Do you even read?

[Captain Darkhorse]

Yeah. Poll about books. Because why not? And also, I'm curious. AVEN seems to like books.

[littleheartsofjoy]

Can I just say that I'm happy to see a poll about reading?!

I read books, but like only 11-25 books in a year because I'm a student and I can only read books freely during breaks. Usually summer break at that, winter break is a little short for me to be able to do that. I only read books in English, and my favorite genre is probably realistic fiction, but I also like humor, romance, and religious fiction. I only read print books, since I don't have a device that can read e-books. This poll made me wish that I could read a book for fun right now, so I chose yes for the last question.

[Fire & Rain]

I usually read in English and it's not my native language. I voted other in favorite genres since some of my favorites are not included such as Post-Apocalyptic, Dark Erotica, Psychological Thriller and Horror.

[Kagon]

I enjoy reading - but have had very little time to read much as of late. Unfortunately, reading for me typically translates into sitting down with a book and doing little else for the next day or two until the book is finished, as I kind of get caught up in it. Even super long books would usually take me less than a week to finish with me reading the way I typically do. Work\Heath\Life hasn't allowed for very much of that lately, though.

As an aside....does reading and not understanding *really* count as reading? I understand that the question is targeted at foreign language reading, but still....if you don't understand it, how is it reading?

[Squirrel Combat]

I'm so terrible. I'm currently writing a novel and yet I am not a bookworm. I haven't read an actual novel book since high school. And even in high school I only read the books assigned to me in class. I just can't sit still and bury my nose in a book. I have too short of an attention span. My mind wanders too easily.

However, I am a heavy non-fiction reader. I read articles online or in magazines or even the encyclopedias every single day, even if for just a few minutes.

[shockkkk]

Textbooks / non-fiction only and I hate reading them.

[TheKindredSoul]

I love books and reading. My favorite genres are fantasy in particular, but I do not mind non-fiction. I love sci-fi, classics, educational, spiritual, mythology, poetry, biographies, and "foreign" literature. I am not normally too particular when I pick a book. It just has to have good writing and a solid plot. I do not like those books that are all fluff and no foundation. Bad writing also causes me to lose interest. I am an avid reader, and if I am not holding a book, I am normally reading science articles or stories on the internet. Psychological Horror books I can probably read...then again that might make me paranoid in the night. Romance is definitely not for me.

I can actually read in some Spanish and understand it. My brain grows tired of translating, so I prefer English.

[SorryNotSorry]

Me no like to read. Reading make head hurt.

[Captain Darkhorse]

I usually read in English and it's not my native language. I voted other in favorite genres since some of my favorites are not included such as Post-Apocalyptic, Dark Erotica, Psychological Thriller and Horror.

Fiddlesticks. I knew I forgot some genres. I'm going to include some of those too.

[Graysen.]

Reading ties with writing as my absolute favourite way to pass time by myself. Book in general are the things I adore most. So yes, I definitely read a lot. More than fair amount of people my age, I think.

Last year I read 65 books, and in 2012 I read 66.

I can't read fluently in anything else other than English, but I'd like to be able to. (I know quite a good amount of French, but not enough for the descriptiveness of a novel.)

I tend to lean towards fantasy or sci-fi, or basically anything that's fictional with some kind of supernatural/paranormal twist to it. (I really wish I liked "classics" a lot more, but no matter how I try they're just to dry for my taste and not descriptive enough.)

I don't mind reading on something like an e-reader or online, but I find it quite a bit easier to lose myself in what I'm reading when it's in print. I'm a decently tactile person.

And yes, this poll really made me feel like I need to get back to reading. I have something like two hundred books in my room and I've been neglecting them lately with help from the demands of school.

[Vyanni Krace]

I don't care what medium I read in. In terms of how many stories I read a year (this including fanfiction because they are stories) I read well over 100 stories a year (closer to 500 truth be told). I read far too many fanfics and articles, but I also read around 100 actual, published (whether printed or on an e-book) books a year. I'm reading less fiction this year though, because its my last year of secondary school and its approaching exam season so I've got to focus more.

[Captain Darkhorse]

As an aside....does reading and not understanding *really* count as reading? I understand that the question is targeted at foreign language reading, but still....if you don't understand it, how is it reading?

