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How many books have you read?
- Thread starter Karlin
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The Dark One
Auror
I couldn't begin to say... at least accurately.
I've read obsessively forever, both fiction and non-fiction, not to mention professional works (I'm a lawyer in real life). In my teenage years it was nothing for me to read a book a day and even now I've always got two or three books on the go.
One thing I've noticed about my reading in recent years ... I'm less interested in new novels and more interested in re-reading books I love. There are over 20 books in the Sharpe series but I've read them all about 15 times. I've read LOTR over a hundred times (no exaggeration).
I would have agreed with the proposition that you need to be a reader to be a decent writer - that's definitely how I picked up all the rudiments of story structure, pacing, character motivation etc. But I have a natural horror of absolutes, and reflecting on PMMG's statement, I can see how reading for editorial purposes might achieve something similar.
As for that, I can never quite take off the editor's hat, no matter how deeply immersed I am in a story, so I really love it these days when I find a book that surprises me. I'm sure that goes for most of us - when you're always setting up surprises in your own writing you can usually see twists coming a mile away in the writing of others. I love it when someone tricks me.
I've read obsessively forever, both fiction and non-fiction, not to mention professional works (I'm a lawyer in real life). In my teenage years it was nothing for me to read a book a day and even now I've always got two or three books on the go.
One thing I've noticed about my reading in recent years ... I'm less interested in new novels and more interested in re-reading books I love. There are over 20 books in the Sharpe series but I've read them all about 15 times. I've read LOTR over a hundred times (no exaggeration).
I would have agreed with the proposition that you need to be a reader to be a decent writer - that's definitely how I picked up all the rudiments of story structure, pacing, character motivation etc. But I have a natural horror of absolutes, and reflecting on PMMG's statement, I can see how reading for editorial purposes might achieve something similar.
As for that, I can never quite take off the editor's hat, no matter how deeply immersed I am in a story, so I really love it these days when I find a book that surprises me. I'm sure that goes for most of us - when you're always setting up surprises in your own writing you can usually see twists coming a mile away in the writing of others. I love it when someone tricks me.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
Lightweight.
The Dark One
Auror
I've probably said this on here before, but if I had to nominate just one book as the most perfectly written novel I've ever read, it would be The Stone Cage by Nicholas Stuart Gray. It's a retelling of the story of Rapunzel through the eyes of the witch's cat. Just wonderful.
Here's my GR review.
Here's my GR review.
Finchbearer
Vala
Hecking heck. I’ve read a couple hundred, not into the thousands yet.
Finchbearer
Vala
It doesn’t look easily obtainable.
The Dark One
Auror
Out of print for years. I have a copy but I won't let it out of my sight.
Where have you been Finchy?
Finchbearer
Vala
Unless I have £2000 to spare. Some kind Samaritan could have made it into an e-book, but no.
I’d like to say I went away and wrote a book, but no, still working on that.
The Dark One
Auror
There's one for US$172 on Abe Books. I had no idea it was so valuable.
I had a copy many years ago but lost it, so bought another direct from the publisher (in Scotland) when they were still in print. That must have been 20 years ago. So glad I did.
I had a copy many years ago but lost it, so bought another direct from the publisher (in Scotland) when they were still in print. That must have been 20 years ago. So glad I did.
How did you manage to read a max of 6 books a week? Was then when you were younger or because you don't do anything else?
Super Fantasy
Archmage
Only a few, not all that many although I enjoy collecting them.
I trained myself to read very fast. Back in Junior high, I had two classes that were in the same room with a ten-minute break between them. In that room was a rolling bookshelf cart stuffed with Scholastic novels of about 80-100 pages each. I set out to try to read one of those books during that period, and eventually succeeded. From that point on, a 300-page book would take me maybe an hour. I mostly read at night.
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