From a post on another thread: I've yet to find someone in my life who loves reading as much as I do

Me neither, except everywhere on LT! :)

But in your social circle, are you the outlier when it comes to reading? Or is there someone even you stand agape at?

No one in my RL social group even comes close to my 200-ish books a year. My husband reads MAYBE a sixth of what I do. If the person I know is a reader, they typically read 10 - 12 books a year, at most.

Message edited by its author, May 16, 2008, 11:05am.

My husband and two closest friend reads as much as I do. It's great!

Message edited by its author, May 16, 2008, 11:13am.

I am definitely the only person in my social circle who reads so much. A few do read, and some a fair amount, but none of them like me.

I have a friend who reads books in one day or a couple of days so simply because she reads so fast she does read more than me, but I would be a close second.

To Morphidae, 200 a year that is amazing and I would love to do that but I don't have the time OR I need to take a speed reading course. Are you reading long novels or mixing it up?

I read a wide range of books from short 150 - 200 page nonfiction to 700 - 900 page novels.

The only person I know of like me is my co-worker Leslie. She and I are constantly talking & buying books. We both have to sneak them in our homes w/o hubbies watching and we both visit bookstores on a very frequent basis. It's great!

#7 That is great. The only relationship I have like that is the love of classical music I share with one of my old school friends - we're renewing our symphony season tickets after several year's hiatus. Our menfolk and other friends just roll their eyes when we get started.

As far as books, none of my friends are readers - despite the fact that they were all better students in school than I was. My husband has several readers among his friends, but when we get together as couples, the conversation rarely turns to books. I've scoped out their bookcases, though, and would love to have a one-on-one conversation with some of those men. I doubt either their wives or my husband would be very thrilled about it, though!

#8--that's a bummer that you don't have a close friend who loves to read. Unfortunately no one in my family takes reading as seriously as I do--that's a disappointment to me. And I'm glad to see someone else who scopes out bookcases in others home besides me.

>8: the conversation rarely turns to books

yes, all other topics, why not books? They're practically a conversation-stopper. Maybe you could stand by the bookshelves long enough for someone to notice and come over. Or say, "Hey, I noticed you have such-and-such..." A book-lover would love that you noticed.

Even people I know who do read don't seem to be all that excited about it. That's what I see most on LT -- the passion :)

Book buddies! That's what I love about LT. My friends aren't stupid, but they are all techie types, engineers and numbers people who haven't cracked anything besides an owner's manual since school days. If you try to talk to them about books they stare at you blankly and change the topic to their latest software, construction project, analysis, audit,... you get the picture.

#7... She and I are constantly talking & buying books. We both have to sneak them in our homes w/o hubbies watching and we both visit bookstores on a very frequent basis.

This sounds like me! My husband loves to read, too, but he's much more practical than I am. So I try to de-emphasize my book purchases. ;)

One of my best friends reads more than me (this may change now that I am out of school), but other than her, no one else even comes close. Most of my friends wouldn't know a book if it bit them on the nose. And while both my parents enjoy reading from time to time, they don't love it the way I do.

I have friends that are into reading, just not as much reading as I am. I read fast, which helps. The books that we share with each other always provoke a good discussion, but he just doesn't find the time to read that I do.

My close friends all read. I read more than they do because I work less than some of them or I have fewer kids than they do, so I have more time to read. I also read faster than all of them. They are more into fantasy than I am anymore these days and I read more mystery & historic fiction than they do now. When we all go book shopping together we compare the differnt hings we have chosen. Our kids are all about the same age and we usually end up talking about kids books. We're all currently reading the Captain Underpants series.

My casual friends mostly don't read, unless Oprah or Dr Phil recommend it.

My parents read thrillers & recent history. They read constantly. They probably read more than I do these days because they are retired and have plenty of time while on cruises and things. My brother read a book....about a year or so ago

I've been in a bookclub for 11 years and have those friends that read, but we're all so busy that we only meet as a group once a month to discuss that month's book. One of those women is the manager of an independent bookstore, so she picks super fantastic books.

Of course, now that I'm in LT I have lots and lots of books to suggest for next year's read!

Plus, I have all of you to discuss books with.

My in-laws read and one of my neighbor reads but we rarely discuss books because I'm so busy with work, husband, and 14-year old daughter.

#15 & 16
I wish my parents read more. I give them books all the time to borrow, but I don't think they actually read them. We NEVER discuss them. It upsets me. :(

You are so right about reading being a conversation stopper. most people think I'm nuts, including my husband! I have 3 or 4 friend who read...some. Maybe 1 of those gets into it the way I do. I have told her about LT but she hasn't said if she checked into it.

Message edited by its author, May 16, 2008, 3:27pm.

I have friends that read, but they don't read a lot and only read certain genres. So if I love a book or series like Outlander more than likely nobody will read it. If it is a Dean Koontz book or somehting light like Julie Kenner they might read it. This is why I love LT because I find people that love to read as much as I do. Most read all kinds of books and aren't afraid to branch out and try something new.

I am more obsessed with reading and books than anyone I know in my "real life," but I do know several people who read more books than I do. I tend to keep up with book related news and participate more in book talk than they do. For them, reading is simply reading. For me, it's much more than that.

My mother reads a ton. She's retired and can afford to spend a lot of time reading, so I suspect she gets through quite a bit more than I do.

She's about it, though. A couple of my good friends are big readers and enjoy some book discussion, but most of the people I know either aren't interested or consider themselves too busy to read much.

