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theecarey’s journal

reading

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I need a reading goal.

If I didn't miss any, which I may have, I believe my book total for 2009 was 54. I'm not sure if I am pleased with that number or not. It is higher than the "average" adult but probably nothing special for a self proclaimed "book eater".
More is not better as all of our reading speeds and comprehension varies, (especially based on type of book read) but I just wish I knew my average. I had only started to formally keep track as of last year, @theecarey #47667.

I read.. well, anything.

My book list from last year is the usual mix of good fiction, crappy fiction, memoirs, information books pertaining to health, business, sciences (especially quantum physics), politics and writing. Most fiction I "speed-read" through and most everything else I take more time to absorb.

I know last year there were stretches of time that I did not read from books but had focused working through a growing pile of magazine subscriptions (Scientific American, Scientific American Mind, Discover, Fast Company and Home Theater). Come to think of it, that will likely occur again as I have yet another pile of mags to catch up on.

I will have to use 2009 "data" as my "baseline", and see how 2010 will pan out against it.

In addition to book count, maybe I should keep track of pages read as well? Anyone else keep track of their reading habits or have a "goal"?

hmm, what can I say, I love to read.



262 words

💬 10 comments

  1. oda ·

    i would love to know your recommendations for the best mind-expanding books on quantum physics. thanks!

  2. heidi ·

    I kept track of my reading for several years and was usually around 50-55. I kept track in a Lotus Notes db that I built for tracking just about everything in my life but I haven't been doing Notes dev for.... sheesh... 8 years. Now my library lives at librarything.com but I don't track what I am reading/have read. Last school year I re-read my entire Marion Zimmer Bradley collection and started on Octavia Butler, finished Butler over the summer. My brain doesn't really want to absorb material with depth while reading for school, but it was soooo hard to put the Butler books down that I finally made myself stop until after finals. This semester I fluffed out on hulu and netflix (Doctor Who, Leverage, and stuff that M* and Lisa recommend. M* is all about the crime dramas) instead of reading. I'm going to try to refocus on reading, even if it's fluff, this semester.

  3. heidi ·

    My favorite source for good books: :::link::: I picked up five for $20 when I was in Columbia, Md.

  4. tinypliny ·

    % best mind-expanding books on quantum physics

    Try Alice in Quantumland. Its really fun and entertaining. :)

  5. theecarey ·

    @oda, I concur with @tinypliny-- Alice in Quantumland (Robert Gilmore) is great. I have a lot more to add to the list of recommended reading.

    Actually, instead of here in a comment, I'm going to list them in a separate post right now, as this is something I would refer back to, myself.

  6. theecarey ·

    @heidi, I bookmarked that store link. Great prices! I'd love to operate a small brick and mortar book store/chill out spot and online store.

    Yeh, when doing all of that school based reading, something "light" by comparison and entertaining is the way to go.

    Butler is hard to put down! She was an amazing writer. I think I put everything in my life on hold when I was reading, "Kindred"- I just fell in love with the premise to that story.

    I haven't read anything by Marion Zimmer Bradley, although after a quick wiki search, I'm intrigued! And hey, she was from Albany NY!
    :::link:::

    My "crime drama" recommendation: "Criminal Minds". I recently found and enjoy that show. Can't go wrong with an FBI Behavioral Profiling drama. :::link:::
    Love it! Lots of episodes to be seen on one of the basic cable channels: "ION" which is channel 18 in my area. I love their tag line, "ION television-- positively entertaining".

