If you read 50+ books a year, how do you do it?

Just shy of 100 for leisure, well over 100 if you count work books. I read 1-2 books on my commute weekly, an hour door to door 2 days a week, and 10 pages before bed. I then bump up the numbers on holiday. (Full time job, 2 teenage kids)

I read whenever I get the chance, I always take my book when I go anywhere especially for appointments as usually late going in. I read rather than watch the telly. DH will watch something that I’m not interested in so I read instead. I’m not a fast reader, and sometimes go through stages where I don’t read as much. Like at the beginning of this year I’d only read 4 by the end of February but have now read 58 so far this year.

I aim for 100 books a year. I read every day, usually in the evening for an hour or so and sometimes during the day if weather is bad. 100 is just 2 books a week. Sometimes it is paperbacks, library books, kindle or audio. I usually have 2 on the go at any time. I have other hobbies and go out a lot plus watch TV, play the piano, go to the gym but I am retired.

If you've done a literary degree like me (mfl) you're trained to read a lot and fast. I've read 4+ this week so far ( biography GB Shaw, 2 Maigret, Fungi, Wild Flowers of Europe, part History of Ireland, part Gibbon on Christianity plus newspapers etc. I inherited books from dm ( teacher) and uncle ( Head of English ) so saved me the bother of seeking them out.
I read most mornings/evenings in bed, travel a lot by coach/train. I also discard books easily, can't be bothered if I find them boring. On the other hand I've read some many times.

I read so much more now i have a kindle. I never kept a record of how much I read until I found a thread on here, now I have a spreadsheet with what ive read, and the date I finished the book. Its interesting to go back and have a look at how many ive read in a month, you can see when ive been on holiday as its usually a book every couple of days. Last year I think it was 86 books I read.

I tend to find a book I like the sound of, see what else the author has written and then read the series or a few of their stand alone. was late to the Peter James Roy Grace series so i have about 15 books lined up to go. I read pretty much anything, sometimes if ive done a few heavy thriller/crime books then I change it up with some chick lit stuff

I have an hour for lunch so I tend to read then or in the evenings, plus im generally a quick reader. I take the kindle with me most places so I can read a bit if im waiting for an appointment etc. I also have periods where ive read alot (on holiday) and then when I get back i won't pick the kindle up for weeks.

I think as long as you are enjoying your reading the dont get too caught up in numbers, and if you cant get on with a book then its perfectly ok to bin it off and start something new.

I read between 50 and 60 books per year. I work full time and have three DC (one away at uni and two teens at secondary school).

Every evening I leave my phone charging downstairs and read for a while before I go to sleep. By doing that, I will usually be able to read a book a week if it's an average length book or shorter. Some books take me longer to finish, but then I read more when I'm on holiday and I also listen to some audio books (not many - a few each year), so it ends up averaging out at roughly one book per week.

DH isn't a reader - he usually listens to a podcast while I'm reading.

I get so anxious if I don't have a couple of books lined up to read after whatever I'm currently reading. Back in covid times, when I figured lockdown was coming soon, I went to the library and took out a massive stack of books to ease my anxiety.

I think the people who read a lot simply prioritise reading over other things. We all have so many hours in a day. Many of them are already allocate to necessities (work, childcaring, personal hygiene, meal eating, sleeping etc). We can then choose to read, sit with our thoughts, play the piano, see friends etc. There is no right or wrong.

This is a particularly hot topic for me because I made a New Year's resolution to read more, and I've managed to achieve this. And whilst some of this I see as a good thing (reading rather than mindlessly scrolling), some of it is not necessarily so (I'm getting into the books to the point I don't want to put them down so I'm exercising less). I still need to find my ideal balance; I know I want it to include some reading so I will prioritise that, but some other things are important too, so I won't get hung up on how many books I manage to finish.

Ah. This is where I’m going wrong. I’m not really into TV either but am into piano and crafts instead. Eg I will play piano before bed up til about midnight (I have a silent acoustic). I don’t have a commute. I have had a certain book on my ‘must read’ list for a decade! And it would really help me to read the info in it. I keep meaning to put the audiobook on but to me that is not reading and I much prefer podcasts.

What works for me is a deadline. Join a book club and that will increase your annual count by 12 assuming they meet monthly. I read quite quickly. I thought I would read more with more time but I have reduced my work hours this year and I'm not reading as much as I hoped.