My ex-husband is the only person I've ever met who reads as much as I do, but he reads spy novels and sci-fi almost exclusively and he just tears through those. My mom is closest to me in reading of nonfiction, but I'm a much faster reader than she is. I did learn the habit of reading while the TV is on from her, though.

I have noticed I'm a good influence on my friends when it comes to reading. I loan out lots of books and get them to read-not alot, but some. For some of them, a book I let them borrow is the first one they haven't been assigned for school.

I am the biggest reader in our circle of friends but these past few months have not been reading the way I usually do. Things in real life have cut down my reading simply because I now fall asleep far too easily and take longer to do general chores. Also, I have discovered the talk side of LT and spent too long on here.

#8 - the only person who has come close to my reading habit is a friend of my husbands from work. We have lost touch now by moving to different cities but used to live on the same street.

One night when my husband was working he and his wife invited me 'round for tea at 6:00pm, the meal was lovely and over it we got chatting about music and then books. His wife isn't a reader and doesn't like the music we were discussing and so must have felt a bit left out. After what I thought was a couple of hours of chatting and a bit too much wine I said I should go home because "it must be getting on for nine o clock now." It was nearly 4am (but in my defence the clocks did go forward an hour that night. His wife was not happy, I was never asked back on my own and my husband was about ready for reporting me missing by the time I got in and found 11 missed calls from him. When my husband asked what we had been doing for all that time he answered his own question along with me: "talking about books."

So from experience I can agree, thier wives will not like it.

I'm curious about people using the term "in real life" as opposed to reading or chatting on LT. I see the term used a fair amount here. So -- does that mean you don't consider reading as part of real life? Is that a reaction to non-readers around you who criticize the time you spend reading? Just curious...

Teelgee - I use the term "real life" simply to differentiate between people I know off line from those I know online. It's not that people I know strictly online aren't a part of my real life, of course. It's just an easy way to distinguish between the two in conversation. It has nothing to do with my actual reading.

#25 - That's how I use it too and it's the way I see it used by the other people on other websites that I use.

I used it in #23 as a way to separate my time off-line from my time on-line rather from my reading time, which is very much under the real life catagory.

My circle of friends is very small but I have never met anyone who read more than I do. I have a friend in Japan who reads almost as much but he is hampered work and access to books in English.

I don't know anyone who reads as much as I do. I always have a book with me. My friends greet me with "What are you reading?" not "Hello" or "How are you?" I read over 300 fiction books a year and then there are those books one finishes or not, yet always seem to be reading six or seven at a time. Another 200 or so.

On our first major move, about thirty years ago, I remember selling 1300 books. I stll have many of those I was able to keep. I read library books, download audio books, buy books, rent books, have e-books on my PC and PDA. My TBR list grows daily.

I'm addicted! I'm compulsive! I'm obsessed!

I too, always have a book with me. I am the biggest bibliophile I know..and I know some readers!

I have a small circle of friends.. and I like it that way. I need alone time like I need oxygen. Of course that alone-ness does not include my furkids.. I need them too.

As for real-life.. I too use that term to differentiate between online friends, and offline friends. There are a few online folks that I wish were available offline to me... some people "feel" more like people I wish I knew in the neighborhood.

#29 - I agree about wishing we could have a neighbourhood of on-line friends off-line, there are people here on library thing that I talk to on a daily basis and whose lives I feel quite involved in. Yet my oldest real life friend lives ten minutes away from me and I hardly see or speak to her for weeks at a time.

I am the only person I know who reads as much as I do. I have many friends who (gasp!) don't read.

I belong to a book club that meets every six weeks. The other members almost only read the book club selections, whereas I don't even start it until a week before we meet.

The reason I'm here in the first place is I'm the biggest bibliophile I know and my friends can't keep up!

I got the reading gene from my father but bizarrely he seems to be reading less now that he has retired and our tastes are divergent. He reads a lot of history, which I don't. There is the odd book we have bonded over - we both loved The Secret History, for example. My mum mostly scolds me for spending money on books rather than "useful stuff".

I have similar problems with others. My best friend reads more or less exclusively politics books. We share similar politics, but don't often discuss it in relation to books.

I guess for many of my friends reading is something they do just to pass the time, whereas I'd say for me it was a hell of a lot more than that. It's only online and at my book group that I have found people who share similar tastes to me but, even at my book group I am occasionally asked "Have you read everything?"

It's also good for my ego that friends come to me for recommendations when they are looking for something to read.

Most of my friends are readers; but none of them read at the same pace. They're all more "one or two books per month" type readers. But what matters to me is that we still talk about books. It's a big discussion topic in my office as well.

None of my friends read nearly the amount of books I do. My fiance likes to read, but he only does it in small doses, so it's impossible to have any kind of conversation about a book with him. It will take him a month to read one novel. I think even he is a bit concerned with my plans to convert a room of our house into a library, but he knows better than to question it! I definitely got my love of books from my grandmother. She was the one person who read as constantly as I did, with a book in her purse at all times and all that. LT is my pseudo-replacement for her, I think.

I've got one friend who reads a lot, but we don't overlap much on the genres. She stays mostly to fairy-fantasy type books, which I really don't like at all, and I stay more to the basic basic fiction. The only interest we really share is the classics, which is good I guess because that's a large spectrum of books, and our "random pick" thing. With our random pick we go into a library, each pick a random book with our eyes closed and then take turns reading them. I like that because it gives us some really very weird books to read, and I think it helps me get over any snobbery I might have about only reading "good" books. And also, like #34 said, LT is there to replace any lack of friends who read.

