How many books have you read?

[Nostradamus]

Upon looking at this 'entertainment compendium' one would expect to find music, films and books. But the last option seems to have been completely abandoned in favour of (in my opinion) crap anime for trend whores.

So what I want to ask you, the people of warboards, is do you read? And if so? How many books would you say you have read?

I myself have read 500+ and have been reading recreationally since I was about 12 years old. I'm now 16.

Now some of you may be wondering why i'm asking this and what i'm trying to achieve, but in all honesty i'm mainly just curious.

And, if some people show their interest in books, I may consider starting a warboards monthly book club. Would anyone be interested in this?

[singo]

Somewhere in the thousands easily. I read like a bastard and studying History doesnt do that total any harm either.

[DoctorZettabyte]

In the thousands as well. I read anything and everything, from psychology books to astrophysics (seriously). I'm about to read "I am America (And So Can You!)" by Stephen Colbert.

-DocTera

[femoimal]

reading psychology and astrophysics is a thing i do all the time. But books about it are a bit more hard to tackle than just essays or articles. Besides some fancy stuff from hawking, some Freudian sherlock holmes tales and some eventual Jung or Klein (don't tell me Lacan!), what kind of books you have read on those 2 topics, out of curiosity ?

[Thedutchjelle]

I read loads of fiction and scientific books. Does a monthly semi-scientific magazine qualify to?

Anyway, I've read quite a lot, but I don't think I did hit 150 yet. Maybe I did , I don't really have a kill count.

[TheBB]

Somewhere in the thousands easily. I read like a bastard and studying History doesnt do that total any harm either.

1000 amounts to something like one book for every week of your 20 year old life (even the ones spent as a toddler). Not impossible, surely, but this puts "read like a bastard" into a whole new perspective.

I wish people would put bizarre claims through the part of their brain responsible for realism check, if any, before posting.

Depending on what you define as "book" and "reading" I can be anywhere from 50 to 200+ I guess.

[IrishDutchman]

I real almost every day. I'm terrible at guessing that kind of stuff though. I have no idea how many I've read in total. Currently reading John Grisham.
Hmm, I'd say about 35 books per year since my 8th would be a good estimate. That would bring me to about 210. Sounds ok to me.

[Nostradamus]

Depending on what you define as "book" and "reading" I can be anywhere from 50 to 200+ I guess.

Well I suppose for the purposes of a book clun a book is well ... a book really. A collection of short stories would qualify. As would a science book. I don't mind the type of book as I simply wish to find out how frequently people read books, which should allow me to gain a good view of whether there is a large enough audience to sustain a book club.

[SilverCrusader]

500+ easily I've read so many..

[Dark_Soul74]

I know I've read dozens of murder mysteries, and dozens of fantasy books, but it's difficult to put down the real number. I'd guess somewhere around a dozen sci-fi novels, a dozen scientific texts, two dozen "classical" novels, and about two dozen other random stories.

So, ignoring namby pamby books with under 500 words, I've read roughly 120~ books. I'm working on getting more, though. :)

My current goal is to go through some more Vonnegut, and then move through Poe and Lovecraft. From there, I have no idea; perhaps informational texts to supplement my studies. I'll take suggestions, at least.

[TheBB]

Well I suppose for the purposes of a book clun a book is well ... a book really. A collection of short stories would qualify. As would a science book. I don't mind the type of book as I simply wish to find out how frequently people read books, which should allow me to gain a good view of whether there is a large enough audience to sustain a book club.

Well, I have math books that I haven't read per se, but I've gone through them, worked a select few problems and I know the content that matters. Did I read the book?

I must've read HHGTTG like five times, does this count as one? And does each part of the story (pentology?) count as one each?

I've read the 20 first books of the Animorphs series several times each. They take me like 1 hour to get through. This would be pretty significant.

I have photo collections that come with a small amount of text. Is that considered reading?

Etc.

In the end it's very hard to make a reasonable estimate.

[cole]

I read the entire "goosebumps" and "Ghosts of fear street" series when i was a kid. no joke. Thats easily 150+ right there. Then i moved up and started reading stuff by brian keene, stephen king, richard laymond, etc. I think ive easily hit 500+ books.

and like animorphs, harry potter series, etc. yea i read animorphs. sue me.

