Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion
XI. Misc
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Genuine Question, How do some people "read" hundreds of books a week?
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Perhaps some of the books they rated were things they've read in the past. I've read a lot of books that I haven't yet rated on Goodreads. When the mood strikes me, I'll rate a backlog of books all at once. A thousand books in a week does seem excessive though. Maybe even suspicious, lol.
Because sometimes people import a list they have kept elsewhere, so all the titles will be read/shelved the date they were imported. Or maybe the reader did a bulk update and went through updating all the books she had previously read. People use Goodreads in many different ways, that doesn't make how they choose to use GR "suspicious".
Yep, looking at the ones who have "read" thousands or big hundreds (this week), they hardly write reviews - just give ratings. I get your point about going through a load of books you´ve read in the past but it still seems "suspicious" - hehe. I guess it gives them a buzz.
I think it´s fair comment to say it´s suspicious - but also true to say people might upload lists and stuff like that. Guess the only way to check is to see what happens over time, if they read hundreds of books a week for weeks on end or just pop up to the top of the charts when they upload ratings for the thousand books they want to add.I´ll keep an eye on it.
Everyone has a personal preference for how to utilize free time; for some that preference is reading. I have an acquaintance who loves to read above anything else. He reads at least four books a week. Another who, due to health reasons, can seldom leave her home, reads at least a seven books per week. This would average out to approximately a thousand books in less than three years. Though I consider myself an avid reader and prefer books to watching television or playing video games, it usually takes me a week or more just to read one book. Even though I am retired, there are just too many other interesting things with which to occupy my time. As a result, I average reading only 20 books a year, though I am sure that, eventually, that number will increase considerably.
James, I wonder the same thing. I also wonder how can they enjoy what they read? I am an avid reader and enjoy each book I read. 1000 books in one week, insanity. I think I would mix them up and I am probably go for maybe 10 books a week depending on the page count and how emotional I get. Sometimes more than 10 but, most often, less than 10 because I like a full length novel. Anymore you see authors posting "series bundles" that a not a series of books at all. They are chapters of a story or each situation is a new "book" in the series while in reality it is one big book. I am disabled and unable to be out in the work force and I love to read so....I read a lot. I can't even imagine 1000...a week? WOW.
I read a fair amount, but I doubt the average goes over 3 per day, and is more likely 3 per week when I am busy. Figure double that is possible on reviews and comments, considering backlog. If my number reaches 100 per week, I am Bull......., you know what goes in the blanks.
Basically they probably don't. Sometimes people may be new to Goodreads and importing their Amazon book list. Sometimes people may be skipping over the surface of books for whatever reason. And sometimes.... Well I'll leave that one to you.
When I became involved with Goodreads I went through some of their lists and marked the ones I remember reading....some even from decades ago. My list indicates the day I added the book, not the day I read it. I'm a slow reader and love to savor a book, so it surprised me how many I'd read. I struggle to read two or three a month.
I read probably 30-40 a week on my Kindle. I don't have a lot to do aside from study, read and write. And when studying or writing become frustrating, I read.
James wrote: "This is a genuine question. I´ve only been here a month or so. Just flipping about and apparently a lady in Australia read over a thousand books this week - and she writes, and breathes and stuff (..."I personally have over a thousand of books that need to be imported from Amazon. Every time I try to do it in one sitting, the system locks up. The list continuously grows, so there is always a backlog. If someone on the outside was monitoring my account those sudden books on my account might look suspicious.
Paganalexandria wrote: "James wrote: "This is a genuine question. I´ve only been here a month or so. Just flipping about and apparently a lady in Australia read over a thousand books this week - and she writes, and breath..."I'm thinking the only thing that would look suspicious are accounts who continuously rate hundreds or thousands of books every week over a sustained period. Especially if those books are mostly new releases.
Amazon has been cracking down on authors who have reviews from suspicious accounts, and I know several who have had their kindle publishing accounts deleted over suspicious reviews.
It's not fair that voracious readers who are legit, like you, get lumped in with those who are scamming the system. I just hope Amazon gets their stuff straight and stops penalizing everyone for suspicious reviews. I've had a few of my reviews disappear, and I don't know a single person who has reviewed my books on amazon. Even my own mother hasn't left any reviews, lol. I've also never paid for a review or even searched for the sites where you can get paid reviews. My best guess is that my reviews disappeared because they were done by readers who seemed "suspicious" but were legit.
Now when I get a new review, I'm always nervous if it comes from a reader who routinely reviews hundreds of books a week. So far, that has only happened a couple of times, but I would hate to lose my publishing account over something I can't control.
Another legit question brought up from my reading thus thread- what is an amazon list? I understand Amazon owns Goodreads, but am unsure what Amazon ' s lists have to do with anything.
Stephanie (R-A) wrote: "Another legit question brought up from my reading thus thread- what is an amazon list? I understand Amazon owns Goodreads, but am unsure what Amazon ' s lists have to do with anything."'Lists' might be the wrong word - if you go onto your 'my books' page, on the bottom left under tools there's an option to import/'add Amazon book purchases.' I've always done this manually but if I used the option it would be several thousand (or most likely it would freeze up!) :D
Another reason for large imports lately has been Amazon shutting down Shelfari and the closing of another site--Leafmarks, maybe? (Bad with names.) Shelfari users, especially, were encouraged to import their digital libraries here and many of those were long-term, serious bookworms.
I've always been a voracious reader. When I was in elementary school, the whole fourth and fifth grade had a reading contest to see who could read the most "pages". Some kids thought they were smart by reading lots of Dr. Seuss and racking up what they considered a high score. I read Watership Down and the Wind in the Willows and went off the chart. It earned me the unfair reputation as a liar and a cheater.
To prove we had read the books, we had to write out a summary of each book we read. I liked writing as much as I liked reading, so I wrote a lot of book reports. People accused me of reading only the back of the book and basing my report on the summary. Not so. At that point in my life, I had just moved to a new town and didn't have any friends. I had nothing better to do in my down-time than read. And I read fast.
The moral of the story is this. Just because you find it hard to do something, that doesn't mean that there are other people out there who have no trouble doing it. Maybe there are cheaters in the world, but don't be so quick to assume that every athlete who runs faster than you is on steroids.
Oh, and also, I also like to upload reviews of books I read long ago. Usually I like to read them again before posting them to Goodreads, especially if I read them first in my youth and might have a more "adult" understanding of them now. That being said, sometimes it might look like I read two or three long books in one day, but the truth is something a little less chronologically linear.
The others on the list weren´t far behind. And, if they are reading, whilst doing speed or slamming red bulls or whatever, or just speed reading, straight out, how do they have time to get on this and update their statuses and stuff?
Thanks for any help you can give me,
James