  7. metalpeter ·

    I have to put my spin on this post a bit. I can admit watching TV is Nothing like Reading. But there are some things that are the same. There is a story in both (yet different forms and such). It is a way to get away from the day to day. Some forms are purely for information or to learn new things. A TV example might be a travel show or some documentary that isn't really a political movement. I can admit that curling up to watch a movie is how you don't get about 20 minutes in and wake up pissed, argh What Happened what is this thing on now, argh!!!!!!!!!! So although they are a different media and tell stories differently other then one throws something on to veg out, some of the time they are enjoyed for the same reason. This Brings me to the # thing. The # is really relative to how busy you are outside of reading and is there something you would rather be doing. I'll use my self as an example. As much as I love my Simpson's and Animation Domination there is another part of me that wishes that I had No idea what was on TV. That instead of coming home after work and going on line and then seeing what to watch (some people this would be what to read). That I was out doing something, like maybe skiing or Dancing on some chick at a bar or something. I'll use myself as an example most of the reading I do is online, news, blogs and sometimes the paper. Everymonth I get Playboy and yes there are some great articles and they are also known for some of there fiction pieces or in the old days they where. But I never have time to read it. I used to get Fox also and they had mostly very graphic Pictures but also stuff about the industry and letters and I never had time to read that. Same was with ESPN magazine and Entrainment weekly. I would sit down start to read it and then the next one would show up. My point is everyone has multiple things they like to do for fun and how much you read # wise is based on what other things you are doing and how much you do them.

  8. theecarey ·

    I hear ya, Peter; I like your spin on it. "My point is everyone has multiple things they like to do for fun and how much you read # wise is based on what other things you are doing and how much you do them."

    definitely!

    That is why I wondered what the average amount of books read should be for someone who uses reading as the primary source of non active entertainment and edification. Basically, as a heavy reader, should I be pushing myself to cover more material then what I already am (assuming the variety of genre stays stable.)?

    In general though, everyone should read something- a book, a magazine, an online article, playgirl, shampoo bottle, etc. I know people who just don't read, or wouldn't have if it weren't for the internet.
    also had a friend who wouldn't read, and did could not read well (or spell or have much of a vocabulary), until I helped select books for her (she wanted my help and recommendation). These selections came out of the young adult section of the library, and although they were at a much lower reading level of where she should be at, it was the fact that this encouraged an interest in reading on a regular basis. How cool!?
    Through time, her spelling and vocabulary improved, which was pretty great thing to see & hear.

    Consider this comment as just adding to the conversation as totally don't know if I had a point and I certainly wasn't making a counter point! :)

  9. jbeatty ·

    What particular area of quantum physics are you interested in? My limited experience with it has been frustrating. I found molecular orbital theory to be so much more confusing than VESPR to describe shapes of molecules. I do have an interest in physics but when it comes time to wind down and do some mindless reading I tend to stick to travel stories and food books.

  10. metalpeter ·

    In Terms of your # question I wonder if there is some way to look that up? Somehow I doubt google would give the answer? You did bring up a good point though. What about Page count? The Best example I can think of I have heard The King James Bible (unabridged or something like that) is a huge book that would be much more reading then say I don't some smaller text. Then of course Difficultly is a factor also. I don't just mean like bigger words but I have heard some writers are tougher to read.

    I agree that everyone should read just like I agree (didn't when I was a kid) should learn music. They are different learning styles and make learning other things easier. Reading at an early age is very helpful. I think most people who have trouble in school, it is because their level of reading ability hinders there learning. If you don't get what you are reading about a subject how can you ever learn it, or if it is tough kids just give up.

    I know one of my problems is (I think this is common) is that as much as I do like books (mostly comics really) and reading, I learned early on that it is work. What I mean is that in school you are assigned a book to read. When you read you read to learn stuff for class. Some how I didn't get the entire reading for fun thing. Not sure how I missed that (yes I do like to read but never do it). I think there are a lot of kids who don't learn to read things for fun. Or maybe it is just a I need to read this so I don't have time to read the fun stuff not sure.

    One Last thing I think that with so much use of computers at school, and home, and the internet and things like ipods. I think it is very important for parents or other family members to teach kids that reading is fun at a young age, and that learning is fun also. If these two things are put together more people would read more and enjoy it.

    I know I often think things like Trueblood was a Book series man I wish I would have read those books and that is true of other things as well. I know I should read a lot more then I do. In terms of your # I say it is very High but I'm guessing for someone who enjoys it as much as you do your around Average. In terms of should you push your self to read more, um no and yes. If you push your self you can turn what is fun into something that isn't. But on the other side of that is you can turn it into a game and make it more fun, again the downside to that is. That if you make it a game you may go for results that then change how you read and what you read. The main thing is that you enjoy it.

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