In real life, I know a few people who read as much or more than I do - but most people I know aren't great readers. One of the great things about LT is that I *don't* feel like a book-addicted freak here: I read lots - at least two or three books a week, and way more when I'm on holiday - but there are so many people here who read *way* more than I do!

"a book-addicted freak"?

So Caty, what are you saying? That when you are here you are just one book addicted freak among many? Is that it?

Well... its true, I think.. even I think that I am a a book-addicted freak.

Bibliophile is a much nicer word, but not quite as true, somehow as a book-addicted freak. At least not in my case...

*sigh*

#28: How do you read over 300 books a year? I'm just curious as to how that is logistically possible. Do you not watch tv?

My 70 year-old mother still outreads me. She regularly cranks out a book a day. She now prefers large-print books but can still read regular print.

#38 I'm just curious as to how that is logistically possible. Do you not watch tv?

I'll take a stab at an answer to that one. A book-a-day is sustainable, but you have to set aside several hours a day for just reading; so, yes, to spend that much time reading, television necessarily becomes a lower priority - as does the Internet. (A full-time job puts a real crimp in your time, too....)

My longest sustained burst of reading was a summer during college: I had a part-time job as a night watchman, two 12-hour shifts. . . and I quickly found that I could usually knock off three average-length books a night, six books a weekend - and, with my shifts over with for the week, the entire rest of my week was then free . . . for more reading. I recall many weeks when I was getting through upwards of a dozen books; I must have torn through something like 150 books that summer. (And, yes, from age 17 until I was 29, I didn't own a television.)

So, yeah: 300 books a year is logistically possible.

And VisibleGhost's 70 year old mom reads around 365 a year. Go figure.

A lot of how much reading one gets done depends on reading speed. My Mom consistently reads about 130 pages per hour. A 500 page book will take her around four hours reading time. My Dad reads at about 25 pages per hour. The same 500 pages will take him around twenty hours reading time. I'm in between the two of them.

One more thing about my dear Mom's reading. She's a marketer's nightmare. The bulk of her reading is Christian fiction and True Crime. The other day when I went over she had Beverly Lewis's and Ann Rule's latest books on the couch. I just had to smile even tho' I've seen that combination before.

I don't know anyone who reads as much as I do. This may be changing, as I'm getting to know a coworker of mine, and I think maybe she does. Also I started a book club through my university (I'm getting my masters in library science) and have met some like-minded souls that way. I would love to have more "book friends" but of course I always have LT!

No one I know reads as much as I do, with the possible exception of my youngest daughter (age 17), and she does not read a lot outside of Christian fiction, so we do not really talk about books because I read a lot other than Christian fiction. My husband of almost 20 years has read exactly 1 book in the whole our married life. My eldest daughter (age 18) goes on reading jags where she will read quite a bit, and then will go for months without reading a book. I appreciate Library Thing because it gives me a sounding board with fellow booklovers!

See? How can I be the biggest reader I know ... when I'm such small potatoes around LT? :)

I think I'll meet my 888 Challenge this year (64 books), and the pace of it has made me overcome some sloppy reading habits. But next year and the years after? -- it's sloppy lifestyle that'll change if I want to keep it up: TV, Internet, Kendall-Jackson...

Wow I am very impressed w/ VisbleGhosts mother and muzzie. I"m lucky if I get one read a month and I truly love to read--its that darned 40 hr. a week job and the family committments, housework, etc. that get in the way--not to mention that when I finally sit to read at night, I'm so tired I'm snoozing after a couple pages! If I read 300 + books a year I would get thru my TBR pile in just one short year instead of a lifetime. Kudos to all you speed readers--I'm so jealous.

#40--Wow, that just amazes me. I love my books, but I also do love tv. You're right, a full-time job really does impede your reading!

When you read that many books in a short amount of time, do you retain them? It's hard for me to recall plots and endings of books I read last year.

I'm from a family of readers, but I'm definitely the "book-addicted freak" of the bunch. So much so that my youngest sister, who brought home 11 books from a recent library trip, says that she doesn't like to read. Well, OK, just 'cause I read 60 books so far this year....(Whenever I feel guilty, I remind myself that it's my professional development as a librarian)

My friends really don't read much at all, though I guess it depends on how you define reading. I figure nonfiction and the newspaper counts, so my dad is a reader in my opinion, but some folks only count novels. What do you think?

Some people are book readers, some newspapers & magazines and some both. Then there are those who don't read at all (who I don't understand). I count everything but the last as readers.

Yep, definitely an outlier -- even my wife doesn't hit the 180-200 books a year that I typically read.

In my circle of friends, many will read 40-50 books a year. They seem to spend a lot more time watching movies and TV or taking care of their kids.

Of course, my co-workers (at a large midwestern university no less) are the worst. Most of them, from what I can tell, don't read anything but the daily paper, the odd magazine, and trade journals. Not much of an intellectual life, if you ask me.

My mom is probably the only person I know who reads as much as me, but she reads harlequin romance novels almost exclusively and I read mostly literary fiction, memoirs, and "pop" non-fiction and have never once read a straight romance novel so it's not exactly like we have much to talk about when it comes to reading.