I included that option because I differentiated between properly reciting a set of words and understanding what they mean. Basically, it's understanding the linguistics of a language vs. understanding the meaning behind the sounds. I know I can read tons of text in Spanish and properly pronounce the words, but won't really be able to understand most of what I've read.

[ShogunV2]

Do manga and graphic novels count as "reading"?

[Vivaldi Ives]

I have always loved to read! And now I'm training to be a librarian, so reading kind of goes along with that. :)

I voted for 11-25 books per year, though I'm not exactly sure. The number of books I read cover to cover is something close to that. The number would be a lot higher if I were to include books I just read part of or skim through. I haven't ever read a book in another language for fun, but I've read a few short books in French for school. I can usually understand French and Italian song lyrics pretty well, and maybe someday I'll try reading an actual novel in one of those languages.

The only genre I actively avoid is romance. When I'm busy like I am now I just read and/or skim a lot of reference/educational nonfiction books, but when I have more free time I like to read fiction or narrative nonfiction books as well. I've been hoarding library books, so I mainly read in print, but I have a tablet/ereader too and I've been downloading a lot of free books to read on that later. I also consume a lot of nonfiction text on my laptop via blogs and news sites.

In summary: I'll read pretty much anything, in any format, given the right circumstances.

[SlightlyToxicXmasShrub]

I love reading, but I haven't actually read a physical book for myself in a while. I'm an English major, so it's kind of tricky to find pleasure-reading time when I'm not worn out from reading for class. I do a lot of online research/curiosity based reading, however, and I've managed to find some cute, short fanfics to make up for the lack of time I have to read and get into an actual novel. All the while, my "To-Read" list just grows and grows. One day I'm just going to take up residence in a library. :lol: Which might work, as I plan on being a librarian eventually.

Currently I'm reading Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link for my Contemporary Lit. class (which has, in my professor's words, turned into a bookclub and it's great) and it is a delightful collection of short stories. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes "out there" stuff and magical/fantastic realism and is okay with inconclusive endings.

[Captain Darkhorse]

Do manga and graphic novels count as "reading"?

I'll put the option up there.

[WhenSummersGone]

I sort of read books but I have trouble finishing them. I try but I tend to get focused on something else so I forget. I like Stephen King and True Crime books. I only read in English and it's usually in print. I read information on the Internet as well.

[Waist of Thyme]

I love reading. I like learning about the stories, worlds, and characters that other people create. I also write myself and love to show my stories to other people. It's not even just about the plot or the world, I also like seeing the structural flow of words.

I don't keep track of how much I read a year. I don't really have a specific goal I strive to reach in a certain time frame. I just read when I find something interesting, which could be later today or a week from now.

I can only read in English. It's the only language I know fluently, verbal or written.

I read books, manga, articles, and online stories (mostly creepypasta).

I don't really have a favorite genre. I'll read anything that catches my interest. However, I tend to not be interested in romance and I mostly read fiction. Real life stories that interest me are usually articles about scientific discoveries and interesting or beautiful places.

[Kagon]

As an aside....does reading and not understanding *really* count as reading? I understand that the question is targeted at foreign language reading, but still....if you don't understand it, how is it reading?

I included that option because I differentiated between properly reciting a set of words and understanding what they mean. Basically, it's understanding the linguistics of a language vs. understanding the meaning behind the sounds. I know I can read tons of text in Spanish and properly pronounce the words, but won't really be able to understand most of what I've read.

Ok, I guess that make sense. I took 4 years of Spanish and can likewise for the most part pronounce the words written on the page. I don't really see that as *reading* though - with more than 10 years out now since I've actually *used* Spanish for reading my comprehension is far too low for me to justify it as reading.

Had you caught me Jr. Year of High School though, I had to not only read but report on Don Quijote de la Mancha en Español. *That* was reading in another language. What I can do now is just pronounce words and *maybe* catch a few words or sentences. I guess I just can't wrap my mind around how one even remotely correlates to the other.

["""]

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[deletedprofile]

I read a few books a year. The last book I read was The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida.

[Jockey]

How is it that all the nonfiction has gotten lumped as being autobiography/memoir, biography, religious, humor, or else some informational/education/blah blah?

