SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

David here, On an average how many books do you read in a year? I haven't been much of a reader my entire life until I retired recently. I have now read about 15 books in the last 3 months!!
Most of the books have been of the Mystery type, but I am branching out into other genres, I started my 1st SF book (The Calculating Star) - Enjoying the reading!

I read a lot as a child and in my teens, but then had a long break with perhaps just a book a year. Recently got back into reading and while I read 20 last year, I think, I’m now at 58 this year. The reading goal and challenges really helped me systemize my reading.

Hope you enjoy the Calculating Stars! I’ll get onto that soon, just been too busy to finish Ammonite I’m reading atm :)

Before I retired, I would guess that I read about 2 a week (I had an hour's train journey to and from work), so a hundred a year. Now, it's more than 200 a year. But that does include some re-reads, and some pretty lightweight stuff.

I could never just read one book a year - I always had a book in the car, one in my bag when I went anywhere, one by my bed, etc. At my slowest, I read perhaps 50 books a year, but so far this year I'm at 121 and last year, from July to December, I read 123

I read over 100 a year, probably 80% YA/MG, as I work my way through the books in my classroom library.

I read over 200 a year, but yeah, that includes rereads. Not all sci-fi and fantasy. In fact currently I'm reading a lot of historical and contemporary romance as well. I don't like to go somewhere without my kindle or a book on me. (except for work).

When I was younger I used to read probably 4 or more a week (proper long chapter books not picture books and from an early age). So did my Mum. Then when I got married about 30 years ago I took a long break and probably read 12-20 a year (whatever the kids read for school plus some extras sometimes). When the kids left school it was lucky to be 5 a year and they were usually rereads.

Then last October I got obsessed about reading the new Stephen King novel Sleeping Beauties and haven’t put down a book (or my iPad) since. So far this year I’ve read 64 books. I thought I’d fall way short of my goal of 52 for the year but I’ve surpassed it already.

The Calculating Stars is next on my list. Either that or Artificial Condition. Or Neverwhere. I saw a thing from Neil Gaiman this morning that’s on BBC iPlayer that’s a continuation of Neverwhere and it’s only available for another 29 days so I should read Neverwhere and get onto that.

I’m averaging about 160 books a year since joining goodreads in 2013. I’m at 166 for this year.

I've been tracking my reading on Goodreads for the past 5 years and average 30 per year. I make a separate shelf to track books read per year.

Since I finished all my schooling (OMG so much schooling) and got a job with reasonable hours, I've been averaging about a book a week. I think I'll pass that this year because this group is full of shoulder devils or angels, I'm not sure which.

Book lengths can vary so much that, for my own purposes, I focus more on pages than books. But I can be a bit of a numbers freak. Pages aren’t perfect either, but they’re more easily attainable than word counts.

* In 2017 I completed 84 books.

* In 2016 I completed 95 books, but I only read about 900 more pages in 2016 vs 2017 despite reading 11 more books because I read shorter books that year.

* This year I’ve read some looong books. I’ve only completed 48 so far, but I’ll probably end the year with more pages read than previous years despite reading significantly fewer books.

Here’s a more visual version of what my database is currently displaying. It’s not a huge amount, but I feel fairly well-balanced in terms of meeting my daily obligations versus reading time versus time for other interests.



(I didn’t start keeping track of my reading dates until late 2013. Up through 2015, I was traveling on business almost constantly and had less time and energy for reading.)

I have read anywhere from 50 to 90, as set goals.

I have always exceeded the goal, which surprises me sometimes, because I feel like I am a pretty slow reader. Last year I read over 89 and the year before about 100.

I think life responsibilities and access to great books have a lot to do with my reading habits, and the ability to make time for reading.

My average for the previous 6 years (since I started keeping track) was 30/year. This year will be more like 50. I think that's both because I stopped playing online computer games last year and because I discovered Goodreads challenges at the start of this year.

I prefer using page counts as well. If I read a Wheel of Time book I want extra credit for it! I've consistently read about 10,000 pages/year the last few years.

I don't set goals and never try to keep count. Not less than 50 and not more than 120 at a guess. I start plenty more and decide I don't like them within 100 pages.

I only just started reading (again) this July and I'm at roughly 25 books since then. But this will slow down, once the enthusiasm of the new cools down and I'll balance my hobbies and real life.

