The year is almost over, and unless I finish a book tomorrow, it looks like I will end 2011 with 115 books read. Not too shabby, I suppose. Far cry from my goal, which was to tie with 2009’s best of 156 books. But still pretty good, all things considered. Indeed, from time to time people exclaim their awe at how much I read. I don’t like to draw too much attention to the quantity, which is after all no indicator of quality, because it feels too much like bragging. But today someone on Goodreads asked me how I manage to read so much, and as I was composing my reply, I realized it was getting too lengthy. Lengthy enough for a blog post, in fact.
It’s quite simple. I have a time machine, you see, and that allows me to go back in time and spend more time reading throughout the day….
Well, I wish that weren’t so much science fiction!
Last year, which was a very good year for me, I averaged 2.6 days per book; this year I have been slightly busier, so I took 3.1 days per book. Considering that most people, i.e., people who do not bother joining a social networking site about books, are probably lucky if they read 10 or 15 books in a year, I suppose I do read quite a bit. However, I’m far from abnormal—some of my friends here are up to the 200s when it comes to books, and I suspect they must be speed-readers.
I am nothing of the sort. I probably do skim quite a bit, by which I mean that my reading comprehension has developed to a point where I don’t have to focus my eyes on every single word in order to get the gist of a passage. The way that the human brain and the human eyes interact is really quite amazing and not very much like a camera. I suspect (because I Am Not a Neurologist) that my practice reading means that my brain can predict what words will be before they have fully registered. Indeed, when I encounter an unfamiliar word I do tend to “stumble” and slow down (while I pull out my dictionary!). I know I’m not a speed reader because I still need to focus carefully when I read technical, academic, or legal documents where rigorous attention to the word choice is more important.
My “secret” is a patent-pending formula discovered through years of careful, painstaking research, including an ill-fated expedition to a Tibetan monastery long thought lost to the ravages of time and war. And, for the low payment of $99.95, or three easy payments of $39.95, you can have it too….
I don’t have much of a secret. When people ask me how I manage to read so much, the answer is always the same: I make reading a priority. I allocate a great deal of my free time to reading, more so than almost anything else. And this has been true for a long time. I read a lot when I was a kid, and I’ve continued this habit my entire life. That doesn’t mean you can’t start reading voraciously now—but like any skill, reading becomes easier with experience.
Also, keeping track of your reading helps too. Goodreads has been really good for me in that regard; I’m a lot more aware of which books I read in a year and which ones I want to read next. I’m not saying you need to review every book like I do; you don’t even have to join a site like Goodreads (though I certainly recommend it!). But even just keeping a list of which books you’ve read each year, and looking it over every few months so you can see your progress, might help. You could even develop a goal. You might choose to try to read a certain number of books in a year. One of my friends is working her way through the BBC’s list of top 100 novels as voted by readers.
Of course, I also have to admit that I probably program my life in such a way that I have more free time to read. I am lucky enough to be financially stable right now (I still live with my dad). I don’t find my schoolwork particularly challenging, and with the possible exception of this year, it has never felt time-consuming either. Most people seem to engage in a dazzling array of extracurricular activities, including sports, music, and volunteering. I don’t do many of those things, and while I feel that has sheltered me in many respects, I also recognize that my vast experience reading has opened my eyes to new worlds. So while I don’t have the same experiences as my peers, I wouldn’t necessarily say mine have been of inferior quality. But it’s definitely the case that I make time to read, because for me, reading is a priority.
This year, my final year of my undergrad, has given me a taste of what I might suspect once I get a full-time job. In the five weeks of my practicum I only read three books. Terrifying! And one of my instructors mentioned that most of the teachers he knows only have time to read a few books while they are on break during the summer. I certainly hope my own personal drive to read shields me from such misfortune!
The person on Goodreads whose question prompted this post also mentioned that he reads audiobooks and probably couldn’t listen fast enough to match my pace, even at double speed. When people ruminate on how they can read more, I do tend to suggest audiobooks as a part of the solution. Audiobooks are awesome: you can listen to them “on the go” in the car, while you’re exercising, or while you’re cleaning or cooking. They are excellent for people who just don’t have the time to sit with a book for an hour (or even half an hour) a day. Even so, I tend not to listen to many myself. Even with the ability to alter the playback speed, audiobooks are a little too much like a movie or television show: you go at their pace, not the other way around. Books, among all our entertainment devices, have a marvellous and singular capability to take as long as you desire. You might choose to devour a good book in an afternoon, or draw out the pleasure for a few days. This is one of my favourite things about reading, and it’s the one aspect that audiobooks, for all their advantages, do not replicate.
Some people spend so much time gaming they turn it into a lifestyle, even a career. Others become master speedcubers, or Olympic-class athletes. We all have our talents and our interests. Reading is mine. And at the rate my to-read list has been growing in these years since I joined Goodreads, I wish I could read even faster! No matter how many books you read in a year, however, the fact that you are reading is pretty amazing. Keep it up.
» 5 people have an opinion
I’m flattered you mention my reading habits to others!
