I could only work this out by summing averages. I average 3 books per week and have been doing that for 35 years. Total, therefore, about 5,500.
I have found that people who use public transport to commute to work (like me) generally clock up very high figures since a book is the best way of passing the 2hrs or so a day I spend travelling. If I had to drive to work I am sure the figure would be a lot less.
Book hoarding is a real space problem. All the rooms in our house that dont contain plumbing are lined with book shelves and they fill up pretty quickly. We have a massive clear out every few months and take everything that we are unlikely to read again round to charity shops (never throw a book in the garbage!!!).
I find that these days I buy the majority of books from second-hand shops rahter than Amazon or new-only shops. This isnt because of the cost but because the rate of issue of new books that I want to read doesnt keep up with the rate at which I consume them and I am more likely to find something interesting amongst the out-of-print stuff.
Like other posters here, the prospect of having to undergo any waiting time without having a book to hand fills me with apprehension. I never leave home without one!
Pet hates : Big books and hardbacks that will not fit into a pocket; old books reissued under a different title so that you buy them thinking they are new then realise you have already read them; bookshops that dont separate science fiction from science fantasy; bookshops that put woo woo subjects under science or history (I
always move them to where I think they belong); tv tie-ins; rubbish "novelty" books issued in time for Xmas (the ◊◊◊◊◊ guide to... etc); "coffee-table" books.
Pet loves :
Project Gutenberg and a fast printer
