Beyond Reality discussion
General SF&F discussion
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What percentage of the books that you read in a year are sf or fantasy
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2008: 65 books - 27 SF, 24 fantasy, 8 non-fiction and 6 literary fiction
2009: 70 books - 40 fantasy, 28 SF, 1 non-fiction and 1 horror.
2010 so far: 45 books - 36 fantasy, 9 SF
So on the plus side it looks like I'm reading more and more every year, but on the other side, it's becoming more and more one genre. Maybe I need to diversify a bit more :)
This year it has been about 65% sci-fi or fantasy. I don't have complete records from prior years but I think that since there are so many free classics available on the kindle (and they can be carried simultaneously with the sci-fi/fantasy book of the moment) that I am reading more broadly than I used to.
Since Nov. 2007 when I joined Goodreads, I've completed 217 books. According to the way I've categorized them, 42 are Sci-Fi, so roughly 20%.These include "The City and The City," "The Bone Doll's Twin," "Bridge of Birds," and "The Last Stormlord," all of which have been Fantasy BOTM's for Beyond Reality, but other than that I don't read Fantasy so much, or if I do, I don't think of it as different from sci-fi. It was only last year that I started reading sci fi again with any regularity. Most of what I've read has been on the recommendation from Beyond Reality members...for which I am very grateful to this group.
In other areas of interest, I'd say I also read 20% gothics, 20% mystery-thrillers, 20% non-fiction, and 20% classics and mainstream.
So far this year, 48/59 are SF/F of some sort, which would be 81%. That seems about average. . . if left entirely up to my own inclinations it would probably be more like 95%, but my dad is always pushing random other stuff on me and I try to leaven my SF/F with the occasional mystery novel or bit of classic lit that I missed in school or some nonfiction. Though to be more honest, there are at least 15 nonfiction works that I've read significant chunks of this year; I just haven't finished any of them, because I read nonfiction mainly as research for my own writing and thus skip sections that have no bearing on what I'm doing (unless they're so completely fascinating that I can't skip them). :)
This year so far, my reading is down, I have only read 9 or 10 books. Of those, 1 was non fiction the rest were SF/Fantasy
So far this year, 46/56 have been what I consider SF or Fantasy. So that's about 80%.Yes, I'm perfectly happy in my genre ghetto, thank you.
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Nick you are a real reading omnivore! I think that is cool!My reading ingredients are sci/fi and a little fantasy, political thrillers, memoir, other non fiction, other novels, classics.
Marty wrote: "Nick you are a real reading omnivore! I think that is cool!My reading ingredients are sci/fi and a little fantasy, political thrillers, memoir, other non fiction, other novels, classics."
Oops! I'm not so omnivorous as you think. I joined in Nov. of 2007, not 2008. My bad. But I do try for diversity.
I don't track what books I read which are far fewer in these my golden years that what I read in my youth... largely due to lack of finding what I consider to be well crafted stories, prose and characters. However, I can estimate the percentage of books that read that are SF/F at 95% with the remainder being profession related books (software development and website development). Of the 95% the vast majority is Fantasy.
Mod
Oh, me too, although I occasionally venture out. Great way to put it!
I'll have to check my reading list for actual numbers, but most of my reading is SF/Fantasy and about half of it is YA/Childrens. The other part of my reading is children's picture books (I'm a kids librarian) and the occasional nonfic.
I'd say about 80-70% of what I read is sci-fi or fantasy. I'd have to keep better track to tell for sure.
And she rises from the ashes!I'd say normally at least 75% of what I read would be SF/F with a slight emphasis on the SF. However, this year (with a small baby) I've read exactly 3 1/2 novels. The first 3 were the Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, so mystery/crime. I'm now nearly half way through To Ride Hell's Chasm, by Janny Wurts, which I abandoned 40 pages in when the baby was born 9 months ago and am enjoying immensely since I picked it up and started over.
Probably 90% this year, as upon joining Goodreads I have rediscovered SF and discovered Fantasy (good fantasy) ... Had read SF years ago and then got caught up in other things. And had no idea there was so much truly good fantasy around, so have been trying to catch up with all you old veterans. I still enjoy a good mystery or a literary book though.
