How Many Books Do You Read per Year?

[Debater Slayer]

I have long had a struggle with trying to read longer material such as essays, books, and papers. This is not due to mere impatience or boredom; it's because I have particularly strong reading OCD (which multiple professionals have diagnosed). When I try to read a book, I always end up re-reading sentences, scanning the same page multiple times, and obsessively, unfailingly looking up every single new word (or familiar word for which I want to know new definitions) I see either on the spot or a few minutes after.

Multiple doctors have tried different approaches to help me overcome it, but it's still an ongoing process. I'm now able to read some longer articles without struggling, but books remain a challenge. So do essays.

Ironically, the reason I rarely read longer material is also the reason I'm fluent in English. My obsession with language and the dictionary has led to fluency in written and spoken English as well as a native mastery of Arabic beyond what most native speakers have. Because Arabic grammar is extraordinarily difficult, most native speakers are not proficient at it. Everyday dialects are also significantly different from grammatically correct Modern Standard Arabic.

I can identify correct pronunciation of classical and Modern Standard Arabic just by listening to a sentence and parsing it on the fly. "Parsing" means analyzing the grammar of a sentence and therefore identifying correct diacritic placement, which affects pronunciation:

Arabic sentence parsing is called إِعْرَاب. It is a change in the way final letters of words, namely nouns and verbs, are assigned diacritical marks which are called parsing marks عَلَامَات الإِعْرَاب. They are فَتْحَة fatHah, ضَمَّة DHammah, كَسْرَة kasrah, and سُكُوْن sukuun. They have a grammatical value and cause a slight change in pronunciation. Their addition is caused by the function of the word in the sentence and the precedence with certain particles. This post explains a few basic rules on how to correctly assign parsing marks and their grammatical importance.

What is Arabic Sentence Parsing?

What is Arabic Sentence Parsing?

blogs.transparent.com

Still, I struggle to read books.

What about you? How many books do you read per year?

 

[JustGeorge]

I guess that would depend a lot on the length!

I can't say for sure how many. I'll just say there isn't often a day that goes by where I didn't read something.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

I often stop halfway through a book. So I guess half a book a year hehehe. Multiple half books a year

 

[The Sum of Awe]

I guess that would depend a lot on the length!

I can't say for sure how many. I'll just say there isn't often a day that goes by where I didn't read something.

How much time do you spend reading a day? And what times?

 

[JustGeorge]

How much time do you spend reading a day? And what times?

I don't have any regular times, or regular lengths. My days tend to run around what others need from me, so my schedule varies a lot.

 

[Orbit]

Because of my profession, I tend to read more peer-reviewed journal articles than books, but I'm probably on the higher side of average in my book reading.

 

[Stevicus]

I have long had a struggle with trying to read longer material such as essays, books, and papers. This is not due to mere impatience or boredom; it's because I have particularly strong reading OCD (which multiple professionals have diagnosed). When I try to read a book, I always end up re-reading sentences, scanning the same page multiple times, and obsessively, unfailingly looking up every single new word (or familiar word for which I want to know new definitions) I see either on the spot or a few minutes after.

Multiple doctors have tried different approaches to help me overcome it, but it's still an ongoing process. I'm now able to read some longer articles without struggling, but books remain a challenge. So do essays.

Ironically, the reason I rarely read longer material is also the reason I'm fluent in English. My obsession with language and the dictionary has led to fluency in written and spoken English as well as a native mastery of Arabic beyond what most native speakers have. Because Arabic grammar is extraordinarily difficult, most native speakers are not proficient at it. Everyday dialects are also significantly different from grammatically correct Modern Standard Arabic.

I can identify correct pronunciation of classical and Modern Standard Arabic just by listening to a sentence and parsing it on the fly. "Parsing" means analyzing the grammar of a sentence and therefore identifying correct diacritic placement, which affects pronunciation:

What is Arabic Sentence Parsing?

What is Arabic Sentence Parsing?

blogs.transparent.com

Still, I struggle to read books.

What about you? How many books do you read per year?

Does reading posts on RF count?

 

[Debater Slayer]

Does reading posts on RF count?

If you read enough of them, they can form a book. I can't guarantee the quality of that book or that you'd find a publisher for it, though.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

... as a rough guess: 20.

 

[JustGeorge]

Actually, upon further reflection, I guess I read a lot of stuff at once. I have the privilege of having a very large personal library(at least 90% of which is religious in nature, both of my own religion and others). I might read a little out of one or another when I'm feeling down, grab a book down for reference, research a bit on something out of a few of them, along with having a book I just read for the sake of reading(Skanda Purana is what I'm reading now). I also read a lot with my youngest(my older two hate books).

 

[ChristineM]

I read a little most days, totalling 3 and 6 books a year depending on the size. That's physical books, not RF etc. I'm still not proficient, some words i need to look up the meaning and i ama plodding reader. But it's something i enjoy. When i first taught myself to read at age 14, words were a revelation and books a wondrous epiphany.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I just finished my first book. Now I'm gonna read another one. ~ Rodney Dangerfield

 

[kadzbiz]

Since I got bored with most television, I began reading consistently since March 2002. I find books in bargain bins or in second hand stores and when I come across a good one, I buy more of that author. Have discovered some great ones in my time and I keep a little record of every book I read.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Judging by the number of books that I have that have bookmarks in them, I probably complete less than I should, but then so many of them can be rather tedious in the amount of detail they go into and/or the amount of effort to stay focused on them. But it is probably over six per year.

As per so many books, perhaps a chapter summary would be worthwhile for so many and allowing for one to delve into the details more as required.

 

[Vinayaka]

I have long had a struggle with trying to read longer material such as essays, books, and papers. This is not due to mere impatience or boredom; it's because I have particularly strong reading OCD (which multiple professionals have diagnosed). When I try to read a book, I always end up re-reading sentences, scanning the same page multiple times, and obsessively, unfailingly looking up every single new word (or familiar word for which I want to know new definitions) I see either on the spot or a few minutes after.

Multiple doctors have tried different approaches to help me overcome it, but it's still an ongoing process. I'm now able to read some longer articles without struggling, but books remain a challenge. So do essays.

Ironically, the reason I rarely read longer material is also the reason I'm fluent in English. My obsession with language and the dictionary has led to fluency in written and spoken English as well as a native mastery of Arabic beyond what most native speakers have. Because Arabic grammar is extraordinarily difficult, most native speakers are not proficient at it. Everyday dialects are also significantly different from grammatically correct Modern Standard Arabic.

I can identify correct pronunciation of classical and Modern Standard Arabic just by listening to a sentence and parsing it on the fly. "Parsing" means analyzing the grammar of a sentence and therefore identifying correct diacritic placement, which affects pronunciation:

What is Arabic Sentence Parsing?

What is Arabic Sentence Parsing?

blogs.transparent.com

Still, I struggle to read books.

What about you? How many books do you read per year?

I struggle to read books as well, so the current annual count is zero. I was forced (coerced) in school, and fiction was never my cup of tea, because as a kid, I had better things to do, like go outside and play. I learned to read because my very wise parents bought Sports illustrated, and the teachers and basal readers did have some affect on me. As to philosophy, I'm a very experiential type of person. I have studied in depth the teachings of my Hindu sampradaya, but that's all in short daily spurts of about 2 minutes. Hopefully a few concepts have sunk in.

I think society and religion, in particular, puts books and reading in a higher light that they need be. Society functioned okay when most people were illiterate. Literacy has helped in many ways, but has also been a tool for hate.