Are you above average?

I've just read this article here, and I'm shocked - not that nearly 800 titles are to be published on Thursday to gear up for the Christmas rush (that comes as no surprise) - but to this little fact near the end of the article:

People who buy books only buy an average of seven books a year, and a lot of those are for Christmas.

An average of seven books a year?! A YEAR!? Now I don't know how true this stat actually is, but my last book order from Amazon was eleven books, and I've just ordered another seventeen today. I can safely say I'm above average when it comes to book-buying.

Are you above average? How many books do you buy a year?

11 comments

  1. I'm fortunate, where I'm given a lot of the books I want. So maybe one year I can rack say 7-14 books, but they all came from different people.

    I also always end up with secondhand books, I'm not sure how that happens, but books always end up in my house that don't belong to me.

    My book collection is always expanding, even if my wallet doesn't suffer for it.

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  2. I am terrible.

    I really have to start reading more.

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  3. you are above average...I would buy maybe one book a year if it wasn't for school books...

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  4. Just for the record, I don't mean appalled in a bad way (if you're not a big book fan) - I'm just a major book-lover (really major)! I'm also a fast reader too, which is why my numbers are so high. I've probably bought about 80 books so far this year (and the year's not over!).

    When I was at uni, the only chance I got to read non-uni books was in the summer holiday. So, after four years of restricted book time, I think I'm making up for those lost reads now!

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  5. well...I'm not buying books, but not because I don't like reading, I adore it! I adore books, and I'm lucky because I have a large library of classical books from my grandma:)
    p.s.Oh,sorry,I buy books...sometimes if appears something new interesting or if in my classical collection are absent some interesting books,my last acquisition was 2 volumes of Remarque on flea market few months ago:)

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  6. I used to buy dozens, but then I discovered my local library's Interlibrary Loan system and have been using it ever since. I've saved thousands, and my wall-to-wall shelves can now breathe! I get at least ten books every time I go.

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  7. That amazed me too; I buy seven books a week sometimes!

    In a year? Probably around a hundred. I own nearly 700 and borrow from the library too. When it comes to reading I get through around 120-150 a year.

    Seven? SEVEN???

    Great blog BTW. :D

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  8. Aaah - excellent - another buying book-worm! :D I probably should borrow from the library, but I have my own library - I might as well let it flourish!

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  9. 7 books a year?! That's closer to the number of books I buy in a month (if I'm being good and not buying too many, that is...)

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  10. Given the fact that I don't use a library and therefore buy all my books, have read 55 books so far this year, and still have at least 20 sitting around I've still to read, this worries me a little. What do these people do with their time?? I have an active social life, work full time and spend hours online yet still have plenty of time to read. Plus if this is an average and there's people like me who buy TONS of books, then that means that there must be tons of people who buy even LESS than seven!

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  11. ... there's people like me who buy TONS of books, then that means that there must be tons of people who buy even LESS than seven!

    That's what astounds me, but I know people who rarely manage to read one book a year, let alone seven.

    Since I posted this blog post, at the start of the month (including the books bought mentioned in the post), I have bought 52 books ... 52!!!

    I love books, what can I say, but I wish those who are the less than seven a year people, read more. They're missing out!

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