Time alone with my thoughts is exactly what I'm trying to avoid 🤣
I don't count but probably 60-70? Kindle app says over 50 but I also read on Libby and occasionally physical books.

It's not a virtuous choice that I'm making in place of TikTok or something though. I'm a reader because I'm addicted to it. The feeling of having a good book on the go - and ideally another lined up - is reassuring and soothing to me. Without knowing that that escapism is available, I feel anxious and cross.

I have a Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. I go to bed at about 8pm and read for a few hours before sleep. I usually wake up about 5-6am and so have a read for an hour before getting up. I don’t really watch TV though. I prefer a good read in my cosy bed. I’m not a book snob though - I’ll read any old crap. I’m current in my sub-Bridgerton dirty Regency romance novel era. Mr Pinion is reaping the benefits of all the sauciness 😁

I typically manage 52 books a year (not including set texts for my Eng. Lit. degree) and usually have 3 on the go at any given time: an audiobook for driving, walking, and running, a Kindle book for reading on my phone or Kindle when I find myself with time to kill, and a physical book. I read quite quickly but also need to really take in what I'm reading - I know lots of people who skim read (their words) 200 books a year, but I'd feel like I wasn't quite absorbing the story.

This poster consistently swoons over the recommendations of a dead white male literary critic and doesn't seem to see the value in reading anything that wasn't pronounced worthy by him, so the continued commitment to dead white men - and what they have to say - doesn't surprise me

Yes, but it messes with your head when the voices you’ve got in your head when reading are nothing like the ones in audible!

I try not to count as I find myself starting to resent long books as it'll spoil my number! Reading a book in a week is reasonably normal for me I guess though, depending on the length of course. If I add audio books then absolutely loads as I spend hours a week commuting and I run around 3 hours a week (in total) and listen to books then too.

I assume Bleak House was sold as a page turner so that people would want to read the next issue, and I certainly found Middlemarch an enjoyable read. Haven't read a Jeffrey Archer novel for decades, but I love Robert Galbraith, Richard Osman, Anthony Horowitz.

Edward St Aubyn, the author of the Melrose novels, said he once hired a cottage and spent months doing nothing but read Proust.

He just sounds like somebody with plenty of money and no children.

If you have the kindle edition it's sometimes quite cheap to add audible so you can switch between reading and listening.

Audio for me as well. I have a 30minute commute by car, so that's an hour a day. Plus I usually have to do more driving in the day - another 60-90 minutes isn't usual. And then probably another hour's listening while doing chores in the house.

I read in bed for at least half an hour every night, often longer, and I read everytime I go to the loo at home some days, especially on weekends I will read an hour or so during the day and whenever we go somewhere in the car that's longer than 30 minutes and I'm not driving I'll read. Last month I went to my DD's volleyball games 4 hours away and read a lot on the minibus!

I also have a book I keep at work for reading sometimes during breaks, something non fiction so I can just dip in and out.

I'm contemplating submitting it to Private Eye for Pseud's Corner

DD listens to an audiobook (speeded up) whenever she is doing anything - cooking, cleaning, walking somewhere and gets through loads that way (she is also an English Lit student - this is for her "fun" reading).

I mix and match audio, ebooks and real books. I have specific points of my day I try to make a point to read i.e. the half hour after I get home from work and the time before bed. That's the minimum! I mix up longer and more slow paced books with shorter easy reading.

I think as with fitting in anything, the question is not "how do you fit it in" but "what else are you doing that take priority?". The period of my life when I read most was actually when I had a young baby because I read when I breastfed and while he napped, and used that as my own wind down time.

Thankfully most people aren’t trying to impress you with their reading material.

I spend my working hours pouring over unpublished scientific manuscripts and data.
You can forgive me for being more than happy and fulfilled with my Ruth Jones when I get to bed.

People like you give readers a bad name. I read more books than most people I know, but less than others. Some of them are reading less books because what they read is more 'high brow' than me. Some read less than me, and read more fluff than I do. I read a wide variety of
Who cares. We all enjoy what we read and get something from it. That's what matters.

My son reads about 2 books a year. He hates reading. So that's a massive achievement for him.

Did you ask ChatGPT to write this post in the style of a sneery twat, or is this all your own work?