Author Topic: 1,000 books read  (Read 6877 times)

OthalaFehu

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1,000 books read
« on: February 24, 2017, 02:19:30 PM »
This has always been a goal of mine, I am within striking distance.

No, you do not get to count little kid books or even textbooks. 1k books read by free will as an adult/maybe teenager.

It is more than you think, roughly a book a week for 20 years.

Dave1442397

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2017, 04:09:36 PM »
That's great! I work with people who haven't read a book since college. I can't even imagine life without books. As a kid, my nightmare was being that guy in the Twilight Zone episode where he's the last person in the world, with all the books he could ever want, and then he breaks his glasses...the horror!

This is the first year I've ever kept track of the books I'm reading. It'll be interesting to see what the total is at the end of the year. So far, it's running ahead of what I usually guesstimate when people ask how many books a year I get through.


OthalaFehu

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #2 on: February 24, 2017, 09:17:10 PM »
I keep a running list as an obsessive habit of mine.

LMBB

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2017, 01:10:06 AM »
As far as I can tell, I've voluntarily read 460 books so far. I get through about 80 a year but I'm plagued by my almost compulsive need to re-read certain favorites over and over again almost annually.

I don't know what various tools people use to track their books but I have used Goodreads since about 2011 and I love the website and the tools available for tracking and research.


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Dave1442397

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #4 on: February 25, 2017, 01:19:59 PM »
I'm plagued by my almost compulsive need to re-read certain favorites over and over again almost annually.

I used to do that with my Stephen King collection up until the early '90s, when there were just too many new books to read. I think I've read The Stand and The Dead Zone at least 20 times each. 'Salem's Lot, too.

LMBB

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2017, 01:22:52 PM »
I'm plagued by my almost compulsive need to re-read certain favorites over and over again almost annually.

I used to do that with my Stephen King collection up until the early '90s, when there were just too many new books to read. I think I've read The Stand and The Dead Zone at least 20 times each. 'Salem's Lot, too.

Oh yeah. The Stand is an all time favorite for me, as is The Dark Tower series. I can't help it. I just start missing the characters like they're old friends I haven't seen in a while

Genevieve

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #6 on: February 25, 2017, 01:50:21 PM »
I guess I should start tracking : )
That's going to take awhile.

Dave1442397

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #7 on: February 25, 2017, 03:40:38 PM »
I'm plagued by my almost compulsive need to re-read certain favorites over and over again almost annually.

I used to do that with my Stephen King collection up until the early '90s, when there were just too many new books to read. I think I've read The Stand and The Dead Zone at least 20 times each. 'Salem's Lot, too.

Oh yeah. The Stand is an all time favorite for me, as is The Dark Tower series. I can't help it. I just start missing the characters like they're old friends I haven't seen in a while

I must read the Dark Tower series again. I read it as the books came out, but the time between books meant that I had forgotten a lot of what happened in the previous books. The pic below was taken in 2009. It's hard to believe that I've had the entire DT series that long already.


LMBB

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #8 on: February 25, 2017, 03:43:50 PM »
Haha... I have entire shelves dedicated to SK books as well.


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DragonSlayer

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #9 on: February 25, 2017, 05:04:00 PM »
Hmm. Quick math. Two books a week, pretty much every week for the 30 years since I left college. 104 Books a year x 30 yrs. = 3120.

That doesn't count the weeks I read three books or more, or my high school and college years where I plowed through my fair share of non-required reading. I'm probably north of 4k by now.

What can I say? I'm an addict.

TomTX

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #10 on: February 25, 2017, 05:45:50 PM »
My wife and I have read (out loud) ~3,400 (kids) books to our son. He's 3 and a half. You see, the local library has this "Thousand Books Before Kindergarten" program, and... well... we just kept going. They humor us and keep handing us checkoff sheets.

I'm certain I had read >1000 adult books before I left high school.

ringer707

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #11 on: February 25, 2017, 05:51:14 PM »
I also use Goodreads, love it! According to my Read list on there, I've read 238 books. Which seems remarkably low for as much as I read.

