Books & Reading

[iff]

with big book day coming up this month, lets see how in our reading habits have changed in the 5 years since this poll was last conducted

Edited December 2, 2025 by iff

[Kelly]

I read every day. One of the books that I am reading is the new Ken Follett historical fiction novel. His books can easily be over 1000 pages long.

 

My personal library is larger than any apartment that I have lived in and has thousands of volumes of physical books and literature.

[BryonJ.]

I'm currently trying to go the e-book route more due to having little to no space left. It sucks because I'm having to buy another copy of a book I own physically, but the local library is loving it! 

[Old Maid Librarian]

 I can't get into audiobooks; my attention wanders after a few minutes. I can read for three hours and be completely immersed, but listening just isn't as compelling for me for some reason.

[Slajmy]

Man I love reading! 📗

[Dagomir]

I haven't voted yet, so for now, only a post.

 

I used to read a lot, often several books at a time. My mother worked in bookshops throughout her professional life and our home is full of paper books, which probably played a role in this choice of pasttime  

In the recent years, it has dwindled to 5-10 books completed per year, usually in little binges, followed by long droughts.

Notice that I wrote "completed". That's because my list of DNFed books is long and if I put a book aside for a few days I may not come back to it (see my post in the thread about DNFing) even if I otherwise find the book interesting.

I mostly read fiction. I used to be into fantasy big time, these days it's mostly whodunnits or something by Stephen King. I have a tendency to DNF non-fiction books and I'm not sure why.  Maybe I feel overwhelmed by the amount of info presented. On the other hand I'm currently reading a piece of non-fiction and I'm determined to complete it, which is made easier by the fact that the book is divided into many smaller chapters.

I got it, like all of the books these days, from a library, of which my city has many.

I focus on paper books, because just like @Old Maid Librarian, I find it hard to focus on audiobooks, which is perhaps ironic seeing as I record them as a hobby. Having said that, I do like listening to creepypasta recordings, which I guess qualifies as listening to audiobooks  

As for the formats I read, it is on the audiobook production forum that I frequent, that someone pointed out to me that reading doesn't have to mean completing a whole tome, it can just as well be a short story, an article (these can be surprisingly long, too), a collection of poems, etc.

[Barbio]

I had just submitted my answers, then got a 500 error 🫠 I'll fill out the poll out again once I'm done typing this.

 

I prefer physical print books, mostly. It's nice to give my eyes a break from screens! I also enjoy listening to audiobooks while I work on other things. I'll often have both a print version and an audiobook version of whatever book I'm reading at a time, assuming I'm able to find it in both formats. If not, then print has the priority.

 

Where I get my books, roughly in order of most-to-least often: Library > Little Free Libraries/"find them lying around and just borrow them/take them" > library booksales/"second hand shops" > Amazon (as a last resort; I try to buy used from other retailers first) > family/friends as a gift, if they happen to know what's on my "to read" list

 

I like a lot of middle-grade fiction novels. I just find them much more charming than books for grown-ups usually, haha. I especially like slice-of-life type stories of kids/teens coming into their identities for the first time, realizing what's important to them, and how that shapes their lives. I like some non-fiction, too, especially if it's someone's real-life story of what I just described. And I like books that teach me new skills, too! I've got a lot of cookbooks, language-learning books, and books on identifying stuff in nature on my shelves.

 

I can usually only do one book at a time, unless they're two completely different genres (the last time I read more than one book at a time, it was one fiction novel and one interview-format biography). Idk, I just find it tricky to bounce my attention between two similarly-styled novels, for example. ^^'

 

My TBR list is... massive. Let's just say I'll be working on it for a while. 😂 Most of them are books that I haven't even purchased or put holds on yet.

[daveb]

I tend to read somewhere between 20 to 40 or so books per year. I usually have a couple of books going at once and they tend to be one fiction novel and one non-fiction book or one sort of reference book or collection of writings about something which could be non-fiction or fiction. The largest percentage of my reading is sci-fi and fantasy, but I also read some mysteries, steampunk, history, nature, science fact, other kinds of fiction and adventure, humor, and other genres as the mood strikes me.

