How many books a year do you read, on average?

[Prowler]

I'd say for me it can go from 5 books a year to 12 books a year. My average lies somewhere within there. It's gotten up again within the last couple of years after I bought a much needed new e-reader, though.

[DarkFell]

If you're reading between five to twelve books per year, you're definitely beating me! I have a small library in my house and I haven't done much reading at all this year despite my then-New Year's resolution to do so.

[CyberCubed]

If you mean a, "real book" as in not something like a comic or graphic novel, and something just with words in it...I haven't read a "real book" since my english literature class in college over 20+ years ago.

I wasn't aware reading books was still a thing people did. I thought it largely died off after the Harry Potter craze ended in the early 2000's. People really read books for personal enjoyment? Unless you're a librarian or a nerd I can't see any enjoyment in reading a book.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

If you mean a, "real book" as in not something like a comic or graphic novel, and something just with words in it...I haven't read a "real book" since my english literature class in college over 20+ years ago.

I wasn't aware reading books was still a thing people did. I thought it largely died off after the Harry Potter craze ended in the early 2000's. People really read books for personal enjoyment? Unless you're a librarian or a nerd I can't see any enjoyment in reading a book.

3/10

Weak, mate.

[CyberCubed]

I have honestly never picked up a "real book" after that one English literature course I had to take in college over 20 years ago. Again this is not counting comic books or graphic novels with pictures. But if you mean a real fiction book with just words and chapters, I've never picked up a book to read for personal enjoyment in my entire life.

Books always felt like they were for old people when I was a kid. Like 50+ year olds who were reading since the 1940's or something. Our generation grew up in the visual age of movies, TV shows, videogames and the internet. I cannot even fathom picking up a book.

[sdp]

Spoiler:

Every year I choose 12 books to read that year, one for each month. Granted I don't always reach my goal, but it's good to have a goal and sometimes I read more. Also not all books are equal some are shorter and some are as big as 2 normal books but I take that into the equation if I really reached my goal or not, a book is a book.
This year I won't make my goal, I am only now finishing my fifth book, and don't think i'll be able to squeeze in a sixth one in december. So that means I have about 5 books to choose to fill up my lilst of 12 for next year.

I'm open to recommendations, though I gotta be honest I will judge you by what you select. And I will hate you if I choose your book and it ended up being trash. I have limtied time and I hate wasting time on bad books.

But please recommend me some books, a little context of what I like: I can read a little bit of everything, I prefer tech and business books though I've read a lot on those topics so it's hard to find recommendations there. I've read most of the "big" and popular books so please don't recoomend 1984 like it's some hidden gem. I dislike modern fiction. I generally dislike self-help books, though I guess if it's really good I'll make an exception but in general I feel thay're a bit basic. I like philosophy, I'm not big into poetry since it's difficult for me to "get it" but I'm open to the suggestion if you think it's good. I 'm not a big fan on reading about the human body in general since i'm a bit of a hypochondriac. But yeah in general I am open to various topics, especially ideas I'm not familiar with. Help me.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by DarkFell

If you're reading between five to twelve books per year, you're definitely beating me! I have a small library in my house and I haven't done much reading at all this year despite my then-New Year's resolution to do so.

The thing about me and reading is that I go through it in bursts. It's been a while since I last read this year. I've read 12 books this year so far and my goodreads goal was to read 25 of them. Not that it's a literal goal, since I never reach my 20-25 books goal anyway but it's more of an "aim" that I want to get close to somewhat.

Meanwhile there's people who read 50 or even 100 books in one single year. I'm guessing those people aren't into video games like me and possibly don't watch tv series, movies, anime, etc.Reading is probably their only hobby. More power to them, but I couldn't just live off reading as my only hobby.

[Snowglare]

I haven't been consistent at all, but I have been reading more books lately, mostly in the past few months. Up to seven this year, working on the eighth now. Read six last year, not counting a thin volume on Mr. Bean that was basically a glorified magazine.

[Barkworm]

I read about 4 books a year for the classes I teach, about one book a month that I read to my kids and another two a month for myself, mostly high-profile fiction with the occasional biography in between. So about 40 books a year, sometimes a little more, sometimes fewer.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Barkworm

I read about 4 books a year for the classes I teach, about one book a month that I read to my kids and another two a month for myself, mostly high-profile fiction with the occasional biography in between. So about 40 books a year, sometimes a little more, sometimes fewer.

Ah you must be a German teacher or something. What authors do German kids read in school? I dunno how old your students are but I doubt you start them with Nietzsche in 5th grade

[CyberCubed]

When it comes to books this is how I feel about them:





When I was young only nerdy kids or librarians read books!

