Reading

I decided that in 2013, I’m going to track the books I read, both because I’m curious about the number of books, and also because I read so many that I often can’t remember what I read.  Also, because of my book club and recommendations from other friends, I’m reading books I wouldn’t normally read.  Another reason I wanted to keep track is that I’m borrowing more books now than I have in the past, so I don’t necessarily have the book around to remind me what I’ve read.

I know I read more books than the average person, but I was curious and decided to look up what “average” is.  It’s 15 books for paper book readers, and 24 books a year for e-readers.  Yikes!  We’re only halfway into 2013, and I’ve already consumed 5 books!  Now, in all fairness, two of those were re-reads (Pollyanna and Daddy Long-Legs).

The study indicates that most people prefer e-books, and most people prefer to own books rather than to borrow.  I talked to someone the other day who said that she loves e-books because now she doesn’t have to buy a new bookshelf.

For writers, these are interesting trends.  If people are reading 1-2 books a month, it’s important to create a book that people are going to talk about, since most people read books based on recommendations from others.

It’s an interesting article, if you want to take a look.