The rest of my family reads at a much slower pace as do most of my friends. Most of them are readers. It seems to be that when they've read a book they talk to me about it because chances are I've read it. I do talk about the books I've read but it doesn't seem to bother them. There was once, when a friend I hadn't known very long had started picking up books as I mentioned them, that I had to point out that if he kept doing that he was going to end up with a lot more books than he thought he was.

Oddly enough it seems that in high school my reading habit was only slightly more extreme than a lot of my friends but as I've grown older everyone seems to read less.

Who has time for a social life if you are going to read. Besides what would you talk about with those people?

Good point xenchu. I love to talk books and if I get started I can almost see the panic in some peoples eyes.

#47:When you read that many books in a short amount of time, do you retain them?

Errm, well, they do tend to smear together a bit in memory.
There's an old Woody Allen joke that's pertinent here:

I took a speed reading course and read 'War and Peace' in twenty minutes.

It involves Russia.

Oh, and to answer the original question: No, my wife reads more than I do.

Message edited by its author, May 28, 2008, 9:34pm.

No one in my social circle read as much as I do (I'm a slow reader, though).
I think most of my friends don't read classics or other great books at all.

That's one reason why I love LibraryThing!! :))

Message edited by its author, May 29, 2008, 12:52am.

Do you now that the U.S. doesn't even rank in the top 15 countries who read the most? That's pretty sad.
My husband is not a reader and I have the walls covered in books and always have 1 or 2 in my car and often 1 in my purse.
I DO have friends and family who read but not usually the variety of genre's that I do.

It's just a way of life!

Message edited by its author, May 29, 2008, 1:48pm.

Sunnie, where do we rank and who ranks above us? Where is this info from? I'm intrigued...

Sunnie - Yes please tell us. I'd like to know where Canada ranks in there.

The only person I know who reads more than I do is my mother. Most of my friends do read, but not as much as I do. My husband hardly reads at all. I've actually cut way back on the number of TV shows I watch, and with two young kids, I hardly ever see movies. I try to use what precious time I have reading or writing (when I'm not on LT or bookmooch, both of which are HIGHLY addictive!).

I'm not surprised at all to find that the U.S. doesn't rank in the top 15 countries. I think it's sad, but I'm not surprised.

My sister-in-law and father-in-law are voracious readers. So are a couple of the ladies in my book group. But most of my closest friends don't have a clue. All of those folks probably read more than I do, if only because they don't have kids at home (or at all).

A fun thing happened last night, though. My neighbor was having a barbeque and all the folks from our culdesac were invited. One of the attendees was a couple four houses over that I'd only talked to once in the five years I've lived here. The woman was noticeably ill at ease; her arms were tightly crossed and she wasn't mingling. Having been that person at parties myself more often than not (I frequently flee from people and seek out the host's bookcases), I tried in my own socially-awkward way to draw her out. Things weren't going well. Then she mentioned having once lived in Denver, and I asked her if she had often visited The Tattered Cover. IMMEDIATELY, her eyes brightened, her arms came uncrossed, her smile widened and we had a GREAT conversation about books and reading and bookstores. Turns out she and her husband are BOTH voracious readers. (I dropped a hint that if they ever have books they need to get rid of..... Well, you know.) Anyway, I just that was so cool that books ended up being the ice-breaker of the century. Book lovers just RECOGNIZE each other.

#60

This sounds like the bibiliophile equivalent of gaydar, although I'm not sure what you'd call that. It is a great feeling when you find another bookworm, though.

Isn't Iceland near the top of the list of countries who read the most (books)?
I've read somewhere that Norwegians read most newspapers in the 'world'??
I guess we read a lot of books, too.....

Message edited by its author, May 30, 2008, 9:52am.

My mom is the only one I know who reads as much as I do. That is probably where I caught the bug. She lives far away so we can only talk on the phone. I remember having a conversation with her and she asked me, "Who do you talk to about the books you read?". At least now I can tell her about LT. I am an attorney and one of my friends reads a little but nobody talks about books. It is frustrating but that's the way it is. I would rather read than just watch television and have plenty of people to talk to about that.

I read the most out of the people I know (about 150+ a year). My family is mildly interested in reading but not to the degree that I am. Though I've always suspected my mom is a big reader, except her main language is Chinese and living in Canada there isn't a steady supply of Chinese books.

I do have one group of friends who love books, but I've moved away from them, so I only get to see them once every few years. We keep the book love alive through email and instant messaging though! And send each other packages of books on special occasions.

I read the most out of the people I know....although I have a few friends that read as well...

Most of my friends read about 5-10 books per year I would guess, usually some book that is very popular at the moment and is considered a "must read."

One of my best friends is a librarian and I used to have wonderful bookish conversations with her, but she moved last year to pursue her phd.

My husband has recently (probably due to my nagging) started reading more. He is up to about 10 books yearly.

I am the biggest reader I know with about 100-150 books per year. My parents both read a lot. My father has alway preferred reading to televison or movies (or anything else). He mostly reads scifi/fantasy which I also enjoy. My mother loves historical fiction and chick-lit books. I read more than they do, but I blame them for my reading addiction. And I thank them often for it!! In fact, may I suggest that if you are a reader due to the encouragment of your parents, thank them for giving you such a wonderful life-long hobby. I don't have kids yet; but when I do, I will use my own parents as the ideal to live up to.

I have one very bookish friend, but our tastes are so different that we don't really talk shop that much. What I'd really love is to find a man who enjoys reading even half as much as I do. In my last relationship, the guy I dated owned a total of ten books. I gave him five of those.