[DoctorZettabyte]

reading psychology and astrophysics is a thing i do all the time. But books about it are a bit more hard to tackle than just essays or articles. Besides some fancy stuff from hawking, some Freudian sherlock holmes tales and some eventual Jung or Klein (don't tell me Lacan!), what kind of books you have read on those 2 topics, out of curiosity ?

I'm more of an essayist (I've read quite a few), but I have enjoyed skimming over A Brief History of Time (never really red it cover to cover), One Universe (Basics, but still a great read), and Psychology with Modules, Eighth Edition.
James Patterson's Alex Cross novels have interesting (and usually close to or right-on) theories and psych ideas. Good beach reading.
I also enjoy anything that takes a deep look into time travel, paradoxes, etc,. Sci-Fi fan through and through.
I did have a brief stint into reading law books when I was a teenager...I spent one summer and plowed through more than half of John Grisham's works.
Harry Potter is also okay from time to time.

To re-iterate previous statements, I am not a Doctor of any kind and no advice of mine should be followed without consenting a real doctor. I am not responsible in any way for any harm that comes to you or your family from following my advice. It's just a name, people. I enjoy psychology and technology. Hooray.

-DocTera

[SHISHKABOB]

I've read a lot of books, but... I don't wanna jump too far from reality and say 500+, so I selected 200+.

[Dark_Soul74]

Oh, just as a note, I've read all of Goosebumps, Animorphs, etc(nearly all, anyway, my mom enjoyed buying a $4 book for me more than paying attention to me); I just don't count them as real books. Anything that took less than an hour to read was filed away into Dr. Seuss picturebooks land. If I count those, I'm probably over 500. :)

[Ender]

No one here has read more than 500 books. Anyway who says so is seriously exaggerating their reading speed, how much they actually read, and the simple number they've read.

[kongurous]

I would say I've read at least 500 books in my time due to my love of short, cheesy novels and my love of reading period.

[Dark_Soul74]

No one here has read more than 500 books. Anyway who says so is seriously exaggerating their reading speed, how much they actually read, and the simple number they've read.It's quite possible if you read a large number of shorter books. At my highest point, I'd be reading four books a week, at least. I maintained that for nearly a year, which would knock off 200 books in just one year. I have shelves upon shelves, and varied plastic bins, holding a wide array of cheapo crap books. I've read nearly all of them, and I'd say there's at least 400 just in the bins. :cool:

[DarthRaider]

For my whole life, I read somewhere between 100-150, or maybe more. I read quite a lot when I was 7-8th grade, now... I kinda quit cause my teachers keep stuffing homework in my bookbag. :(

[cole]

When i was a kid i read 4-6 books a day and had several bookcases. So yes its possible to read more than 500

[DoctorZettabyte]

When i was a kid i read 4-6 books a day and had several bookcases. So yes its possible to read more than 500

Nonsense. That's a tall order of new books to fill, day after day. Even 3 new books a day stretches it, unless you lived in a library.

No one here has read more than 500 books. Anyway who says so is seriously exaggerating their reading speed, how much they actually read, and the simple number they've read.

I've read at least one book a week for quite a few years now, and even more when I have time. I can kill off a short novel in 3, four days.

Do computer and game manuals count? :P

-DocTera

[cole]

Nonsense. That's a tall order of new books to fill, day after day. Even 3 new books a day stretches it, unless you lived in a library.


Well not every day of every year, but id say probally at least 20 books a week. i hated watching tv. i was one of those weird kids. Id read the same book 2-8 times too so i guess that part doesnt count~. But at least 20 a week.

and youd be surprised at the amount of books i had, my parents spent so much money on books because they were like "omg books will make u smart neAtO!"

[Jimmy_the_saint]

Ive read quite a few books. I read ALL of the Lord of the Rings books in a weekend( some 1000+ pages in incy wincy text plus appendix). I read M:TG and Halo just cause. And an awsome Aussie Writer named Matthew Reilly. But I don't just read fiction. I read Scientific books because in Yrs 11 and 12 I'll be doing Physics.

[Hydralisk1337]

I read only 10-50 books I think.
:concern:

[femoimal]

okay, lads: i think we must settle on what does notcount as a book, right ?