For the last couple years it's been just about 100% SF/F (mostly fantasy, very little SF). I got really into it a couple years ago and my to-read shelf just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Eventually I'll slip other books in, but right now I'm happy in my little Fantasy land :-)
On average I would say about 75% of what I read falls under spec. fiction, most of which is SF/F.10% falls under general fiction (mostly humor).
The remaining ~15% falls under non fiction, the majority of which are technical books. I don't track technical books here on Goodreads since I don't read them like I do the others.
I prefer the Spec. Fiction genre because I tend to find it much more imaginative and creative than your average fiction.
I just counted up the books I read last year. 30% are Sci-Fi/Fantasy. About 30% more are mainstream fiction, and the rest are non-fiction (history, math, science, game theory, poker (which is one of my favorite hobbies) etc.)
Of the SF/F, it's weighted heavily toward SF, with less than a third of them which could be classified as fantasy.
About 1/3rd fantasy & science fiction (more fantasy than science fiction), 1/3rd history & historical biography, 1/3rd everything else (classics, chicklit, mysteries, "literary fiction", mainstream fiction)
Last year I read 130 books and 35 were science fiction or fantasy, but that was a year where I was reading a lot of Gaiman and dystopia. So 20-25% is probably about right, but only since joining the Sword and Laser book club, and then this group. Before the number would have been zero!
Jenny, If you don't mind my asking....what made you decide to join/start reading science fiction and fantasy?
Marty wrote: "Jenny, If you don't mind my asking....what made you decide to join/start reading science fiction and fantasy?"
Well, I took a class in library school, the only one I took for "fun," about Genre Fiction for Adults. Something like that. I ended up doing a presentation on feminist science fiction and realized how little I knew, besides really enjoying the books I read for it.
Then I got into Second Life, and everyone started talking about Neuromancer and Snow Crash. I think Snow Crash was my gateway drug into science fiction, really. Then I ended up helping with a dystopia class, and I was a goner!
I'd say about 1 out of every 5 books I read is Sci-Fi/Fantasy, but then a lot of the others are books I read for work.Jenny, where in world was everyone discussing SnowCrash? I'd love to check out that site.
I'm often on the lookout for data metrics with respect to fiction genres, so I was happy to see Publishers Weekly post this via Twitter: http://bit.ly/a6aViO
Mod
http://bit.ly/a6aViO"
Thanks for sharing. More readers out there than I thought!
I didn't even see fantasy listed. Did I miss something?
Mod
I assumed it was lumped with SF, as often happens.
By now, it's most. I can't read as much as I'd like, and it takes me too long to finish even one book, so I gotta go with what I'm most interested in. If I could read more books faster, I'd be more willing to branch out more.
Mike said: If I could read more books faster, I'd be more willing to branch out more.Oh, this is so true. I have so many books I want to read that I'll never manage them all. So I tend to stick with the ones I think I'm more likely to enjoy because I know my own tastes.
There are other books, more outside my usual reading, that tempt me, but when it comes down to the choice, I'm more likely to go with what I find easier to read.
I look at it as a cost/benefit ratio and those "branch out" books tend to have a lower one, so I don't get to them so often.
That said, I'm really enjoying the current crop of science history books that seem to be turning up. I enjoyed both The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (I especially recommend that latter) and I have The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements out from the library at the moment.
Mod
Oh, this is so true. I have so many books I want to read that I'll never manage them all. So I tend to stick..."
Ooh, I've been wanting to read
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks ever since I heard about it (I was a biology major and read LOTS of studies involving her cells).
I'm having similar dilemmas lately, though. My reading time is so limited this year that I've been sticking mostly to speculative fiction, even though I've got lots of other things waiting for me on my bookshelf.
Beyond Reality
Books mentioned in this topic
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (other topics)The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (other topics)
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements (other topics)
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York (other topics)
Do you find that almost all of the books that you read presently are sf or fantasy?
Has the rise of subgenres like urban fantasy, steampunk, sf mysteries or cyberpunk made it easier to just read in this genre or do you bounce around and just read whatever you see that is good but firstly check out the books in sf and fantasy.