My friends brag about my reading, which makes me feel uncomfortable. And is awkward at social gatherings:

Well-Intentioned Friend: Elle can read a book in a day! She reads constantly, she's like a reading-machine!
Other Person:......

My friends all read a lot, actually. Just different stuff, and I read faster, I guess.

Message edited by its author, May 30, 2008, 11:56pm.

I am not good at social gatherings either #60. I usually avoid them altogether!
I can so feel for you and your new friend.. being in that situation.. but then again.. I am glad you found another book lover in the neighborhood! Hope you like some of the same things so you can share!

I read more than anyone else I know.. I often wish that there was someone else to talk books with.. no wonder I spend so much time reading about reading here at LT!
It's the next best thing

i have 4 friends who read as much as i do, and with 3 of them i share the same strong interest in current affairs and in history, so whenever we have the very rare chance of getting together (we all live in different countries now), it's always a long and lively discussion of the latest books and reads we've had on the these subjects. sadly, my colleagues and the bulk of people i know only read what's necessary for their work or required for study --- never something for the sheer pleasure of reading.

happily, my husband is one of the biggest readers i know though lately because of work demands he has focused more on the technical stuff. i get to read, then, much more than him in terms of non-technical readings, and it helps that i'm a speed reader. while we have a few thousand titles between us, and spread (in storage) in several countries, i'm not yet the biggest bibliophile i know. we have a friend who owns around 8,000 books, only about a third of which fit into his apartment that he actually has to rent storage for the other thousands. he knows how voracious a reader i am so tells me i'm welcome to borrow his books anytime. i don't know when it will be but definitely one of these days i'm just gonna show up at his door with a really big empty box.

I've not met anyone outside my family, except the librarian who reads at all, let alone as much as I do. However in my family...wow, we really go through some books! My mother is a much faster reader than I am...she eats through works such as Tacitus and Epictetus in three or four days, then reads a Dickens for light reading. Last year she read an entire set of World Events Encylopedias! And she still beats me on the number of books I read a year.

My grandmother is ninety and she is always having me send books over for her to read. Just recently she borrowed seventeen to hold her until her next visit.

My dad and sisters are similar. It's kind of fun too, because we still live at home, and we all have different reading tastes, so our bedrooms have become 'mini-libraries". I have the mystery and nineteenth century fiction, one sister has the fantasy and sci/fi section, another sister has the plays and classical poetry division. The Living room/Dining Rom is divided-- dad has post-apocalyptic and conspiracy theory fiction, and my mother has classical works, reference, and Civil War histories. The best part is when non-readers pop in for a visit and the first remark they make is " wow, you've got books."

Oklahoma,
I haven't met anyone outside my family who reads like I do either! My mother reads about 200 books each year, and has been the major influence in my bibliomania!! She gave me Romeo and Juliet to read when I was in fifth grade, and she is the reason I fell in love with Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende! About half the books I read each year come from her library (which is huge and ever-changing). And in my adult life, I have come across countless books that I have picked up and read just because I remember their covers lying around the house when I was young! Thanks, mom!!

I don't think I read all that much compared to some readers here (last year, I read 123 books) and yet I'm by far the person who reads the most in my circle of friends and in my family. I cannot for the life of me remember when I saw a friend of mine with a book that wasn't for one of our classes, but they constantly see me with a new book.
My parents own no books and have never read any since they left high school - I'm the crazy one who brought bookshelves into the house and invaded it with books. I occasionally remind them of how much more space we would have for some more bookcases if only I could throw away their TV when they comment a bit too much about the number of parcels in the mail/books in the house and it usually silences them.

Message edited by its author, Feb 2, 2009, 2:08am.

My mom is the only one who reads a comparative amount and I frequently loan books to her to read.

My husband hates books, particularly my books. My oldest son enjoys reading and does read books outside of what he needs for school. My youngest tells me he hates to read although his teacher tells me differently. I think he is attempting to rebel.

I do have a co-worker I can occasionally discuss books with which is nice. She is much more widely read than I am so it is nice to hear her thoughts. Her most recent suggestion to me was Great Expectations which sounded interesting the way she described it and I plan to read it. Of course, she is the one who gave me Love in the Time of Cholera which is one of the few books I just couldn't make myself finish.

I don't even read SO much (30-50 books a year) and I read more than anyone I know in person. The funny thing is, the library is sort of the "cool" local gathering place. I live in a small town, so it's either that or the bowling alley (which costs money) so everyone hangs out at or around the library. But they all just sit on the computers or on the steps, maybe check out the DVDs, not many of them actually read the books though.

When I played Magic: the Gathering back in high school, almost everyone read the books associated with t he game, but outside of that? Not a whole lot. One of my best friends back then did read a LOT...but I havn't seen him in a long time. *shrug*

Then again, I live in a 'redneck' town in southern Ohio...so maybe that's to be expected?

Mckait: You should try hanging out at the library. I've met many a fellow fantasy-nerd by browsing around in the science fiction/fantasy section. Many of them were there for the Dragonlance/Forgotten Realms/Magic:the Gathering books of course, but still! :)

I’m still reading my 300+ a year but now listen to more. I recently purchased a netbook and with a five-hour battery life, it travels with me everywhere. Not only do I have a paper and audio library of about 2000 books at home (much not yet catalogued) but also I carry nearly 1000 around with me.