- "learning to read" and sound-books
- "color the Bush presidency" drawing books
- the new testament of the Bible. Old one counts as five
- The biography of Hillary Clinton (counts as minus five)
- Books with many colorful pictures, such as the biography of Ronald Reagan
- DIY, Heal yourself, Conspiration Theories, Become-The-Dalai-Lama books
- Dictionnaries, encyclopedias, essays, monthlies and lingerie catalogues
- Porn. Yes, even the Dick Cheney Testament
- Any book written after a movie scenario
- How to date books. Medical manuals on venerial diseases
- IKEA leaflets. Medicine instructions and suicide notes
- reading palms and intestines of sheep
- books you pretend to read because it is trendy but do not understand. A short history of time, Einstein General Relativity or Genocide Alive's Essay on Being a Transexual and Being proud of it.

... i think that's it. So, ronaldo, what's your new count ?

PS: thanks BB for the reality check. Again.

[Galiant]

I have read 500+

100+ Mangas

Currently reading:
Monks of Skete

[Protoss_Honor]

okay, lads: i think we must settle on what does notcount as a book, right ?

- "learning to read" and sound-books
- "color the Bush presidency" drawing books
- the new testament of the Bible. Old one counts as five
- The biography of Hillary Clinton (counts as minus five)
- Books with many colorful pictures, such as the biography of Ronald Reagan
- DIY, Heal yourself, Conspiration Theories, Become-The-Dalai-Lama books
- Dictionnaries, encyclopedias, essays, monthlies and lingerie catalogues
- Porn. Yes, even the Dick Cheney Testament
- Any book written after a movie scenario
- How to date books. Medical manuals on venerial diseases
- IKEA leaflets. Medicine instructions and suicide notes
- reading palms and intestines of sheep
- books you pretend to read because it is trendy but do not understand. A short history of time, Einstein General Relativity or Genocide Alive's Essay on Being a Transexual and Being proud of it.

... i think that's it. So, ronaldo, what's your new count ?

PS: thanks BB for the reality check. Again.I was bored, so I went ahead and did some broad calculations about how many books I have read, and then, before I posted my really long, involved post, I realize that I did not read page three of this thread. I do that, and imagine my surprise when I read this.
Answer this question for me, are we not counting anything we read in elementary school, unless we were reading a good 2 or more levels above our peers or something like that?
As I grimace at the thought of all that time I spent figuring, let me say this, counting books from a 6th grade reading level to a college age reading level, I have read over 300 books. And while I want to say it is closer to 400-500, I guess I should try to be sensible. So, 200-300 books I would say. Thus far. That is only because I have been reading a good 2 or more levels above my peers since around 5th-6th grade.


Also, while comic books, manga, and the like can be very good sources of entertainmant, reading-wise, I think we should include them in the "Not Books" Catagory.


EDIT: Of course, if you are including school related books as has been suggested, then yes, I think I have read close to, if not more than, 500 books. But really, if you count "school-related" books, then where do you draw the line. I think what we are considering "a book" should have been defined much earlier on. So, someone, define it. Please.

[Magmaniac]

I have read about forty seven thousand books.


Seriously though, I WOULD be interested in some kind of warboards book club.

[TheBB]

yea i read animorphs. sue me.

Rofl. Animorphs owns. I only have the books up until about 28 or so. Thinking of buying the rest actually.

[Galiant]

lol! Animorphs! I specially loved the silver colored books!

[singo]

1000 amounts to something like one book for every week of your 20 year old life (even the ones spent as a toddler). Not impossible, surely, but this puts "read like a bastard" into a whole new perspective.

I can get through Lord of the Rings (all three volumes plus the hobbit) in three days. Easily.


That probably isnt healthy come to think about it.

[Dark_Soul74]

I can get through Lord of the Rings (all three volumes plus the hobbit) in three days. Easily.


That probably isnt healthy come to think about it.I read The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings series when I was 8. Tell me that's healthy. D:

I had no idea what mutton was, but I knew orcs loved to eat it. :shiftyr:

[cole]

okay, lads: i think we must settle on what does notcount as a book, right ?

