It’s a DATE! (AKA: Always Late to the Party)
I was browsing through my book listing today and realised that I’d only read two books published in 2021 and nothing after that date. This got me thinking – how late to the party am I generally? He’s what I discovered:
2013: 43
2014: 50
2015: 37
2016: 22
2017: 31
2018: 27
2019: 19
2020: 8
2021: 2
2022: 0
2023: 0
That’s essentially from the last 10 years – actually from Feb 28th 2013 when I started officially noting the first publication (FP) date. It appears that generally there’s at least a 2-year lag between the books original publication and my reading of it. This applies equally to both fiction and non-fiction. Part of this can easily be explained by the fact that the majority of my readings are paperbacks which are, generally, published around a year after the hardback original publication which I use as my FP date (obviously). Part of it is also, I think, the reluctance to insert a brand-new book into an already existing reading plan (unless I’ve been really looking forward to it and need to read it NOW). The fact that I’ve only read 10 books with post-2020 publication dates is in line with my unscientific perception of the 2-year lag. I guess that more 2021 books will be showing up this year and it’ll be 2024 before we start seeing last year’s publications show up. Interesting [lol].
15 comments:
I feel that... I'm still trying to catch up with the 1800s XD
LOL - SO many books..... SO much else to do.....!
So, these are the publication dates of the books you read in 2021? I usually put a number in my Statistics. 2022 was like this:
Pre 1800s: 2
1800s: 6
1900-1949: 9
1950-1999: 13
2000s: 43 (4 of which from 2022)
I sometimes buy new books but they are mainly English (like Michelle Obama's this year which is an exception as it is a hardback). German books usually take about three years until they appear in paperback (if at all), so I buy very few because by the time they are available as a pb, they are not on my radar anymore. Their loss.
These are the publication dates of books post-2013 I read since Feb 2013. I've read books published LONG before 2013 but the bulk (75%+) of my reading is from the last 20 years. It was just to show that I tend to lag quite a bit behind initial publication.
THREE years from hardback to paperback? That's quite a long time. Not sure how many books never make it out of hardback (50%??) but they're too expensive and too bulky for me - unless on offer/sale & super interesting.
Ah, I see. I always do them by year.
And yes, it mostly is about that time. Same as you, they are too expensive and too bulky. Those who don't mind the bulk go to the library, so I don't think the publishers make a larger profit by leaving it that long.
As to offer/sales, that's not possible in Germany. Books can only be sold cheaper if they are damaged. No "buy three pay two" or anything like that. :(
No offers? How cruel! I always browse through the 'Buy one, get one half price' section. It's where I buy most of my books off-line. Apart from my nearest Indie bookshop where *everything* is £3 - including hardbacks (if I have the room in my backpack).
I know, I used to do that in the UK. But, unfortunately, we have a resale price maintenance in order to keep small shops in business. While I like that idea in general, I also have to say that books here are a lot more expensive because of that and because of the fact that we pay the full tax on them.
I remember being in Canada some years ago and we were on our way back to the UK. My case was being weighed prior to it being put on the plane & I remarked that it was lighter than when I came out even though it now had more books in it. "You came on holiday and you bought BOOKS?" said the airline person. "Yes" I said "They were cheap and hadn't been published in the UK yet". It's strange how different countries treat such standard items as books differently - from cover design, to price to publication date (and don't get me started on title changes).
Yeah, I don't get people like that at all. We always buy books abroad, no matter where.
As to title changes or different covers, I get the different covers but can't they keep the titles for publications in the same language and can't they translate titles so that you can still recognize the book???
I still don't understand why 'Northern Lights' became 'The Golden Compass' in the USA. That sounded like a change for change sake. Even the 1st Harry Potter book had a different title in the USA. Why? Makes zero sense to me.
Definitely. I once heard the word "philosopher" was considered too awkward for children to understand. Yes, if you want them dumb, keep them dumb.
We had tons of books in the international book club that had different titles. Sometimes, I was told, it's due to copyright of a certain title or a book with the same title already exists but often, it doesn't make sense at all. And, as I said before about translations, sometimes, you cannot translate a title but that's rare. In most cases, they just think it will sell better in another country with a different title.
I always think that if there's something in the title - like the idea behind the Philosopher's Stone - rather than remove it because it might confuse the readership you should treat it as a *learning* opportunity.
I totally agree. And most kids who didn't know what a philosopher was until then, picked up the meaning right away.
Yup. Kids are a lot smarter and a lot more resilient (and tolerant) than a lot of adults give them credit for.
And the more you trust them, the smarter they get.
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