@adzwoolly I thought about this, but was wondering how hard it would be to do with physical books - which I also read a fair amount of.
Don't suppose you know of any tools that would work? e.g. a massive index of books with their respective word counts.
@jringram
I don't personally. Maybe a hackathon project where you can use your phone camera to count the letters. It would be a little tedious doing it for each page though but, it would update as you read it then instead of when you finish the whole book.
@adzwoolly That certainly would be tedious for a 300+ page book. Perhaps a way to measure font-size + page-size + average word-count / character count of a sample of pages. Then multiply that by number of pages in the book to get a rough estimate of word / character count?
@jringram
So it could calcuate an average for the sample pool and you could just enter the number of pages read? Definitely seems more practical xD
@jringram I do something like this for certain things in my life - I think it’s fair to count the articles you read. Maybe divide the reading into categories? I’m actually thinking of doing this even more myself (for articles, & abstracts even) It’s good to keep a count, however you choose; I’ve found quantifying such things to be a healthy habit.
@alicet I definitely find quantifiable goals easier to pursue. I wouldn't be anywhere near as motivated if I was just like "read books".
Separating them into categories sounds like a great idea. I already separate by genre, but form would definitely help me see if I'm lacking in a certain area
How is it you split up your books (if you track them)?
@jringram I break them down into two categories: one for school (which consists of philosophy papers and texts) and one for interest (mainly science, programming, and other nonfiction). It’s helpful for me to divide them this way so I can maintain a balance, and keep up my motivation to read more.
@alicet Oh if you end up reading too much interest stuff do you make sure you read more philosophy work?
Also, do you have a special categories for cross-overs between the two?
By the way, are there any particular philosophy texts that you'd recommend?
@jringram It’s hard to achieve balance, I’ll admit. I don’t have crossover categories as yet. I am thinking of counting podcasts in addition to my reading.
As for philosophy texts, one of my most well-loved (falling apart) books is the Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers, translations by Kathleen Freeman. I keep coming back to it because I find some of the presocratic ideas transmit deeply through other philosophers’ writings. There’s more, but I could go on a while. :)
@alicet What podcasts do you listen to?
I'll check it out! I don't know much presocratic stuff, so it'd be nice to read.
Haha, feel free to recommend anything, I won't mind!
@jringram I think I’ll add a toot about this soon. :) there are a few !
@alicet Please send it my way in case I don't see it. I love a good podcast to code to!
@jringram Quantity might not be as important as quality and diversity. #writers traditionally think in word-count units, like „look at me, already 1k words today, and counting“. Who am I, a pretty novice author, to disagree? But I do:
Brag me: 4 full size sci-fi novels, 4 episodes of a series, at 20k words each, and 13 shorts to my name. Next novel well advanced.
True me: Really ashamed of the trilogy that got me started. Too long, too much dialogue, lousy #writing...
@Troim I do keep a bit of data on what I read such as:
* How long it's taken to read
* Page numbers (part of the problem)
* Genre
* Author
* Original publishing date
* Ratings
I should probably keep more, such as topics explored.
You are correct though quality is important, and I think variety of dates, topics, genres are authors is indeed important, as well as medium.
@jringram
Letter count, excluding spaces
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