- "learning to read" and sound-books
- "color the Bush presidency" drawing books
- the new testament of the Bible. Old one counts as five
- The biography of Hillary Clinton (counts as minus five)
- Books with many colorful pictures, such as the biography of Ronald Reagan
- DIY, Heal yourself, Conspiration Theories, Become-The-Dalai-Lama books
- Dictionnaries, encyclopedias, essays, monthlies and lingerie catalogues
- Porn. Yes, even the Dick Cheney Testament
- Any book written after a movie scenario
- How to date books. Medical manuals on venerial diseases
- IKEA leaflets. Medicine instructions and suicide notes
- reading palms and intestines of sheep
- books you pretend to read because it is trendy but do not understand. A short history of time, Einstein General Relativity or Genocide Alive's Essay on Being a Transexual and Being proud of it.

... i think that's it. So, ronaldo, what's your new count ?

PS: thanks BB for the reality check. Again.

Even if you took out all that out my list of books i read, my list would still probaly be longer then yours.

Ok, might want to read a dictionary and look up the definition of "Book". The title of the thread was "How many books have you read?" not, "How many books with at least 245,042,031 words containing 32 syllables each word have you read?" So i guess you havent been reading too much because apparently you couldnt read the title of this thread.

Why must you tempt me so?

[cole]

I had no idea what mutton was, but I knew orcs loved to eat it. :shiftyr:


and yea rofl. I remeber that. I used to think "mutton" was cat. I was like orcs are fucking sick people.

[Magmaniac]

I have like 90% of the animorphs books. Man it's been a while. That was like 8 years ago.

[deadkiller]

my total count of the books i've read are 4000+ and i have like more the 3000 in my house right now :)

[femoimal]

ronaldo, you can't take either a pun or a hint, can you ?

-Lets keep it low on the gas tab, shall we?- For your information, nobody reads a dictionary, they consult or browse it. The initial pun was intended at outlining the obvious mismatch between your supposedly avid reading and the sorry state of your rhetoric and wisdom.
But well, <sigh> i suppose i deserve inhaling that Zyklon B for daring being a tad sarcastic at you. You haven't read any Aristotle, have you ? No, not the "Aristotle, the Forgotten General who took Stalingrad".


i must have read about 200 (almost) serious books. But someone would be very wise by choosing just about 20, i think.

PS: a book you find in supermarkets and Virgin Megastores does not really qualify, does it ?

[TheBB]

I can get through Lord of the Rings (all three volumes plus the hobbit) in three days. Easily.

So could I, but I haven't been doing that for my entire life. Which was the point.

[Darmago]

I've probably only read 300+ separate titles, but I like to reread books, so things like The Lord of the Rings, and Ender's game, I've read more times than I can remember off the top of my head.

[Ahzz]

imo people are counting 100 page books as 'books'
I guess its right, but imo a real book is 200+ pages, without pictures except in beginning of a chapter.
Things like comics, mangas, etc dont count in my eyes. Its impossible to read 3-4 real books a day.

[Nostradamus]

Right, how about I start a new thread. Are you interested in reading fiction? Would you join a book club to discuss this fiction? Would you have the motivation to complete this fiction? etc.

And on the note of the book club I was thinking of this format.

- We read 1 book a month
- During this month we also decide on next month's book
- At the end of the month we discuss the book

If you deem is feasible then we may up the amount of books to 2 or 3. Or we may have a selection of books (a maximum of 5) meaning that there is a wider selection and readers of various tastes can have a discussion about at least one book.

[WarInSerbia]

Am I the only one that read zero books?!
Wait does magazines or some 100 page books still count as books?!

[Dark_Soul74]

Right, how about I start a new thread. Are you interested in reading fiction? Would you join a book club to discuss this fiction? Would you have the motivation to complete this fiction? etc.

And on the note of the book club I was thinking of this format.

- We read 1 book a month
- During this month we also decide on next month's book
- At the end of the month we discuss the book

If you deem is feasible then we may up the amount of books to 2 or 3. Or we may have a selection of books (a maximum of 5) meaning that there is a wider selection and readers of various tastes can have a discussion about at least one book.I'd do it. We can try to pick a common "classic" or something as a starting point.

[muradin]

In the thousands as well. I read anything and everything, from psychology books to astrophysics (seriously). I'm about to read "I am America (And So Can You!)" by Stephen Colbert.

