How many books did you read in 2023?

[glitzy07]

According to Storygraph, I read 26 books. But 19 of them were romance, so...

[taratru]

Only 47 of my 52 goal. Womp womp. I've set a goal of 60 this year.

[Vespasia]

Jan 10, 2024 10:28:22 GMT -5 glitzy07 said:

According to Storygraph, I read 26 books. But 19 of them were romance, so...

So? They're books, they count. So do audiobooks and graphic novels. Don't denigrate your own reading. 

[ellipses84]

I’m a speed reader but I think I read all the words very fast, not just skim the page. For audiobooks if the narrators are too slow or fast you can change the speed. I often set it to 1.2 so I finish those faster. I probably DNF 10% of what I start. There’s too many great books to read to spend time on a bad one! If I know it’s worth reading but I’m not feeling it, I’ll put it aside until I’m in the right mood to read that type of book.

[heygrey]

Jan 10, 2024 10:28:22 GMT -5 glitzy07 said:

According to Storygraph, I read 26 books. But 19 of them were romance, so...

Almost everything I read is romance or equally fluffy. The books I count toward my reading goal are my down time where I want a brain break. I read a lot of challenging material for my job, but that’s work. I don’t want to work when I read for fun.

[msmerymac]

47, nearly all digital and a few audio. Mostly autobiographies/memoirs I listen to. I have the best intentions of reading paper books and love book stores, but it’s so much more convenient to take my kindle with me.

[neverfstop]

Jan 10, 2024 11:12:51 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

I’m a speed reader but I think I read all the words very fast, not just skim the page. For audiobooks if the narrators are too slow or fast you can change the speed. I often set it to 1.2 so I finish those faster. I probably DNF 10% of what I start. There’s too many great books to read to spend time on a bad one! If I know it’s worth reading but I’m not feeling it, I’ll put it aside until I’m in the right mood to read that type of book.

I listen on 1.5 or 1.75 depending on the narrator or accent...I can't force myself to listen to regular podcasts or audiobooks on 1x speed now....people sound like they are stuck on mud!

[InBetweenDays]

Jan 10, 2024 11:12:51 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

I’m a speed reader but I think I read all the words very fast, not just skim the page. For audiobooks if the narrators are too slow or fast you can change the speed. I often set it to 1.2 so I finish those faster. I probably DNF 10% of what I start. There’s too many great books to read to spend time on a bad one! If I know it’s worth reading but I’m not feeling it, I’ll put it aside until I’m in the right mood to read that type of book.

"Who can run forward and back and read everything on the stack? Speed Reader, Speed Reader." Most of you are probably too young to remember Speed Reader and Gary Gnu from the Great Space Coaster  

[sadie]

29. This was my first year tracking books.

[madringal]

174. My goal was one and week and the I just kind of spiraled.

90% of those were on my Kindle. I’ve never done an audiobook. I love to read for the silence. Someone in my ear would drive me bananas.

[krystee]

I read 126. 125 were print books and one was audio.

[estrellita]

40, I think I only had a couple audio at most, the rest were paper. I can't listen to audio books like I used to at work and I'm not in my car as much anymore!

[onomatopoeia]

I've read about 120, based on my Kindle tracking. Maybe 12 of those were audiobooks. I can't remember the last time I read a physical book. I'm a pretty fast reader and I love to read. I'll pick up a book before I turn on the TV.

I know not everyone enjoys reading but that graph is a bit depressing to me.

[ssmjlm]

105 books read

20 DNFs

I do have a bookstagram, so I read a lot and get several advance copies.

[jeaniebueller]

23! Short of my goal. I’ve been laid up so I’ve read 5 so far in January.

[sonrisa]

I could count them on my fingers , I bet. And most of those were audio books or read alouds to my kids.

I have shifted to mostly podcasts. when/if I dive back in to reading properly, I don’t anticipate a higher book count. The next thing on my ‘to read’ shelf is Moby Dick and I’m unlikely to race through it.

[statgirl]

258 non-kid books. Mostly paper (library or free and passed on), with a small amount of ebooks split between Kindle and Libby on phone and about 20 audiobooks during commutes. I did most of the Outlander series so those took a longer time than I would like.

[penguingrrl]

I have no clue but would guess 20-30 books for fun plus a bunch of reading for school, though that was more articles and legal decisions rather than books. One or two were ebooks, the rest were paper. I can’t focus to audio, I end up lost in my own thoughts and missing too much (can’t do podcasts either for that reason). H does 90% of his reading by audiobook during his commute or walking the dog and loves it.

[basilosaurus]

Jan 15, 2024 11:45:34 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

I have no clue but would guess 20-30 books for fun plus a bunch of reading for school, though that was more articles and legal decisions rather than books. One or two were ebooks, the rest were paper. I can’t focus to audio, I end up lost in my own thoughts and missing too much (can’t do podcasts either for that reason). H does 90% of his reading by audiobook during his commute or walking the dog and loves it.

I'm the same unless I'm driving (not metro!), walking, or cooking. My brain and hands have to be otherwise engaged. I drive so little now I'd never complete an audio book, not like when I had quite long daily commutes. So that's really cut down on podcasts.

