Can you imagine reading 200 books?

[J.]

I just read this blog post and I immediately thought of this group. Judges for this contest were asked to read 200 BOOKS! I couldn't imagine trying to do all my work and fitting that many books in, including judging.

http://www.avi-writer.com/blog/2016/0...

Anyone ever made it through that many books? Or maybe experienced judging tons of books for a contest?

[Govi]

Interesting post. She mentions not actually finishing all of the books. I'm curious how many she actually finished. Still seems daunting.

I'm hoping to read 100 this year, but I'm not 100% sure I can. I'm a little ahead at the moment, but I plan on getting into some that are a bit larger that I've been putting off for a while. We'll see...

[J.]

Govi - I vote that super long books count as two! War and Peace = 3! ;)

[Govi]

What's the page count on War and Peace?

[J.]

Govi - 560k words, and 1,456 pages!!

[Govi]

Ah...like a Tolkien trilogy. 3 sounds about right. Good luck with that.

[J.]

Govi - Or you could read In Search of Lost Time by Proust one sunny afternoon. Guinness says it's the longest book at 1,267,069 words/3,031 pages!

http://www.shortlist.com/entertainmen...

[Govi]

I'm pretty sure that would get in the way of everything else in my life that I like to do. I'll gladly stick to a stack of 200-400 pagers so I can keep up with other hobbies. Or one of these...

Artamène/Cyrus the Great at the bottom of the list you linked to.

[Lucy]

I can definitely imagine reading 200 books in a year. Last year I read 217. This year, I plan on it.

[Holly]

My mind is blown that someone could read 200 books in a year. I'm going to have to work really hard to make it to 100. I like the idea of having that as a bucket list item, hoping to perhaps tackle it one day.

[J.]

@Ryebrynn: Wow!

[J.]

@Govi - I wonder why it didn't make the Guinness list...

[Joanne]

I'm not sure, but the judge appears to have been reading books for the juvenile category. They go a lot faster. Although I personally read a huge amount each year, I find it more difficult as a judge because you don't have twelve months to read the nominees!

[Joanne]

For this challenge I am going back to nightly reading, carrying a book with me wherever I go, and designating one day a week for guiltless read-as-much-as-you-want days. Maybe these ideas will help you toward your goals, too. Interesting thread; thanks.

[Olivia]

A few years ago read close to 400...but most of them were juvenile or ones I had already read in the past. I agree that some of those classics equal three books!! :)

[J.]

@Joanne: - I did something similar! I removed Facebook from my phone, so when I want to scroll through something, I open my Kindle app instead. Has been wonderful. :)

[K.M.]

Yikes! The most I've managed in a year is, I think, around 160.

[Benjamin]

I'm pushing it just to make it to 100. 200 is unimaginable.

[Hannah]

I don't have Facebook on my phone because I don't want to deal with the viruses it can introduce into the system. Once I got Overdrive, it's particularly dangerous to be able to access books anywhere. Besides, I can even listen to audiobooks at work, so that increases my goals, too.

I rarely go anywhere without a book in hand, and read several at a time. 200 was actually pretty easy to make last year. (I ended with about 220, even after a slow November with NaNoWriMo.) I'm already 10 books ahead of goal this year. (33 read so far.)

I don't watch stuff much anymore; seems the stories move slowly compared to my reading pace. I used to be addicted to crime dramas (NCIS, CSI, Criminal Minds) until I discovered suspense and romantic suspense, and somehow it just makes me happier, even though I'm more likely to be looking over my shoulder in a dark parking lot after a book than a movie.

I read any time I have to wait for something. Tonight I read nearly a whole chapter because a music student was five minutes late!

[JenniferR]

Last year I replaced most of my TV watching with reading and completed 248 books. I haven't felt any need to go back to TV and am hoping to do the same this in 2016.

[Benjamin]

200 is insane! If I could, it'd be nice but I'm much too slow a reader. I'm hard pressed to get to 100!

[Ty]

Theologian DA Carson says he reads about 500 books a year.

[J.]

@ Ty: Wow - He must read incredibly fast!

[Brian]

I read 216 in 2015. After reading only non-fiction for years I dove into fiction in a big way. I couldn't imagine repeating it though- there were way too many other things left on the back-burner.

[Rick]

All you have to do is cut the cable and you are that frees up hours and hours and hours of time.