-DocTera
My friend read that book, and showed it too me, it was weird...:o

Anyways, Ive read alot, I dont know how much though

[Skullflower]

I'd do it. We can try to pick a common "classic" or something as a starting point.

The Godfather.

[IrishDutchman]

I got a great book, The House of Leaves! It's amazing. It's cryptic, intriguing, confusing and frightening. The best and most unique book I've read in ages, and by far the scariest.
further info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Leaves
http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-0375703764-0

Read it!

[King_Critter]

Well... a few years ago, when I was 12 or 13, the local library had a reading contest, and I hit 70 something books over the summer. And... that's probably about my average since I was 11 or 12, up to around age 16, when I started playing way to many games. <_< So close to five hundred, I'd say. Oh yeah, and I, too, used to love the Animorphs series, and read all but a few of them.

[Hydralisk1337]

- Any book written after a movie scenario
.

Great. Minus almost all my books out now.

[femoimal]

Nostradamus, i think it is both a valiant and a brilliant idea.
I was thinking, perhaps we could divide it into fiction/non-fiction categories?

Reading about hobbits and Jedis is nice, but reading about Sumer (the region, not the season) and Akkad, the emergence of the Alphabet, Confucius, the partition of India, Darwinism and Cosmogony is nice too. (it would be a way too to escape our self-focused narrow occidental point of view and enrich our souls).

What if someone wants specifically to focus on say, science fiction or Nordic mythology tales ?

[TheBB]

Nordic mythology tales ?

Lol. I've read many of those. They force us through them at school. Some I've even read twice.

Not sure you would want to dedicate your reading life to them, but one or two are sure okay. :P

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunnlaugs_saga_ormstungu

Or even http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heimskringla

I have a fantastic edition of Heimskringla. Bigass and heavy, leather binding, thick paper and beautiful illustrations. I'd love to actually read the thing one day. :o

I got a great book, The House of Leaves! It's amazing. It's cryptic, intriguing, confusing and frightening.

I started reading it a while back but I didn't have the time or effort to finish it. It's definitely everything you claim it to be.

[Dark_Soul74]

As long as it's in English, I'm game. :)

[Nostradamus]

Right. Well there certainly has been a lot of response to this topic and a lot of interest in a book club. Therefore all in favour of a club either say so here or PM me and we can maybe get something going. I'm hoping for at least 8 people so we have a few opinions going around. I will then make a thread where we can decide on the format on the club, the first book, the genre etc.

[kongurous]

The Godfather.

This quote is really half a sentence. The other half is "...was not a book."

[Skullflower]

This quote is really half a sentence. The other half is "...was not a book."

You mean you had no idea that The Godfather was a book before it was a movie? Way to go.

[Nostradamus]

http://www.warboards.org/showthread.php?t=33224

Could everyone please go to this thread and post their responses as I would like to know how many people would be willing to join a book club, what format is preferable to them, and what they like to read.

Thank you

[singo]

So could I, but I haven't been doing that for my entire life. Which was the point.


The thing is, I pretty much have. Okay, not the Lord of the Rings over and over again every three days, but reading copiously yes. Not always to that volume (sometimes I actually have to get off my arse and do some work or go to the pub or something) but pretty much two or three books a week for much of my life.


I would love to join a book club, but I cant, my library currently dislikes me because of...well...me going off to university and forgetting about the books I had borrowed. For several years.

[EDIT] On my third (non-degree related) book this week and I have been doing a source project for my British India module for most of it.

[TheOutcast]

I have never finished a book in my life. Pretty sad huh?

[GroG]

I've probably read 50-100 real books of my own volition. Mostly Sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction, and the occasional Where's Waldo.

[Nostradamus]

I have never finished a book in my life. Pretty sad huh?

Yes. But what is more sad is saying that to gain attention. If you want a fulfilled life I recommend you seek fulfillment in doing good things, and having intelligent conversation.

[tzzA]

I don't have enough fingers and toes to count, even if I borrowed those of everyone else on WB. :D

general suggestions for stuff/authors to read:
Wheel of Time series (Robert Jordan)
Tony Hillerman novels
Shakespeare plays
Terry Brooks
R. A. Salvatore