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Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 01:57 pm: | 
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I am amazed at how so many of the posters to this board find the time to collect so many books, and read them at such a relentess pace! Although I go through a lot of magazines and newspapers, I only get to maybe a couple of books a month and, at this point, I only select what appeals to my peculiar taste. I have actually walked up and down the aisles of a library, scanning the shelves, waiting for an epiphany, hoping to be drawn to the one book that will captivate me. Sometimes this works, and I discover an obscure little gem whose facets reflect my preference. I admire all of you for your great capacity to consume the printed word. I also appreciate your mini-reviews. As I go through life, I have come to realize that any time I encounter an avid reader, I know I can look forward to an interesting conversation! |
Tee C. Royal
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 08:41 pm: |
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LOL Cynique. The other day, an author told me that she writes because she HAS to. It's like breathing to her and not to be dramatic, but this is sorta how I feel about books. If I can't buy them, look at them, hold them, read them, I feel so so sad. I even get an attitude when the mail man doesn't ring my doorbell (which he normally does when I have boxes of books.)
It sounds crazy, but when I first got pregnant and decided to stop working after Joy was born (I couldn't stand the thought of putting her in daycare), one of my initial thoughts was that my book-buying habits would have to change and I was soooooooooooooo upset.
I no longer visit Amazon, half.com, eBay, and other sites daily to get my shop on like I did in the past, but I do manage to get at least 5-6 books a month. Plus, running my site and team of reviewers has also given me an advantage because I get a lot of books for free. Some authors even send them to me as gifts...which is an awesome feeling.
As for reading, I normally average 5-6 books a month, but with everything else going on and being a full-time Mom, it kinda slowed down for a while. I'm on a mission for 2003 to expand my reading list and to read at least 2 books a week.
And you know I'm grinning at you and your "waiting for an epiphany" in the library. LOL. Please keep me posted on those gems. You know if it's a book...I've gotta have it.
On a side note...THANK YOU!!!
-Tee |
yukio
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 09:47 pm: |
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Tee & Cynique,
Hmmmmm! I'm trying to be like ya'll! |
Claxton
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 01, 2003 - 11:14 pm: |
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Six books a month?! I must really be a slow reader. Even in my heyday, the best I could do was two books a month. Nowadays, I'm doing good to get in one book every other month.
I've got a shelf with over 80 novels waiting to be read. Some of them I've had for at least eight years. I've just about given up on reading them all, because about the only time I have to read these days is at bedtime. Depressing in one sense, but liberating at the same time. |
Tee
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 02, 2003 - 12:12 am: |
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Heyyyyyyyy Claxton, want me to take some of those off your hands? My address is 101.... <wink> And I've always been a fast reader. Most books I can read in 3-5 hours, unless it's a BAB. (That's why I don't like them).
And I won't even say how many to read books I have, but I know it's over in the hundreds. My husband tries to tell me to read all I have before I buy anymore. Say WHAT? I just look at him like he just stepped off the little yellow bus.
-Tee |
Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 02, 2003 - 12:53 pm: |
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OK, Tee, I did get a little carried away. Waiting for an "epiphany" in the library is a bit much. So, I'll take it down a notch. How about me loitering around the book shelves, in the frame of mind for a little "serendipity". LOL!
Cynique |
Claxton
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 02, 2003 - 07:32 pm: |
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Hey, Tee, I'd be glad to send some your way. And I'm like you; while I was in my reading heyday, I'd buy three books for every book I wrote. Unfortunately, much of what I read are BABs, so I'm hurting now! |
Troy
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 03, 2003 - 12:21 am: |
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I'm amazed as well Cynique at the rate and volume at which some people can devour books! I tend to read more fiction than non-fiction. I certainly can read the average novel faster than I can read a work of non-fiction. Literary fiction (including poetry) takes me longer to read than "regular" fiction or even most non-fiction.
For example, it took me a couple of weeks to get through that little gem of a book Cane (Toomer). I got through Mosley's What Next one day during my commute to the office and during lunch. The page count between these two books was not nearly proportional to the time required to read them.
It took me the better part of two months to get through Howard Zinn's book the Peoples History of the US but that was a big book. I'm about to start Pinker's The Blank Slate, another big mama-jama that will probably carry me into March.
I tend to read books that take a long tme to read because they are just long, because I have to stop reflect on what I've just read or both.
Book reviewers like Thumper are actually "profesional readers". Amatuer readers like me just marvel at their ability and try use their experience to focus on quality rather than quantity.
Peace
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akaivyleaf
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 03, 2003 - 07:44 am: |
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Reading speed has always been an interesting topic to me. I devour books and can generally read about 8 or 9 a month. When I was in college it was my claim to fame to be able to read and comprehend at a relatively fast rate. I however am a library junkie. I can spend hours at the library and have been known to finish a book without even checking it out. Now that I've risen to reading majority African American writers my library habits have been curtailed. I send them on weekly quests for books that should be in their collection...(hahaha) They hate to see me coming.
Now that I've really made a connection with the Internet... I find that I spend a lot of time at Amazon, Ebay, half, B&N buying more books, and since I reveiw for a couple of sites, the free books I get in the mail are better than candy in a candy store.
Also because I review, I have found that my reading time has been cut so that I can write the review. Now I'm down to about 5 or 6 books a month, but I need to increase this. I used to love BABs when I was younger. The bigger the better was my motto but the older I get, or the more critical (both good and bad) I've become, I find that a lot of BAB are the result of over zealous authors. |
Sandra
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 10:04 am: |
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I really do wish I could read more books a month--I only average around three or so. Family, work and household duties take up much of my time of course. That's one reason I joined a book club in order to make sure I'm reading regularly.