I, too, am really bad about rereading my favorites. I actually joined the 50 books thread on here last year and managed to only re-read one book! I've decided to start doing "themed" reading lists each year. Last year my theme was pretty loose- "Read New Books." This year I'm doing series. My plan is to do classics next year. I of course give myself freedom to read things outside the theme as well, but I have read two full series so far this year and am midway into my third.

recklesslysober

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #12 on: February 27, 2017, 11:08:54 AM »
I'm at 274. I started keeping track in 2011 on Goodreads and spent the next few years mostly reading for law school. Since finishing that I've got through 50+ a year. Only 15 years to go. :)

SquashingDebt

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #13 on: February 27, 2017, 12:21:51 PM »
My tracking hasn't been perfect, and doesn't account for (many) re-reads, but I just went through my Goodreads list and have read 995 books, 56 of which are picture books.  That puts me at 939 right now.  This counts all non-picture books (aka also young adult books, cookbooks I've read cover-to-cover, etc.).  I'm sure I'm missing many from before I started tracking via Goodreads about 8 years ago.

recklesslysober

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #14 on: February 27, 2017, 12:32:05 PM »
FYI for those of you who re-read and like to count those in your numbers, Goodreads just made a re-reading function. https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/817-rereading-is-here-let-s-say-it-again-rereading-is-here

SquashingDebt

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #15 on: February 27, 2017, 01:04:24 PM »
FYI for those of you who re-read and like to count those in your numbers, Goodreads just made a re-reading function. https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/817-rereading-is-here-let-s-say-it-again-rereading-is-here

I was unreasonably excited about this when I found out :)

recklesslysober

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #16 on: February 27, 2017, 01:43:22 PM »
FYI for those of you who re-read and like to count those in your numbers, Goodreads just made a re-reading function. https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/817-rereading-is-here-let-s-say-it-again-rereading-is-here

I was unreasonably excited about this when I found out :)

Me too. :)

Dave1442397

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #17 on: February 27, 2017, 06:44:48 PM »
Haha... I have entire shelves dedicated to SK books as well.

Yeah, I'm at almost two full bookcases now.

FYI, he has a new collaboration with Richard Chizmar being announced tomorrow. It's being announced officially by Entertainment Weekly, but will also be announced on Cemetery Dance.

LMBB

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #18 on: February 27, 2017, 08:28:30 PM »
FYI for those of you who re-read and like to count those in your numbers, Goodreads just made a re-reading function. https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/817-rereading-is-here-let-s-say-it-again-rereading-is-here

I was unreasonably excited about this when I found out :)

Me too!

LMBB

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #19 on: February 27, 2017, 08:34:35 PM »
Haha... I have entire shelves dedicated to SK books as well.

Yeah, I'm at almost two full bookcases now.

FYI, he has a new collaboration with Richard Chizmar being announced tomorrow. It's being announced officially by Entertainment Weekly, but will also be announced on Cemetery Dance.

Ooh, I'll watch the blog! Can't wait to hear about it.

Also, I'm such a book nerd that I decided to name my homebrews after books. Some Stephen King inspired brews were named "Four Past Midnight" (black IPA), Lady of the Shadows (Stout), and Roont IPA. Oh, and I did a cider which I called "Aunt Talitha's Graf".

Mezzie

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #20 on: February 27, 2017, 08:43:34 PM »
I've read 18 books so far this year, not counting rereads. Over my lifetime, I've easily read thousands.

I'm excited about the Goodreads reread feature -- that'll get a lot of use!

Dave1442397

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #21 on: March 01, 2017, 05:45:29 AM »
Here's a link to the order page for the new Stephen King/Richard Chizmar collaboration - http://www.cemeterydance.com/gwendys-button-box-stephen-king-richard-chizmar.html


As for books read, I'm currently on book # 70 for the year. I used to tell people I read 300 books a year, but now that I'm keeping track, it seems to be more than that. I was allowed join the adult library when I was 11, so even at 300 books a year I must have easily read 12,000 books by now.

Icecreamarsenal

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #22 on: July 14, 2017, 07:34:57 PM »
Hey all, hope the reading is going well.  I'll join, this should be a breeze.

Except that my goodreads account is showing me at 88 books...that can't be right, can it?  I haven't been religious about logging things that I've read before opening the account this March.

