Reading is a form of entertainment for many people, but also a way to become much smarter. It also serves to keep our brain in shape and advance intellectually without too much effort and enjoying the stories that many books offer us.
Unfortunately, we don't usually have much time in our daily lives to enjoy reading, and that's why today we've come up with the question that titles this article: how many books are we capable of reading in a year? Mathematics has given us a rather curious answer: no less than 200 books.
Charles Chu, a mathematical expert, has published an article in which, thanks to some simple mathematical operations, he has demonstrated that anyone is capable of reading up to 200 books a year , without the excuse that we don't have time to dedicate to this hobby being of any use or almost no use.
The statistics that lead us to be able to read 200 books a year
First, let's take a look at the statistics that have been used to reach the conclusion that you can read up to 200 books a year ;
An American (or anyone else) can read between 200 and 400 words per minute
Most of the books have about 50.000 words on average, although it goes without saying that there are books with many more words and with many fewer, even if we did not make an average it would be impossible to carry out these calculations.
The time has come to do some simple math operations
- 200 books x 50.000 words / book = 10 million words
- 10 million words: 400 words / minute = 25.000 minutes
- 25.0000 minutes: 60 =417 hours long.
If it seems impossible to you to be able to sit and enjoy a book for 417 hours a year, keep in mind that most of us spend 1.642 hours watching television or 608 hours viewing and interacting on social networks.
Can we Spaniards read 200 books a year?
This study refers to North American people, although all the data could be extended to anyone and of course also to Spaniards. That if we are capable does not mean that we do it and more considering that only three people out of ten claim to read regularly. Many people don't even get to read one book a year to ask them to read 200.
Anyone can read 200 books in a year, if they really put their mind to it, although we'd have to read each book in just under two days, something unthinkable if we work and have other hobbies. Honestly, everyone can draw their own conclusions to the question we've posed, but we're going to give a resounding no , not just for Spaniards, but for anyone in any country.
Opinion freely
I honestly believe that most people would find it impossible to read 200 books a year , mainly because we don't have all the time we'd like to dedicate to reading. I love spending long periods reading, but unfortunately, daily life doesn't allow me to enjoy reading for more than an hour a day, or even less. Furthermore, when I do read, I like to read slowly, understanding every detail and savoring each word. Sometimes I even take notes or make annotations in the books themselves, something that would undoubtedly prevent me from reading 200 books in a year.
I am convinced that if we set our minds to it, we could read a book a day, and therefore 365 books a year, but surely we would not enjoy or savor them as a book should. Our recommendation is that you read for pleasure without setting a goal to read a certain number of books and that you end up leaving yourself apart from the beauty of reading.
Do you think you could read 200 books in a year and actually enjoy them? Tell us in the comments section of this post, on our forum, or through one of our social media channels. Also, tell us your record for the most books read in a year.