Some of my best time to read is while I'm waiting for my daughter at one of her many afterschool activities such as karate, soccer practice, choir rehearsal, basketball practice, etc. |
Yvette
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 11:01 am: |
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Hi Sandra,
I'm similar to you in the respect that I try to get my read on as much as possible, but due to household and family duties I'm somewhat limited. I still try to read about four or five books a month though. In a good month I've done six or seven. Like you, I do it while I wait for three kids at swim lessons, basketball practice, piano lessons, etc. I also do it at red lights <wink>, while I'm waiting for the kids in the long line after school, while I'm waiting in line at the post office, etc. I think you get the point. But the one thing that keeps me motivated to read is the fact that I'm in three local bookgroups, including a Mother-Daughter bookgroup with my 10 year old. Have you ever considered doing that with your daughter? I also like to keep up with the book of the month from Thumper's Corner and go out and chat about it monthly. So that takes my required reading total to four books per month. I'm having a ball doing it! |
Tee C. Royal
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 04, 2003 - 12:55 pm: |
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LOL Claxton, are you serious? ::::jumping up and down:::: LOL, let me know what you have and feel free to email me directly. I will gladly take them off your hands.
-Tee |
Carey
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 06, 2003 - 08:30 pm: |
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Hello All
WOW, 7 to 10 books a month, that's reading. Okay, tell me you guys, how many hours would you say you put into your reading? I bet you Ann spends at least 100 hours a month reading.....easily. It seems like those that read fast read more so they have to be devoting big hours to their love of reading. Tee, Yukio, Sandra, Akaivyleaf, Cynique, Judy and the rest....lets hear some numbers. |
Yvette
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 06, 2003 - 09:17 pm: |
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Hi Carey,
If I had to take a guess, I'd say on average I spend somewhere between 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours per day reading. So I'd have to say that comes to around 50 hours per month. I wish I could do more though. I'm really not that fast of a reader. |
Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 06, 2003 - 10:46 pm: |
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I read 2 newspapers a day, about 5 magazines a week, and am down to only about 1 book a month. But in my youth, I was a reading fool! |
Tee C. Royal
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 06, 2003 - 11:22 pm: |
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Hmmmmmmmm, Carey, good question! I have to sneak my reading in around book club stuff, email, and site updates, so that's kinda hard to answer. I know last month, I read 4 books in the first few days of the month, then went two weeks without reading any, and the last week I read 6...so unfortunately, I don't devote time per day to read, I just "take" it when I can.
So far this month, I've only read one book and I read that in under 5 hrs (one sitting). In addition, I've read about 200 pages of a manuscript that I'm not sure I like. It's not getting me caught up, so I'll read as many pages as I can before passing out and falling asleep and continue this routine until I'm done.
Now...can I count email? In that case, I read/respond to about 300-500 messages a day, mostly in the wee hours of the morning which equates to about 8-12 hrs per day. And I spend about 2-3 hrs a day researching and another 3-4 working on the websites and other book club stuff and my "play-time" on message boards. <grin> So that usually leaves me with 2-3 hrs to sleep and 30 minutes to whine about not getting any sleep. ROFL. In between all this, I play Mom & wifey. Thank goodness I have a laptop and can get off the desktop and into the same room with the fam.
This month, I have 8 books that I'd like to read, but will shoot for 10 again.
-Tee
:::::wishing for 10 more hours in the day:::::
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Sandra
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 07, 2003 - 10:00 am: |
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I have never really counted up the hours--some months I have more time than others--for example, during vacation months I have more time than others. On average, I would hazard a guess at about 40 hours a month. |
Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 07, 2003 - 10:42 am: |
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Oops. Hours? OK. About 4 hours a day around the clock. |
akaivyleaf
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 10, 2003 - 02:54 pm: |
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Hours... Well that's hard for me to gauge but lets see. I read about 2 hours during my work day. The book is always open on my desk, and I manage to read a dozen or so pages during the day. I read from about 6 to midnight every night. I'll even walk around the house with a book. M-F thats 8 hours a day. On the weekend I've been known to lay in bed all day and read. I do this at least once a month. All told, I probably read 150 hours a month.
I try to devote my evening hours to reading and since I'm now single I can do that. When I had a life, my reading time was severely curtailed. |
Carey
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 14, 2003 - 07:10 pm: |
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Thanks to all of you that responded to this question. I guess my wife is sane after all. Yvette and Sandra's 40 to 50 hours is what I consider normal but my wife, Cynique, Akaivyleaf, and Tee are putting in some crazy hours *lol*. Tee said she read 4 books in the last week of last month, that's right, in a week. Akaivyleaf said she read 150 hours a month,sometimes reading at work, that's hugh. How do you get those kind of jobs that you have time to read for pleasure and not get fired. Anyway thanks for shouting back, I'll stop looking at Ann like she's nuts *smile*. When you think about it, there are people that flop their tired behinds down in front of the TV for hours, only getting up to use the restroom. I have to admit that although I don't watch much TV other than sports, I've been known to catch 3 movies in a row at the movie theater and I bet some would call that odd. I wonder if anyone of you have ever done that. I can remember as a kid, we used to hide and try to watch a movie twice and frequently did. Now I can't watch a movie that I've seen unless 4 or 5 years have past since I last saw it. Anyway thanks again for shouting back. |
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