I’ve wondered: do you keep notes as you read? Your reviews are always so detailed
Thank you! No, I don’t usually take notes. Occasionally I end up using sticky notes to mark pages with passages I might want to quote or specific things I want to mention, but that doesn’t happen often. I’m just so lazy when it comes to things like that. This is why I review every book I read and why I am diligent, time permitting, about writing my reviews soon after I finish reading. Because my memory is poor, after a few weeks, and I like having those reviews to remind me how I felt months or years later.
That being said, I definitely begin considering how I will write a review as I read the book. (Sometimes this doesn’t happen and I’ll spend a while sitting at my computer, pondering how to write the review.) I still recall a discussion in Grade 12 English about the difference between active and passive reading, and how our teacher wanted us to be active readers: when reading actively, we have to consider how we could critique the text. Our teacher encouraged this even when we weren’t reading something for class. (I guess this is very similar to the distinction between aesthetic versus efferent reading.) I’m not trying to get all “literary critic” here; despite my English minor, I have little formal training in such things. But my commitment to writing reviews has certainly contributed to my ability to write reviews—I’ve improved a great deal since I first began writing reviews on Goodreads.
Till I saw your calculation, I had not thought to figure out the number of days I averaged on a book. This year it is about 4 days/book. Considering many of them were pushing 1000 pages each, that’s probably not so bad. Oh and BTW, they were all audiobooks. This sounds like I’m in a race to read as many books as possible. Well actually I am.
I read like crazy when I was young. I went to Catholic high school and they emphasized the classics. That was fine with me. I loved them all. My education was interrupted by the Marine Corps and Vietnam after which I went back to school but now to study biology and read only science. For nearly 40 years, that is all that I have read, scientific journals and text books. While I love my work and the reading that it requires, for almost all of that time, almost none of my reading has been for pleasure; almost none of it has been literature.
Like you, I am a teacher. It is a special kind of teaching that requires that I travel quite a bit between Oregon and Washington state. I travel by car and I listen. I listen to the words of all the great books that I missed reading over the nearly last half century. I have done this only for the last couple of years but I hope never to stop this pace of reading for as long as I have sight to read and hearing to listen. There is just so much out there left to be devoured.
I try to avoid the tripe but god there is so much of that out there also. I don’t have the time to waste reading it or even start reading it and find out it’s crap. Wading through the stacks, it is hard not to step in lemon. This is why Goodreads and reviewers like you are so wonderfully helpful. You often entertain in your own right/write but most importantly, you inform and help the rest of us to navigate this veritable sea of publications and steer clear of all that floating excrement.
Thanks, Ben, 
for all you do for the rest of us. And thank you for taking the time to answer my question.
BTW, great blog. I’ll be returning… just what I need, more to read.
People ask me how I read so much, too! I have more or less the same answer as you - I usually make time for reading. Unfortunately, grad school has obliterated my free time by assigning hundreds of pages of class-related reading (English literature), so in the past four months I have managed to read a staggering three novels not related to class. I miss being able to read books of my own choosing!
My roommate loves audiobooks, but doesn’t read any novels in print. I don’t mind audiobooks, but I much prefer print books because I can go at my own speed (much faster than the audiobook reader can read). Have you ever listened to adaptations of books for radio? I love listening to the radio versions of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett books, but I suspect I’d be very impatient listening to their audiobook counterparts.
Have you ever listened to adaptations of books for radio? I love listening to the radio versions of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett books, but I suspect I’d be very impatient listening to their audiobook counterparts.
Not per se, except perhaps for very sporadic episodes of lying awake in bed at night as a child, listening to the BBC’s Tertiary and Quintessential phases of h2g2. It was not something I followed, though. I also enjoy listening to Stuart McLean’s Dave and Morley stories on the Vinyl Cafe, although I have purchased a few of their print books as well.
I’ve listened to few enough audiobooks. One of my former coworkers gave me, out of the blue, a copy of h2g2 on audio cassette, narrated by Stephen Moore. So that was a fascinating experience and is the only book I have read both in print and audio format so far. (One day I will probably revisit Jude the Obscure as a print book.)
I’m so glad you addressed this question. I often marvel about you to others who love to read -“this guy Ben I know reads and thoughtfully reviews ~150 books a year! He’s my reading idol!”
I’d estimate that I read 40-50 books most years - I average about four a month, give or take, based on how busy work is and if I am traveling (both of these bring down my total). I read a pretty even mix of contemporary fiction, classics and non-fiction, skewing slightly toward non-fiction. I am a speedy reader, but in no way a speed-reader. Like you, my pace slows quite a bit with heavily technical, theoretical or scientific works.
I think this line captures the “secret” of most voracious readers: “When people ask me how I manage to read so much, the answer is always the same: I make reading a priority.”
I’ve wondered: do you keep notes as you read? Your reviews are always so detailed, and it may be my comparatively ancient 25-year-old brain
failing me, but I‘m especially bad at keeping intricate plot structures and relationships straight once I’ve closed a book.
Happy new year, Ben.
P.S.: Enjoyed your recent review of Murakami’s 1Q84. It’s been in my library queue for some time but I’ve been skeptical as I wait. Particularly liked the passage about your hang-up with the literary qualities of the work. I do the same!
Saturday, December 31, 2011 at 12:23 AM