I belong to Fictionwise and many of their books are multi format allowing me to listen to them. Now instead of paying $50 or more for an audio book, I let my computer read one that often cost less than $2. I have several “voices” that sound nearly human. The readers sometimes have difficulty with pronunciation, but it makes for a good laugh. I love this format and often find myself listening and reading different parts of the same book. I still prefer reading a non-fiction book in paper format.

Listening to books mixed with actual reading entertains me while driving, and allows me to spend time designing and creating jewelry and working with fabrics. I even devote a little time to cooking and housework.

Not much TV. I record on the DVR and when I feel like it; usually when the DVR is full.

As to retention, sometimes I retain and sometimes not. When I read only for entertainment, it doesn’t make a difference. I just enjoy it a little more on successive readings.

Of course, the number of books depends on how long or complicated each is. A novelette would take no time at all compared to a book such as “Outlander” which might take several days or longer if I spend a lot of time in research and perhaps reading a reference book or two in the middle.

I don’t know how much loss of retention is due to the number of books, speed, or just age.

Still know no one as fanatical as I am, although, I notice more and more people reading in just about every venue imaginable.

I usually manage 200 or so books a year. I'm a bit behind on my totals this year (just 95) because of child number 2 who is due in 7 weeks and who has made their presence well and truly known with sickness and fatigue. Child number 1 (who is 4) has been surrounded by books from birth and is responding well to this conditioning so far. We have to go to the library 3 times a week for her and my husband jokes that we should get our new baby a library card within hours of it being born (theoretically possible as I am booked for a homebirth). I used to rest a book on her head when I was feeding her as a baby so I could read at the same time (bad mummy!) and she has never seen me without a book so I am hoping her current enthusiasm for books stays with her.

My enthusiasm for books I think comes from my mother who was always reading and encouraged me to read. We went to the library once a week and would be allowed to take out as many books as we liked. As I got older she let me take out books the library considered unsuitable for me on her card and allowed me free access to her shelves. She read me classic children's books (Children of the New Forest still gives me a warm comforting feeling) and when I was more independent she would come in every night and ask about the book I was reading and go through any words I didnt understand. Now I have more books than she does and she raids my shelves everytime she visits. My father is not a big reader but my brother has always devoured certain types of books but nowhere near as many as I do (he loves his cars and computers too much!).

My husband reads a lot of scientific papers at work and reads only a handful of books a year. Having said that I recently persuaded him to get a library card and he is slowly working his way through the library's collection of Asimov. He also loves the fact I am addicted to books though and proudly shows off our bookcases to visitors so he is forgiven!

Before I joined Bookmooch and Librarything I had no idea that there were so many other bibliophiles out there, I had got used to being the only one I knew.

Number 37: Mckait. I am a 36-year-old female book-addicted freak that has no one to share with except here on LT. I have been following your posts. E-mail me as I need some book friends. I'm tired of almost silently observing the posts.

>But in your social circle, are you the outlier when it comes to reading?

Yeah. And I am the only one reading across so many genres - most of my friends that read one genre - Fantasy or SF or Chicklit in most cases. For most of them reading a book or two per month is considered heavy reading - there is only one or two that would read a book per week.

But at least they read... I am kinda tired of people around me saying that reading fiction is a loss of time and that reading non-fiction is for students only.

Honestly, I think I only read about 50 books a year.

Compared to people I know personally, it seems like a lot. And yet when I visit LibraryThing I can't keep up!

historywitch--congrats and hope you feel better soon!!

My best friend used to keep up with me, but now that she has a baby she has curbed her book addiction.

I've always been a consistent reader, but I now really read more then anyone I know outside of LT. I've only started tracking my reading in the past couple of years and it has increased each year starting with 25 books a year and so far this year I've past the 50 mark. Not a high number I would have thought. Everyone I know around me enjoys reading they just do it at a slower rate and appart from some overlaps they generally read different books especially my husband and my kids.
I am forever, recommending books to people and insisting they borrow my books. I make sure I have given book I've read to my Mum, my Aunty and my mother-in-law each month. I even accosted my neighbour the other day in my driveway with a couple of books for her. Half of a Yellow Sun and Water For Elephants. Both good books.
My friends have started asking me out to dinner only once a month, because they know I'm going to turn up with a book for each of them to read and then quiz them on what they thought of it the next time we meet.
Another friend suggested that we have a group read once a quarter and we can each take turns suggesting a book. But I couldn't keep quiet and ended up choosing the first book to read. Wanting by Richard Flanagan.
I'm going to have to start toning down the obsession a bit amongst non-LTers I think ;-)

I know this to be true. I am the bibliophile. My friends and coworkers talk about movies. I say I've never seen the movie but I've read the book.

Ha, That's me. My friends get tired of hearing, "The book was soooo much better than the movie...."

I am the bookworm in my family although my adult son, adult daughter & my granddaughter all enjoy reading. We all also enjoy movies & certain TV programs as well as "web-browsing". For me all are great sources of information & entertainment.
Among my friends who read for pleasure, some
read only sci-fi/fantasy, others only light romances & cozy mysteries, and some only read non-fiction. I will read almost anything, but favor weightier mysteries, historical sagas, and classic literature. I also own & enjoy reading nonfiction dealing with various topics that interest/have interested me over time.
I'm not particularly concerned with how many books I read in a given time....reading is NOT a contest! Sometimes I read about a book a week, other times it may take me several weeks to finish a longer, more "serious" book.

