How Many Books Do You Read In A Day?
I came across the title of this article in a book that I just finished reading dubbed Burn Your Goals: The Counter Cultural Approach to Achieving your Greatest Potential by Joshua Medcalf and Jamie Gilbert. In fact, the impetus for this article came from the following quote in the book:
"I love to watch the faces on people in our workshops when Jamie asks the question, "How many books do you read in a day?" People look like they just bit into sour fruit, because they didn't even know that was a real measurement."
As a very avid reader, the question did not seem foreign to me and I instinctively knew how I would have answered had I been in one of Joshua's and Jamie's workshops. Without hesitation I would have responded with anywhere from 5 to 10 books during the course of a day. I would have responded that way because I am always reading at least 20 books at any given time. While I did not think I would like Kindle or e-book versions compared with hardcover or paperback books, the ability to download books on my iPad turned out to be a godsend. I once read that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. went nowhere without a bag of books with him and I adopted that same practice. With the advent of the Kindle and other e-readers, I am able to carry hundreds of books in the palm of my hand, therefore never being without a book. For me there is no such thing as downtime away from reading. At any spare moment, you will find me reading one book or another. It is for this reason that I get through as many books as I do and Jamie's question not sounding off-base to me.
While I knew what my response would have been to Joshua's and Jamie's question, I was intrigued with their description of people looking like they had just bit into sour fruit when confronted with that query. I decided to test it by placing the exact same question on my Twitter feeds. I wanted to see how my followers would respond.
"A day?!?"
My favorite answer was the one above. I guess it could be considered the word equivalent to the facial expression one might have when biting into sour fruit (notice the question mark, exclamation point and question mark again). I explained in my reply that there is a difference between reading a book and completing or finishing the book. The question did not ask how many books do you complete in a day?, it asked how many books do you read in a day? There's a difference; however, most people do not think of the subtlety. It is automatically assumed that the question means completed in a day, thus the combination of the words "How Many" and "A Day" do not compute.
Look at it this way.... One could watch 4 thirty minute sitcoms in the span of 2 hours. For me, I can do the same with books. I can progress through 4 books in that same time frame by reading each book for half an hour. Same concept. It is my hope that upon reflection of this article, you will increase the number of books that you read in a day. I've signed on to the goodreads book challenge and have challenged myself to read a minimum of 25 books in 2019. That's roughly 2 books per month give or take a book or two and I anticipate surpassing my goal. I challenge you to challenge yourself.
According to The Pew Research Center ,
Overall, Americans read an average (mean) of 12 books per year, while the typical (median) American has read four books in the past 12 months. Each of these figures is largely unchanged since 2011, when the Center first began conducting the surveys of Americans’ book reading habits.
So, as thousands of schools, libraries, and community centers across the country recently celebrated on March 2nd (Dr. Seuss's Birthday) by bringing together kids, teens, and books for Read Across America Day, let's join the celebration by working towards being able to respond to the question of how many books do you read in a day without looking like we have just bitten into sour fruit.
I invite you to visit my website at marcamedley.com