YouKneeK wrote: "Book lengths can vary so much that, for my own purposes, I focus more on pages than books. But I can be a bit of a numbers freak. Pages aren’t perfect either, but they’re more easily attainable tha..."

What program are you using there?

Jesse wrote: "I've been tracking my reading on Goodreads for the past 5 years and average 30 per year. I make a separate shelf to track books read per year."

No need - go to My Books and select Reading Stats on the left side of the page and you'll see every book you've read that year if you change the status from Want to Red or Currently Reading on Good Reads to Read and fill in the date every time you finish a book.

CBRetriever wrote: "Jesse wrote: "I've been tracking my reading on Goodreads for the past 5 years and average 30 per year. I make a separate shelf to track books read per year."

No need - go to My Books and select Re..."

Goodreads has a glitch there, though. For instance. I read Jade City this spring, but GR insists I started it in 2017. I’ve tried to manually correct it a few times before giving up. I have a few books with similar issues; no idea why that happens.

if you keep wireless off, then Goodreads will not automatically complete your Read by date (what it uses to add to their yearly categories

Usually somewhere around 100-150 books a year. About 1/3 of those are graphic novels or shorter single sitting books.
I usually have a few books on the go and read whatever I’m in the mood for.

Trike wrote: "What program are you using there?"

Microsoft Access.

Since I was accustomed to reading on my work commute, a bus route change has had major impact on my reading. Now I can't just get on the bus and read because I have to watch out for the stop where I transfer. I used to read 160 books a year. Now I struggle to reach a hundred books.

My devouring has gone down somewhat, my target for this year is 50 books and I might be struggling to get there. I think it's partly down to the fact that I stopped listening to audiobooks, as these have been replaced by a multitude of podcasts.

I think I read about 1 book a week on average plus about 1 audio book a month while I'm walking the dogs

I've often read over 1K/yr. But a lot of those are children's. Otoh, a lot are serious science books, poetry collections, other slower reads. Also I spend a lot of time reading that doesn't count, giving books a good try before DNFing them. So, I dunno, for the intent of your question, I'd guess I could claim 400. Especially I get credit because I do at least briefly review them all, even the children's.

My reading has taken a serious decline the last few years from my peak of 155 in 2013 down to only 10 so far this year. This year I place the blame fully on Peter Brett's The Core. I've been struggling to get through it since March and finally forced myself to finish it yesterday. It literally sucked the will to read from me. I wanted to finish it to finish out the series but at the same time it was so bad I had to put it down after only maybe 20-30 pages at a time. Its sad really because the first book was great and one I couldn't put down.

I am taking it comfortably so it's around 2-4 per month, depending on length, my time and my mood. My last year was around 30 and I guess I might get it to 35 this year.

From what I'm reading from all the responses, I'm not doing too bad.
15 Books in 3 months is good for someone who hardly ever read. I've just got to be more selective in my choosing genres! I'm thinking about make up a monthly schedule to include
1 Hugo or Nebula Winner or Nominee
1 Pulitzer Winner or Nominee
1 Edgar Winner or Nominee
1 Fantasy Book Every Other Month
1 Classic Fiction per month

I just got to get away from the Mystery Books and try other books!! David

I retired from the library after 14 years at the end of 2017 but I actually worked as an accountant for 35 years. I like how you keep stats, looks interesting! David

YouKneeK wrote: "Book lengths can vary so much that, for my own purposes, I focus more on pages than books. But I can be a bit of a numbers freak. Pages aren’t perfect either, but they’re more easily attainable tha..."

I just tried that out and works real while, Thanks CBRetriever!! David

CBRetriever wrote: "Jesse wrote: "I've been tracking my reading on Goodreads for the past 5 years and average 30 per year. I make a separate shelf to track books read per year."

No need - go to My Books and select Re..."

I tend to read about one book a week. I read less when I'm in the midst of a writing binge, more when I'm about to get serious about writing.

I have to admit to being addicted to reading.

When working I had to do a lot of preparation for my work, and of course all of the jobs that pop up with having a family, but I would have to read 15 mins before going to bed, even if I had to hold my eyes open

Once children grew up it was about a book a week. Now I have retired it is a book a day if a light book, or one every 2 days.

I have never worked out how many a year.