Bibliophile? Thats like an old man who reads Lolita right? Count me out!

Message edited by its author, Aug 9, 2009, 5:18pm.

Seriously I read everyday, mostly at work(relax I'm a government employee). I enjoy Sci-Fi,Fantasy,Horror,Mystery,Pulps,Bond,Arthurian Legend, Comics, and reference books. I will read anything that catches my eye. I am a political Conservative and God fearing Christian. Besides the Bible which I have read through twice I dont usually read much political or religious material. I am quick to anger, and fervent in my beliefs so others opinions dont really interest me. I want to enjoy my reading so I will only read what interests me, I like being entertained. Even with movies I am more likely to enjoy a big action flick than a sappy foriegn movie or drama. I dont despise literary snobs but I do tend to look down on them, because I believe their sense of superiority is contrived. I have a very high iq and was always in the top 1% in the nation on all Iowa tests including reading comprehension. So its not that I dont understand boring lit its just that I dislike it. I guess Im like an Ancient Roman emperor(not caligula) I just want to be entertained.

ivekilledpeople (ugh!)

I have to say that you are at the top of the class when it comes to obnoxious posters. The fact that you are a 'government' employee shows your complete arrogance and disdain for us common folk. Typical.

From your moniker, to earning all those flags, you truly depress the heck out of me when I read your posts.

This site was created so that people from all over could get together, and discuss books they have read, and politely agree or disagree with each other on a book's merits.We are a mostly happy bunch, not afraid to chat about the weather or recipes or pets, and it's nice visiting without having to look at pictures.

We care less whether a readers choice is regarded as 'high-brow' or low-brow, or 'snobbish'. We do not ever 'look down' on others, and try very hard not let our politics or religion get in the way. It's really all about the books, you see.

Over the past year and a half, I have been content to laze many a 'retirement day' browsing on the LT site, making many friends who share my interests in books. It has been an amusing hobby, filled with laughs galore, and on occasions, sadness, when one loses a friend, But we share in each other's heartbreaks, and come out the other end feeling that little bit better.

I'm guessing this missive will fly far above your head and will likely be ignored. And, to be honest, I don't know why I'm taking so much valuable reading time out of my day to even write this. But since you have joined us I have reacted to your posts, to such an extent that I may have to leave the group rather than suffer any more of your petulance, That would be a shame...

Message edited by its author, Aug 9, 2009, 7:33pm.

I dont mean to offend anyone and am quite taking aback by your animosity. What did I say to personally offend you? You mentioned religion and politics but the only thing I said was that I chose not to read about either even though I had strong opinions on both.Some of your fellow members thought that those flags were uncalled for due to a misunderstanding. You said in your posts its all about the books, that was exactly my point. I love reading to learn and be entertained. I called no one a snob I just said I had disdain for people who look down on others, and I'm sure you do to. I think you are judging my "cover" and not my "content". Give me a chance you may grow to like me, or at least not be reviled by me. I come in peace. To serve man.(Twilight Zone ref.)

ps. my nom de plume....Is just a line from a funny show I like and not an admission of murder.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm; am I the biggest bibliophile? Truth be told, I am not even sure what a bibliophile is.

sounds illegal

(posting mostly to clear the above expelled username from the thread's Last-Message column...)

But also -- although I still read more than anyone I know face to face, when a friend (whose reading tastes I share) told me the other day about good recent reads, I was amazed to not know even one of the dozen or so authors she recommended. There are so many terrific books!

This past week we teachers went back to work. I was bemoaning the fact that I was only able to read about fifteen books this summer - wholly uncharacteristic of me. I usually average about forty or more. Then a friend said that she had read a lot - seven novels. I guess it's all relative to your expectations.

I know someone who can only manage 6 novels a year- if they stick with it I Know that it is worth reading. (Good taste v limited time = no time wasters)

Message edited by its author, Aug 22, 2009, 5:03pm.

sorry that I didn't see this topic posted earlier..I was busy reading!....I am a biblioholic by nature and love LT and books and ANYthing related to reading. I grew up in a household with a father who was never allowed to go to school (Cheyenne born in 1899) and a mother who was turned away from school because she didn't speak English (Cajun born in 1925). Oddly enough all three of us have ended up in some kind of career path that involves reading, teaching or literacy.

I am an information specialist in a local public library system and I lOVE the fact that I am required to read for reader's advisory! I also get paid to tell stories and perform music...so what's not to like about a job such as thi? Ialso enjoy the Early Reviewers process, I have come across some amazing books, and while more than a few are way outside my area of 'comfortble expertise', they make me slow down and appreciate the process of writing and publishing, and I get to see the fruits of their labors.

I find tht I tend to read 200-300 books a year, all genres and I am not a speed reader. In fact, the more detailed the more I love it! But the only way I can read that many per year is that there are books EVERYwhere around the house. In that way I can cruise my way through 20 or 30 per month, only slowing down to review one here or there.

As I work IN a library, needless to say, most of my social circle are readers, voracious readers and we constantly trade titles to look for and to talk about and make up TBR listings!

>97 I read your first paragraph and thought, "Now that's a story I'd like to read" and then I read that you are a storyteller, good fit!