Currently reading Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Kahneman.

Goodreads.com/icecreamarsenal

Dave1442397

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #23 on: July 30, 2017, 07:00:41 PM »
I'm reading book #226 for the year so far. Five months to go!

yuka

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #24 on: July 30, 2017, 07:35:36 PM »

No, you do not get to count little kid books or even textbooks.


This is an odd stipulation, no? Textbooks take far longer to complete than fun books or casual non-fiction. If you complete the exercises, they may be a full order of magnitude more time-consuming. Granted, I don't think it would even be possible to complete 10 textbooks per year if one has any other purpose or goals in life, but I'd certainly count any that I did finish toward my 1000.

Dee

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #25 on: July 30, 2017, 08:53:49 PM »
Sounds like fun. I want to read more than 1,000, but 1,000 seems like a good goal for now. I track my reading on LibraryThing and my current tally of books read is 371. I don't do a lot of re-reading but kinda wish I did. I think I would often get more enjoyment from the same book read more than once. But it's always a strain to find time to read and there is so much I want to read. Re-reads rarely win out.

SimpleSpartan

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #26 on: July 31, 2017, 12:29:45 AM »
Just read "Simple Path to Wealth" and even after reading JC's stock series found some interesting tid-bits.

Finished reading "Naked Economics" by Charles Wheelan on a camping trip and thoroughly enjoyed its short stories and analogies about economics and how it relates to our economy.

On the deck is Guide to the good life stoicism.

Best of luck on 1k OP!
« Last Edit: July 31, 2017, 12:32:42 AM by SimpleSpartan »

Sailor Sam

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #27 on: July 31, 2017, 11:51:30 AM »
Excellent thread.

I have no idea how many books I've read since I started chapter books. I'm generally voracious, but I stopped pretty much cold during college, and I've increasingly been replacing reading with listening to audio books. Somewhere between 1k and and 3k. ;)

FIREfly34

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #28 on: August 06, 2017, 05:18:29 AM »
As an adult I have voluntarily read the following:

Atlas Shrugged—Ayn Rand
The Foundation Trilogy—Isaac Asimov
War and Peace—Leo Tolstoy
Gone with the Wind—Margaret Mitchell
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy—Douglas Adams

I'm young, so I have a ways to go :)

Icecreamarsenal

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #29 on: August 15, 2017, 08:11:05 AM »
Just finished a novel, Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter.  I rarely read fiction but when I do I'm almost always never disappointed.  It was hard to put down, stimulating, beautifully written, intercontinental, love/life story.  I highly recommend it.

FireHiker

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #30 on: August 15, 2017, 09:41:21 AM »
It may take awhile, but I think I'm going to populate GoodReads and see where I am with this goal. I feel confident I've surpassed it, but have no numbers to back it up. Fun challenge; I'll report back once I feel GR is pretty complete. May be awhile...

Jenny1974

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #31 on: August 15, 2017, 09:52:14 AM »
I'd say I do roughly 4 - 5 a month and have consistently for about the last 5-7 years.  Before that, maybe a couple a month. So, I'm guessing I'm somewhere around 600-700 since I was 18 but that's about as close as I can get!

4n6

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #32 on: August 21, 2017, 07:36:02 PM »
I do think that I have read more than this. More likely 2000 because I have 1000 books in my office that I have read, but are for research. However, as a college professor reading books is part of the basic trade. I read for fun and for my job. If I were saying that I read just books for pleasure (difficult to say b/c I love reading books that go into my research) it probably is less than 1000.

FireHiker

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #33 on: August 22, 2017, 09:38:16 AM »
I'm still populating goodreads, but am so far only up to 206. I have more to add, but definitely not 800 more. Re-reading LOTR annually all those years, among lots of other re-reads, sure decreases the total number of different books read. Time to up my reading game! One of my big motivations for FIRE, more time for the things I enjoy. Off to add books to my library ebook wish list...

FireHiker

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #34 on: August 23, 2017, 12:09:23 PM »
I've been keeping lists of books read for years.... Just tabulated them all, and I am at approximately 580. I tried to catch re-reads, so they would only count once.