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

When it comes to books this is how I feel about them:

https://media1.tenor.com/m/e-tu1KPkC...er-simpson.gif

https://y.yarn.co/cf1f11ea-77e5-427d...d23d4_text.gif

When I was young only nerdy kids or librarians read books!

But you're a nerd too with your love for Ninja Turtles, Pokémon and video games lol

[Barkworm]

Ole Cubed always loves to double-down on his troll-nonsense when people point out how dumb it is.

Originally Posted by Prowler

Ah you must be a German teacher or something. What authors do German kids read in school? I dunno how old your students are but I doubt you start them with Nietzsche in 5th grade

Yeah, I teach English and German. Nietzsche is never taught in German class, his works are dealt with in philosophy and ethics classes. In later grades, we read Goethe, Büchner, Lessing and sometimes Schiller and a variety of more contemporary novels. In English class, it‘s mostly contemporary literature with the exception of one Shakepeare play (usually Othello) and often Lee‘s „To Kill a Mockingbird“.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Barkworm

Ole Cubed always loves to double-down on his troll-nonsense when people point out how dumb it is.



Yeah, I teach English and German. Nietzsche is never taught in German class, his works are dealt with in philosophy and ethics classes. In later grades, we read Goethe, Büchner, Lessing and sometimes Schiller and a variety of more contemporary novels. In English class, it‘s mostly contemporary literature with the exception of one Shakepeare play (usually Othello) and often Lee‘s „To Kill a Mockingbird“.

Have you read the Bert books by Anders Jacobsson and Sören Olsson?

[Barkworm]

To my kids? No, I had never heard of them before. When it comes to Swedish books for children we‘ve read most of Astrid Lindgren‘s work, Pippi, Emil, Bullerbyn, you name it. The kids love Sven Nordqvist‘s Petterson & Findus, too.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Barkworm

Ole Cubed always loves to double-down on his troll-nonsense when people point out how dumb it is.



Yeah, I teach English and German. Nietzsche is never taught in German class, his works are dealt with in philosophy and ethics classes. In later grades, we read Goethe, Büchner, Lessing and sometimes Schiller and a variety of more contemporary novels. In English class, it‘s mostly contemporary literature with the exception of one Shakepeare play (usually Othello) and often Lee‘s „To Kill a Mockingbird“.

Ah that's a fair point. Of course Nietzsche would be taught in philosophy class instead. Does Kafka get taught as well? I know he lived in Prague which was in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire at the time, but are German language authors from Austria and Switzerland also taught in Germany?

Ah right, that explains why Goethe Institut is a thing.

Do you guys read Max Weber and Karl Marx at some point in school as well? And in which subject? Because while they were philosophers, their work is also highly political and historically relevant.

English class here... we read an Oscar Wilde book: The Happy Prince when I was a kid. I think we also watched a movie adaptation of Romeo and Juliet but we didn't read it. We also went to the theatre to watch a MacBeth play when I was in 7th grade, I think?

I've never read any of those English-language classics teenagers in American cartoons bemoan about like Ivanhoe, Moby Dick, Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye, Mark Twain and Charles Dickens books, etc.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by Barkworm

To my kids? No, I had never heard of them before

No, it's nothing you should read for young children, they're aimed at teenagers.

[sdp]

Come on barkworm bark some recommendations up, don't be a worm. at 40 a year surely you have a great list to share, don't be selfish.

[Barkworm]

Originally Posted by sdp

Come on barkworm bark some recommendations up, don't be a worm. at 40 a year surely you have a great list to share, don't be selfish.

I could easily do that but you said that you dislike modern fiction and that's about 90 per cent of what I read. Sooo, it wouldn't make too much sense, would it?

[Barkworm]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Does Kafka get taught as well? I know he lived in Prague which was in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire at the time, but are German language authors from Austria and Switzerland also taught in Germany?

Yes, absolutely. I love Kafka, ‚The Metamorphosis‘ and ‚The Judgement‘ are often taught in higher grades or ‚The Trial‘

Originally Posted by Prowler

Do you guys read Max Weber and Karl Marx at some point in school as well? And in which subject? Because while they were philosophers, their work is also highly political and historically relevant.

They are read in politics classes.

Originally Posted by Prowler

I've never read any of those English-language classics teenagers in American cartoons bemoan about like Ivanhoe, Moby Dick, Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye, Mark Twain and Charles Dickens books, etc.

If you want a short but powerful classic, definitely go for ‚Of Mice and Men‘. The others you mentioned are great too (I haven‘t read Ivanhoe though) but much longer and thus less accessibble. ‚Huckleberry Finn‘ is a great read but you could also go for the 2024 re-imagination by Percival Everett ‚James‘ which is like a woke version of it, told from the perspective of the slave Jim but later becomes like a Tarantino-esque revenge story.