I am probably a bibliophile even at my age (just shy of 19) and out of everyone I know in real life I think I read the most and I *must* own more books than anyone else cos I complain the most about storage issues. My boyfriend is possibly the second most voracious reader I know but he tends to read classics and often for his studies (he's studying english lang & lit at Uni) and Sci-Fi for his own fun so we rarely sit and talk about books as my tastes are horrendously different to his (fantasy mostly with a good dollop of YA fiction).
My family does read although with my parents they mainly read on holiday when they're not working like 12 hours a day. My sister has recently started reading a lot more than she ever used to (my fault- i gave the twilight books *sigh*) but I have yet to prise the seriously battered books out of her hands and give her something different to read.
Luckily for me I have a really good friend on LT who i can talk about books with loads as we have really similar tastes and she's actually going to become a real life friend this week when we finally meet after talking on here since January. It's great how this place brings together like-minded "book-addicted freaks" ;)

this screen name is for a couple.Pam (me) reads constantly.Jason ( my husband) is jeaolous. He wishes he could come close to the 3 books a week I read. We both read all genres. His work definately gets in the way of his reading. Our friends read only once in a while.

Since I work in a library, I don't feel I must own a bunch of books, but I do frequent the public library a lot (at least twice a month, gathering at least 4-5 books each time). And today, I am processing new books and got positively giddy over the "new book smell", mmmm. Processing is also going slow, b/c I must stop and read EVERY picture book as I cover the jacket.

My problem is that I love children's/YA literature, and now that I've moved to a rural school district, there is no one to discuss them with. It's hard enough to find an adult who has read an adult book to discuss; you get a polite smile and blank look when you try to discuss a picture book or children's novel. Even the teachers here are pretty clueless, sad to say. I moved here from a large metropolitan district (30 + schools), where the librarians all discussed and recommended books both in meetings and via email...

So I'll just keep reading great kids' lit, buying them for my students and adding them to the collection (meanwhile sneakily removing the dreck that currently fills the shelves...hah!), and shoving the new books into their hands.

Oh, and I also read a lot of adult books too. :)

Only my sister-in-law reads as much as I do in my circle. I have known a couple of other people who were really big readers. But, they are few and far between.

I read every day; a non-fiction book in a day and a half, generally. Except, of course, the non-fiction historical and educational topics are often an ongoing project. And I like to read one Harlequin romance before bed at night. I have T-shirts I wear on my volunteer days that say things like "Books--Cats, Life is Sweet" and "Lead Me Not Into Temptation, Especially in Book Stores". I buy books everywhere; Amazon, thrift stores, exchange bookstores. I was so happy to find LibraryThing to catalog my collection. My family says I AM the library.

In my social circle I am not the biggest bibliophile. Some of my friends read as much as I do or even mor, one of my friends just needs two days to read a 900 pages book, it's incredible. My boyfriend loves reading as much as I do, we can't come close a bookstore without going in.
I love my friends!

In my close social circle, I'm the biggest bookworm, unfortunately, although I don't read as much as I would like, or used to, by lack of time (full time job, time-consuming other hobbies such as sewing ... No TV, though).

My mother reads as much as I do, even more now as she retired some years ago. In fact, she's the one that gave me the reading bug, a long time ago ! But she's not as obssesive as I am about books. She can pass by bookstores and not look at the window display, for instance (I can't !). My father doesn't read, and my brother always repeats proudly that he only reads the TV magazine.

My SO reads again because of me, he's a slow but keen reader. His family doesn't read, as a rule. They watch TV.

As a matter of fact, when I came to live with my SO, he has a pile of movies magazines in the bathroom. His father said jokingly that he will put a sign "library" on the door, because "there are so much books there" (My first thought : "Gosh, there are books in the bathroom and I didn't see them?" - it took me a while to understand that what he called "books" where those quite pulpy magazines, and it still puzzles me).
Then I moved in with my own Ikea bookshelves full of "real" books, and the in-laws were left completely speechless :)

I know a few other people who read more than I do irl, but they're not close friends. I jump into every bookish talk with both feet, though. And can spot a book on a coworker desk from very far away :) I knew that being able to read titles backwards will be handy, someday :)

Message edited by its author, Oct 23, 2009, 12:02pm.

#105 That's a funny story about your in-laws and the magazines in the bathroom! My in-laws were TV watchers, too, and I used to drive them crazy by insisting that at least one lamp be left turned on in the evening so that I could see to read while they watched TV.

I'm definitely the biggest bibliophile in my group of friends, but my family is full of them. My oldest brother and my mom have been huge influences on me when it comes to reading, so I feel lucky to have people that I can share my absolute passion about books with. My boyfriend (and most of my friends, actually) like to read, but they don't LOVE to read. It's sad.

I'm the biggest reader in my immediate group of friends, with one possible exception (though she tends to confine herself to what she calls "trashy romance novels" during the school year as an escape from her pre-med/international relations coursework, which I can't fault her for). Most of my friends are very smart, definitely, but they either don't have/make time to read during the school year, or they prefer to spend their time reading magazines/the newspaper instead of actual books.

Still, I do have a circle of 5 or 6 people who I swap the occasional novel with, so I'm not starved for literary discussion. :)

I read the most of anyone in my family or group of friends. I usually read one genre for a while. For instance, I will read romances, then mysteries or historical novels etc. When I get a new book, I check to see if it is part of a series because I have to get at least the first book in the series and usually all of them, so I can meet the characters in order. I have to confess (to #105), I can't go the bathroom without a book in my hand! I read a book in about a day and a half, and read a Harlequin romance before bed every night, so I have good dreams, regardless of the circumstances of my day. I recommend it.

Message edited by its author, Nov 16, 2009, 9:48am.