[penguingrrl]

Jan 15, 2024 12:30:37 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Jan 15, 2024 11:45:34 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

I have no clue but would guess 20-30 books for fun plus a bunch of reading for school, though that was more articles and legal decisions rather than books. One or two were ebooks, the rest were paper. I can’t focus to audio, I end up lost in my own thoughts and missing too much (can’t do podcasts either for that reason). H does 90% of his reading by audiobook during his commute or walking the dog and loves it.

I'm the same unless I'm driving (not metro!), walking, or cooking. My brain and hands have to be otherwise engaged. I drive so little now I'd never complete an audio book, not like when I had quite long daily commutes. So that's really cut down on podcasts.

That makes sense. I can’t even follow if I’m driving. Music works for driving because I just go from sing to song and if I miss some it’s fine, a story or podcast I get lost.

[Jalapeñomel]

Jan 15, 2024 12:39:14 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Jan 15, 2024 12:30:37 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I'm the same unless I'm driving (not metro!), walking, or cooking. My brain and hands have to be otherwise engaged. I drive so little now I'd never complete an audio book, not like when I had quite long daily commutes. So that's really cut down on podcasts.

That makes sense. I can’t even follow if I’m driving. Music works for driving because I just go from sing to song and if I miss some it’s fine, a story or podcast I get lost.

It’s a skill—-Just like you have to learn to read, you have to learn to listen to audiobooks!

[penguingrrl]

Jan 15, 2024 14:13:34 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Jan 15, 2024 12:39:14 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

That makes sense. I can’t even follow if I’m driving. Music works for driving because I just go from sing to song and if I miss some it’s fine, a story or podcast I get lost.

It’s a skill—-Just like you have to learn to read, you have to learn to listen to audiobooks!

Interesting! I wonder if I could get there. I’ve tried a few times and not been successful. I also can’t handle a lecture for school that isn’t interactive. I need either an outline to follow, or things to read along on the board or something visual to keep my focus. But I may try again.

[wawa]

Jan 15, 2024 14:13:34 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Jan 15, 2024 12:39:14 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

That makes sense. I can’t even follow if I’m driving. Music works for driving because I just go from sing to song and if I miss some it’s fine, a story or podcast I get lost.

It’s a skill—-Just like you have to learn to read, you have to learn to listen to audiobooks!

I had this realization recently and I've been working on this!  

I've started to listen to audiobooks and podcasts while doing my weekend food prep. It took a LOT of tries where I'd realize I hadn't been paying attention for the past who knows how many minutes and would have to re-wind, but I'm getting the hang of it being able to keep enough focus on the story not to lose it entirely.  The thing that kinda got me over the hump was a deeply mindless cheesy historical romance novel where if you zone out for a minute you aren't *really* missing anything vital you can't guess at.  Have now upgraded to less predictable plots.

But I swear to god my family can sense when a story is getting interesting and decide it's a good moment to pop into the kitchen to ask me 2233464756757 questions.  STOP BOTHERING ME THE BONE WITCH IS BATTLING A DEMON RIGHT THE FUCK NOW *and*  I'm trying to count scoops of flour.  (current audio read: www.goodreads.com/book/show/30095464-the-bone-witch)

But it's still slow aF because we're pretty much talking about a 2-3 hour window per week.  So I didn't get through my current one before it expired and I had to return it to the library and then put it back on my holds list to get it back. (I'm next in line!)  I want to try audiobooks while crocheting more complicated things or knitting (I can crochet simple things while reading a print book) but am in the middle of a easy-to-me crochet project right now so that has to wait.  Pretty sure i'll get bored if I just have an audiobook and this blanket to work on.  (god that sounds absurd. stupid brain.)

[Jalapeñomel]

Jan 15, 2024 14:33:04 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Jan 15, 2024 14:13:34 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

It’s a skill—-Just like you have to learn to read, you have to learn to listen to audiobooks!

Interesting! I wonder if I could get there. I’ve tried a few times and not been successful. I also can’t handle a lecture for school that isn’t interactive. I need either an outline to follow, or things to read along on the board or something visual to keep my focus. But I may try again.

Different skill, one I’ve yet to master. lol

[dontlook]

Jan 15, 2024 14:33:04 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

Jan 15, 2024 14:13:34 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

It’s a skill—-Just like you have to learn to read, you have to learn to listen to audiobooks!

Interesting! I wonder if I could get there. I’ve tried a few times and not been successful. I also can’t handle a lecture for school that isn’t interactive. I need either an outline to follow, or things to read along on the board or something visual to keep my focus. But I may try again.

I couldn’t listen to audiobooks for a long time until I picked a memoir read by the author. It was so engaging. I still zone out during fiction audiobooks but not during nonfiction.

[lilac05]

I also prefer nonfiction for audiobooks. And I speed them up. 1.0 speed is too slow and my mind wanders. A tip I heard was to speed it up to 2.0x for 30 seconds or so, and let your brain adjust to that speed, then slow it down to 1.5x and decide if you want to go faster or slower from there.