Clearly you are not a fan of nonfiction. I just don't think that the works of, say, Oliver Sacks, ought to be lumped under ANY of those (except for his memoir).

I read a lot of fiction, but I read a lot of nonfiction too, and although quite a bit of it is memoir, the rest is not all one genre.

[eskazula]

Most of my reading consists of comic books and non-fiction (mostly books on Eastern Philosophy). I plan on reading Game of Thrones next though.

[AnomalyEternal]

I read a lot of books. I don't know how many, however I put 26-50 as it's probably the most accurate approximation. I cannot read nor understand foreign languages :( Fantasy, historical fiction (especially victorian-era fiction), sci-fi, horror and psychological thriller. I also like crime/mystery and dystopian novels/books. I prefer real books made of paper and the such, but I also read a lot online.



This poll made me want to read a book but I can't at the moment .-.

[Philip027]

Books? No, not really anymore. Most books are too boring for me compared to video games, and if it's something that's terribly long (or simply long-winded... like if the author goes on and on for paragraphs to describe a simple object and every aspect about it when a simple sentence would have sufficed), I'll lose interest. I feel the same way about TV, movies, and most other non-interactive media, unless it is something directly related to my (admittedly few) interests.

However, I do still read lots of stuff over the internet. They aren't really stories or novellas or anything like that, but things like... forum posts, Wikipedia articles, tvtropes pages, video game FAQs/walkthroughs... you get the picture.

[Guest]

1) Sort of

2) No clue

3) Yes; can read and understand (Italian, English, French, Spanish)

4) Sci-fi, classics, realistic fiction, other (post-apocalyptic fiction is my favourite of all, why isn't it on the list? :P)

5) Other (no preference, OR it depends on what I read)

6) Not really

Basically I read things that I find interesting. So I can go for years without reading, and then read a bunch of books in a month or so (I read 60+ in one year a few years ago).

[Satin]

Ah yes, reading, one of my all-time favourite leisure activities. I couldn't live without it. :D But despite my love for it I don't read regularly. Sometimes I pick up a book and just fly through the pages just to pick up the next one right after. And then I don't even touch a book for months because I somehow don't feel like it. That's why I selected 1-10 books per year, not sure how true it is though. Currently I'm in mood to read and I'm about to finish another book.

I think I can find taste in pretty much any genre as long as it's not romance, historical fiction or this wanna-be psychology crap. Fantasy, sci-fi, educational books and world literature classics would be my favourites though. I also have this rule that I read every book not originally written in my native tongue in English.

[5_♦♣]

I've never counted how many books I read in a year. I read sci fi, realistic fiction and non fiction.

[Captain Darkhorse]

How is it that all the nonfiction has gotten lumped as being autobiography/memoir, biography, religious, humor, or else some informational/education/blah blah?

Clearly you are not a fan of nonfiction. I just don't think that the works of, say, Oliver Sacks, ought to be lumped under ANY of those (except for his memoir).

I read a lot of fiction, but I read a lot of nonfiction too, and although quite a bit of it is memoir, the rest is not all one genre.

That's not true at all. Don't make assumptions - I actually happen to love nonfiction. I literally ran out of options as polls only allow you to have 20 options per question and there far more than 20 different literary genres. Fiction got a significant amount of lumping too, and since a book often does not fall cleanly into one genre there's plenty of room for overlap.

4) Sci-fi, classics, realistic fiction, other (post-apocalyptic fiction is my favourite of all, why isn't it on the list? :P)

Honestly, because I ran out of options It wouldn't let me fit any more choices on the poll

[iff]

books, books, i like books.

i tend to read 26 - 50 books a year. last year, 36 i think, the previous 25 or 26 and in 2011, 50 novels + 3 plays. i don't know how i managed that :d

so far this year i have read 10 books so far.

foreign books is an interesting, essential most books i read are foreign ones :d but that is from being from a small country. so far, 8 of which were anglophonic novels, the 2 currently reading are by anglophones but in my tbr pile half are by anglophones.

i don't read in other languages because i can't.

i use print books.

it would mostly be novels with an occassional non-fiction book, usually about history or cycling.

i'd probably have read more but i am trying to write my own but i enjoy reading aswell so i keep it up :)