[kelico]

I've gotten back into reading (after maybe 10 years of not reading anything), though I still find it difficult to keep my attention for long periods. My OCD also gets in the way. BUT...I'm reading, and enjoying the books I've read recently, so I'm proud of myself. I mainly read fantasy...actually, that's all I read.  I prefer medium length novels (say 300-400 pages), but I will sometimes read epic novels, too. They just take me ages to read. 

 

Books are great. ❤️ I love physical books. I love flipping through the pages. It just FEELS RIGHT. ❤️ 

 

I have about 14 books in my TBR shelf/pile. When will I get to them? Who knows.  

[FTGremlin]

My TBR shelf probably has around 35 books, yet I still find myself rereading favourites during the school year :PP

[nickolekuebler]

I don't have a tbr shelf. I don't have the space to do something like that. I also don't have the money to buy that many books at once, so I tend to buy a new one when I finish the old one. I do have a shelf in my room though for my books and I dont think it is anywhere near big enough. I would like to be able to set up a small little library corner in my house once I buy one. I would like to be able to have all of my books and my partners books in one place so we could all access them easily. 

[daveb]

Oh, also, I have at least a thousand physical books in my house. Maybe more like 1200 by now. I had catalogued them all at one point, but that was several years ago and I haven't kept track of comings and goings since then. I have at least 6 TBR shelves across 2 bookcases (not counting other books in other places). I don't read e-books because I don't want to spend more time with screens and I didn't enjoy the experience when I tried it. I also don't read audio books because I find I don't engage with them as much and tend to lose track of things more easily with them. And I just love physical books, with the tactile feel of different papers, bindings, and weights, and the visual appeal of different printings, typefaces, illustrations, etc.

[FTGremlin]

1 minute ago, daveb said:

Oh, also, I have at least a thousand physical books in my house. Maybe more like 1200 by now. I had catalogued them all at one point, but that was several years ago and I haven't kept track of comings and goings since then. I have at least 6 TBR shelves across 2 bookcases (not counting other books in other places). I don't read e-books because I don't want to spend more time with screens and I didn't enjoy the experience when I tried it. I also don't read audio books because I find I don't engage with them as much and tend to lose track of things more easily with them. And I just love physical books, with the tactile feel of different papers, bindings, and weights, and the visual appeal of different printings, typefaces, illustrations, etc.

Jealous asf I've always wanted a huge library (My house has 500 books at most)

[daveb]

I have 7 Ikea Billy bookcases in my living room, mostly full of books, and a few assorted other bookcases in a spare bedroom. Nothing like Kelly's library, though!  

[nickolekuebler]

10 minutes ago, FTGremlin said:

Jealous asf I've always wanted a huge library (My house has 500 books at most)

same. I love to read even though with my adhd I loose my focus so quickly. I think right now I have like 100-200 books, but i tend to give them to friends to read after I read them. 

[Barbio]

I try not to keep too many books for myself, as I like to pass them around and share the book love. That's why I love borrowing from libraries and little free libraries! But I do like to hold on to books that are extra special to me, and/or ones that I'm constantly learning new things from. I did have to invest in a second bookshelf for my room recently... 😅

[daveb]

This is about 6 decades or so of books for me. 

I was looking at one of my copies of The Hobbit last night - the copyright date is 1966.  

(so I probably bought it when I was 10 or 11 years old)

[Dunsen_Churner]

For nonfiction, I like to read dictionaries for fun. Currently, I'm nearly finished with a dictionary on English usage (like words or phrases that sometimes are criticized as wordy or redundant). It's a bit outdated by about 40 years since it was published during the 1980s but has some surprising consistencies with today's usage.

[peterh_137]

I don't have a huge amount of physical books due to lack of space in my apartment but the oldest book I have dated from 160 years ago it's a book of Robert Burns prose and poetry.

[lilihierax]

I'm not a great reader... I'm usually too tired or can't concentrate or not in the mood to read. On the rare occasion I will enjoy a book but it takes me aaaaaaaaaages to finish it. Usually I read a few pages or chapters then put the book down and won't pick it up again for months or years. And I might forget I was ever reading it at all (hence why I don't use libraries. Could you imagine my overdue fees?)  So... yeah. That's how long it can take me to get through a book. 😅

I still love books though. I like books more than I like reading - collecting them, knowing the cultural significance of them, arranging them on my shelf, and the physical aesthetics of them (the cover and jacket, for example).  It's just nice to have books around, even if I barely read them.