My family claim that if they died and I was reading I would just step over the body. My fav comment was an aunty who told me she would be judged for her "sin" of neglecting everything while reading.

I have never tracked it until this year. I can guess that it's probably somewhere around 100 a year. My dad and I were talking and we both said we probably read around 100 books a year, so I decided to start the yearly challenge on Goodreads so I could see if I was right.

I am currently at 63 books, so according to Goodreads I'm 4 books behind schedule, but I don't pay much attention to that. There are times where I will read 4 books in a week, and there are times where I will only read 2 books in a month. I fluctuate on that a lot.

Kateb, that's a great comment, thank you.

This is truly a loaded question for me. It is directly proportional to the amount of pain that I am in at any given time and my general health. When I am reasonably healthy and not in so much pain that I can't concentrate, I am comfortable with averaging one a week. I am a pretty slow reader, so I don't push much further than my comfort level. It would cease to be fun.

I have averaged around 90 a year since I joined Goodreads, and the most I've read in that time was 110 in a year. I'm sure I've had years that were better than that in my life, but I wasn't keeping track.

I tried for a Goodreads Challenge of 30 books last year which I didn't meet. Part of that was that I was not counting retreads and I ended up doing a lot of those that year. This year I chose 30 books as my challenge again and I'm on schedule to hit that number easily before the end of the year. I'm sure I've significantly exceeded this number in the past, but my reading time has been really variable the last few years. I might read 2-3 books one week, and then talk two weeks to finish the next.

I usually average between 110-140 books a year (or so goodreads tells me for the past six years). The number usually is determined by the books I’m reading, this year I’ve been reading a lot of 800-1200 page books so I’ll be lucky to break 100 this year - which is fine, it’s about quality and not quantity.

I am at 56 so far this year...but of course that can’t differentiate between a 1000p time and a slender novella (there’s both in my total)

I guess this means I tend to end up in the 70-90 range which I think it pretty good when there’s little kids in the mix

I seem to average a little over 200 a year, but that include some shorter stuff like novellas and graphic novels as well. While I read a ton of sci-fi and fantasy, I also read a little bit of pretty much everything else as well.

I tend to go through periods of binging and then nothing. Some months I struggle to finish a couple books and others I read all the books. It just kind of depends on what else is going on in my life.

The older I get, the more I've been reading. I've read over 100 each year for the past four years. The four years before that, ranged from 44 to 88, which I only know because I've been using Goodreads to keep track. Most of those were science fiction or fantasy, although some were nonfiction. Only one or two novellas and no graphic novels. I never could get into those.

I probably spend more hours reading than sleeping. Is that wrong??!! I can read a book a day, if light. But I have a lot of spare time.....!

Catherine wrote: "I probably spend more hours reading than sleeping. Is that wrong??!! I can read a book a day, if light. But I have a lot of spare time.....!"

Aren't we the lucky ones? I like my sleep, but if it's not coming, there's always a stack of juicy books calling my name... And the house is always "clean enough."

Cheryl wrote: "Catherine wrote: "I probably spend more hours reading than sleeping. Is that wrong??!! I can read a book a day, if light. But I have a lot of spare time.....!"

Aren't we the lucky ones? I like my ..."
So agree, the choice between sleep and a book is often so hard. Its when my eyes wont stay open I feel I have to go to bed.

ANd cleaning is highly over rated. I have systems in place to reduce that eg all built in cupboards reduces dusting.

Kateb wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "ANd cleaning is highly over rated. I have systems in place to reduce that eg all built in cupboards reduces dusting."

Kindles work for me - a simple swipe of the screen with a microfiber cloth and they're clean

We'll see how I do on my challenge - mostly met with over 100 books the last few years. My real goal is pages; last year I made it to 50,000 pages for the first time. I might get there this year, if life settles down a little ... moving wreaks havoc with reading, for some reason.

so true - I'm in the process of packing up to move to Oregon from Texas and my house is a nightmare with boxes everywhere

John, I hear you, GR doesn't always catalog individual short stories so we don't get 'credit' for them, depending on how we found them.

How many a year? Not nearly as many as I would like to read. That is the only downside about writing, it cuts into an already-limited amount of time. I also don't 'devour' books, I take my time reading them. For me, that's a huge part of the enjoyment.

It varies, but over 100.