Probably 8,000-10,000. There are over 2500 just in my house, and several hundred in my offices. ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/57 "2005-11-19T06:20:39Z")
e no doubt I moved several yearsa ago and decided to get rid of a good portion of my books I had decided I wasn’t going to read again. I bagged them up, hauled a lot of them to the 2 for 1 book stores, got about $800.00 worth of credit. The rest I donated to the Freinds of the Library and the Salvation ARmy. I figured up approximately how many books were in each bag and figured just the portion I donated was about 1500 books. I still had 2 full bookcases of non-fiction and a few shelves of fiction. Now of course I again have piles of books everywhere. Do you know the Friends of the Library sells paperbacks for 50 cents? i can spend $20.00 and get enough reading material for several weeks. My book reading has slowed a lot since I bought a computer. I used to read a book a day, so yes my answer is definately E more then 700 books. Don’t you hate wehn people come to your house and ask “have you read all those books?” Nope I have them just for the insulation. I saw that episode of Twilight Zone. Don’t you hate is when people stop you from reading to tell you " oh I jsut don’t have time to read!" Well you see big dummy, I read a book when other people are chatting up strangers. I ALWAYS have at least one book with me whereever I go. Long train, no problem, I have a book. Dr is running behind, no problem, I have a book. Don’t you hate when strangers act like the fact that you are reading a book is an insult to them? I was in a fast food place and a child was kicking my booth and I asked him quietly to stop. His mother went off on me for correcting her son. Appaerently I should have called to her across the restaurant to correct him. Anyway, she made him come back to where she was sitting so he wouldn’t be around “those” kind of people. Peopel who read “books”. She really said this like I would be insulted to be vcalled a GASP! bookreader! No! say it isn’t so! People who read are so … so… literate! so yeah love to read. I will shut up now and go read my book. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/58 "2005-11-19T06:34:20Z")
Probably D, barely Every once in a while I’ll get the idea to try to read a great book. I spent about 4 months reading The Divine Comedy and longer than that on Paradise lost. It takes me that long to really understand them. I also read a lot of history books and I have brutal reading comprehension when it comes to dates and numbers so those take me a great deal of time as well. I reread favorites like Jane Austin a lot too. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/59 "2005-11-19T06:53:54Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > It’s a dealbreaker when I’m with a woman and I’m debating whether to get serious with her and see no books or few substantive books in her house/apartment. :eek: Really? I mean, I get the importance of reading, but… really? So, uh, note to self: buy more books. I just read my previous post again, and it came off snarkier than I meant it to. Whoops. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747/60 "2005-11-19T14:50:47Z")
> [@adhemar](#): > > The rest I donated to the Freinds of the Library and the Salvation ARmy. … > Do you know the Friends of the Library sells paperbacks for 50 cents? i can spend $20.00 and get enough reading material for several weeks. Yep, I knew it. And thanks for the donations. 🙂 I buy books at the Goodwill and Salvation Army and off the library sale shelf all the time. My library’s usually $1 for hardbacks and 25 cents for PBs, but every once in a while they’ll ‘clean house’ and have a big sale. Paperbacks are six for $1 and hardbacks are 2 for $1. > [@](#): > > Don’t you hate wehn people come to your house and ask “have you read all those books?” Nope I have them just for the insulation. I saw that episode of Twilight Zone. My late MIL was always amazed that I’d read ‘all those books’ and even more amazed that I’d read some of them _twice_. > [@](#): > > Don’t you hate is when people stop you from reading to tell you " oh I jsut don’t have time to read!" Well you see big dummy, I read a book when other people are chatting up strangers. I ALWAYS have at least one book with me whereever I go. Long train, no problem, I have a book. What I hate is when you’re sitting comfortably with your book, totally engrossed in the story, and someone plops down next to you and tries to engage you in conversation. I’m not an anti-social bitch, it’s just that - why are people so drawn to someone sitting with a book? Why the need to bother them? > [@](#): > > Dr is running behind, no problem, I have a book. My daughter’s therapist is always running behind. The magazine selection is along the lines of _Golf Digest, Sailing Weekly, Money Weekly, Financial Planning_… that type of thing; sports and financial magazines. Zzzzz… Good thing I brought my book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-many-books-have-you-read-so-far-in-your-life/331747.md?page=4)