 

Oh also, sometimes I'll read a classic book just to be 'in the loop' about it; to know what all the hype is about and be able to join in a conversation about it. I like being able to understand references to it; when it's mentioned or referenced in another text I can finally say, "Yay! I know what they're talking about!"  I will literally read a book just to say that I've read it. 😂

 

I most quickly get through true crime books because those are my favourites.

[Dagomir]

6 hours ago, lilihierax said:

I'm not a great reader... I'm usually too tired or can't concentrate or not in the mood to read. On the rare occasion I will enjoy a book but it takes me aaaaaaaaaages to finish it. Usually I read a few pages or chapters then put the book down and won't pick it up again for months or years. And I might forget I was ever reading it at all (hence why I don't use libraries. Could you imagine my overdue fees?)  So... yeah. That's how long it can take me to get through a book. 😅

I still love books though. I like books more than I like reading - collecting them, knowing the cultural significance of them, arranging them on my shelf, and the physical aesthetics of them (the cover and jacket, for example).  It's just nice to have books around, even if I barely read them.

 

Oh also, sometimes I'll read a classic book just to be 'in the loop' about it; to know what all the hype is about and be able to join in a conversation about it. I like being able to understand references to it; when it's mentioned or referenced in another text I can finally say, "Yay! I know what they're talking about!"  I will literally read a book just to say that I've read it. 😂

 

I most quickly get through true crime books because those are my favourites.

There''s a lot in that post that I can relate to. 

 

Interestingly, I read about fictitious crimes and watch YT videos about true ones. 

I don't think I've ever read any book specifically about true crime, just like I can't recall ever watching any fiction crime story YT video. 

[Jelle]

I love reading books, but currently I don't do it as much as I would like because I don't have much time. At this moment, I'm reading 4 or 5 books (I have to check to be sure ). I like biographies, historical fiction, young adult (yes I'm in my 30s...), mythology and legends, some sci-fi and fantasy. In fact, I can read anything and everything, as long as it catches my attention and is not overly romantic.

I strongly prefer paper books, I choose ebooks only if paperback is not available. I don't listen to audiobooks because I have trouble focusjng on what I hear.

I mostly buy books in bookstores, or second hand shops. I order from Amazon only if I can't find the book anywhere else. It's like my last resort (not to mention that I really don't like ordering from Amazon )

 

That would be it, I guess.

[A User]

My mood for reading is very variant so idk. Ive been reading a shit ton of fanfic recently if that counts

Otherwise I usually take either physical books from the library or ebooks from the library website or pirating sites.

The one or two audiobooks ive ever liked in my life I relisten sometimes. I use various audiobook sites for that (one of them is soundboard theater iirc? Not pirating site just an audiobook seller ig)

I either get my stuff from the library as a hold and then pick up, or i use the website from the library, or i pirate it.

Ive bought books off Indigo too.

 

I had a moment where I was obsessed with superman comics so I bought and read those

[Jelle]

I forgot to add, I don't go to libraries. I prefer to own books over borrowing them, for some reason. It feels better to have my own library at home.

[iantxt]

damn, I'm the only person on here who doesn't read. the cognitive decline caused by My schizophrenia makes it really hard for Me to focus on long strings of text, so I just don't bother most of the time. according to My mom, I used to love reading as a kid, but I'm pretty sure I read less as I got more online, then developed this mental disability. since I stopped so young, I'm actually not sure if I've ever finished a book? excluding kids'/picture books, comics/manga, and zines.

 

I want to start reading again though, especially since I want to be an author. IK being a writer who doesn't read is weird, but I really do enjoy expressing Myself and sharing what I know through writing, even if most of that knowledge is acquired through personal experience, the accounts of others, news articles, and research papers, rather than any esteemed authors.

 

I'm not really interested in reading fiction; I'd much prefer to read political, philosophical, autobiographical works, or pretty much anything else that gives Me direct knowledge on the world. I hope I can go back to the library soon, but the two books I last borrowed from there (simpsons comics chaos + ADHD: an A-Z, the latter of which I stopped reading due to it containing several instances of misinformation) are packed away in boxes somewhere due to a flood in My apartment, so I'd have to find them before I'd be allowed to check anything else out.