Full disclosure, that does include several books I read a a teenager (I read many adult books as a teen & now as an adult, I read a lot of young adult fiction, lol).

I did also take several English Lit classes in high school & college, so I am including novels, plays, and biographies read as part of courses, as they are not truly textbooks.

I am including tracking back to when I was about 10, which is when I first read LOTR. I read all 1463 unabridged pages of Les Miserables when I was 12, I'm counting it! I also took English lit classes in high school and college (minored in English Lit) so I also included novels, plays, and biographies from those courses. I'm not done tabulating yet; I keep thinking of other books I've read then approximating the year. There's no chance of remembering all the trashy romance books I read that summer I babysat and had a whole bookcase at my disposal while the kids played with their friends. Best job ever; all I had to do was be on-hand and make them lunch.

I sure wish I'd kept a list earlier though; my list only goes back to 2015, so everything else is looking back through my bookcase trying to remember when I read it.

OthalaFehu

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #35 on: September 17, 2017, 09:54:20 AM »
Lots of people can say they have read thousands of books, it's like Wilt Chamberlain vs Gene Simmons. Do you have the titles listed to prove it?

trashmanz

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #36 on: September 17, 2017, 10:41:43 AM »
A few years ago I started tracking on goodreads, hopefully the site stays alive for a long while now that I'm so invested in it.  Although it would have been great to have started tracking way back when because a long time ago I was in the middle of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series and also somewhere in Sue Grafton's letters, but not sure where now and I don't know if I want to start from the beginning to find out where I am at! 

formerlydivorcedmom

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #37 on: October 30, 2017, 02:05:00 PM »
I've found my tribe!

I am a book nerd.

I had more than 1000 books in my bedroom when I was 15 (I counted).  Those ended up forming the bulk of the juvenile fiction section when our little town opened its first library the next year.  (The librarian adored me; I never ever had to pay a fine for overdue books while I lived there.)

I think I currently own more than 1000 books (but I haven't counted recently).  These are mostly books I love to re-read.

Right now, I read 3-4 books a week on a slow week.

I gobble up romance (especially historical), cozy mysteries, biographies / memoirs, Texas history, and some historical fiction and thrillers.

I've infected my children with the book-love too.

Dave1442397

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #38 on: October 30, 2017, 05:28:11 PM »
I've found my tribe!

I am a book nerd.

I had more than 1000 books in my bedroom when I was 15 (I counted).  Those ended up forming the bulk of the juvenile fiction section when our little town opened its first library the next year.  (The librarian adored me; I never ever had to pay a fine for overdue books while I lived there.)

I think I currently own more than 1000 books (but I haven't counted recently).  These are mostly books I love to re-read.

Right now, I read 3-4 books a week on a slow week.

I gobble up romance (especially historical), cozy mysteries, biographies / memoirs, Texas history, and some historical fiction and thrillers.

I've infected my children with the book-love too.

Isn't that the best thing? My daughter can't understand why most of her friends don't read outside of assigned classwork.

I just started book #320 for the year. Hitting 365 should be no problem :)

formerlydivorcedmom

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #39 on: November 01, 2017, 07:32:51 AM »
Isn't that the best thing? My daughter can't understand why most of her friends don't read outside of assigned classwork.

I just started book #320 for the year. Hitting 365 should be no problem :)

I hope your daughter has a few friends who love to read as much as she does.  The two high school friends I talk to the most are the ones who swapped books with me through school; even now, living far apart, we tend to have book discussions frequently.

My girls were lucky enough to find friends who like to read. The 6th grader is in the school book club with her BFF.  The 5th grader and her friends spend most lunch hours discussing which classmate should be in which Harry Potter house.  The 3rd grader is waiting for his friends to graduate to reading for pleasure.

bucketsofrain

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Re: 1,000 books read
« Reply #40 on: November 03, 2017, 06:56:14 PM »
This is awesome -- I'm joining! I read so much for fun until I went to college. It slowed down a bit and now (at 27) I'm finally reading as much as I used to. I'll update with my number once I update Goodreads! Also, if anyone wants to be friends over there, let me know. Always looking for more friends so I can get more recommendations!

 

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