All right, all you intellectuals, I have a question for youuuuu. A long time a go in a galaxy...well, it was this galaxy and it wasn't too far from here. Matter of fact, it was just down the street...anyway, I recollect hearing a statistic back then, er down the street back then, that if you could read a book a minute that it would take you X number of years to read 'em all. Well, it's been bugging me for a while, not knowing or being able to retain the actual statistic in my peanut-sized brain so I got out my Firefox browser and commenced to surfin' and I came up with my own number. If anyone recalls the actual statistic it would be right neighborly of you (Dukes of Hazzard is playing the tube at the moment can't you tell? That Daisy Mae sure has quite a hitch in her shaplely little get-along don't she?) Anyway, :lol: here's my ciphers: The Library of Congress has over 18,000,000 books. If you could read a book a minute, twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year, without sleeping or doing anything else, it would take you 12,500 days to read them all. That translates in to a little more than 34 years. 24 hours X 60 = 1440 minutes per day 18,000,000 / 1440 = 12,500 days 12,500 / 365 days = 34.24657534247 years.
Do you want to read every book in the Library of Congress or every book? I'm not sure the Library of Congress has every book in print (let's say just in English unless you can also read and comprehend another language.) Plus...you have to take into account new books as they are published. There are also out of print books that still exist. No fair limiting it. This means reading all of the non-fiction from encyclopedias and dictionaries to craft books like knitting for dummies and 25 kites to build from scratch. It also means trashy bodice rippers and Lurlene McDaniels. Just think of how many romance novels there must be. And they're printing more and more of them every day. And somewhere along the years, there will be books that are never printed but remain "e-books" or are found solely on the web. You'll have to read them too. Unless you define a book as printed pages in a binding. In which case you might have to add....magazines. If you add magazines...can newspapers be far behind? (It takes my Dad almost a day to read the entire paper cover to cover....of course he naps a lot.)
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Apr 24 2007, 08:19 PM) [snapback]429433[/snapback]</div> I love to read. Hmmm. Bodice rippers. Hmmm.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patrickindallas @ Apr 26 2007, 03:04 AM) [snapback]430339[/snapback]</div> Do you know what a bodice ripper is? They're Regency Romances. No bodices are actually ripped in the writing of these novels. (Try Georgette Heyer, she's one of the best.) Harlequin publishes a lot of them as well. "When spirited, independent Miss Annis Wynchwood embroils herself in the affairs of a runaway heiress, she is destined to see a good deal of Lucilla’s uncivil and high-handed guardian Mr Oliver Carleton. "
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Apr 26 2007, 07:14 PM) [snapback]430853[/snapback]</div> I've never read a romance novel. Unless you count 'Far from the Madding Crowd'.
I used to read them during the summer when I had the time as recreation. I could get as many as I wanted from the local library (no limit because they were paperbacks AND donated) and there was not fine if they were late. The thing I liked about them was as soon as I was done I forgot the book. We're not talking great literature here. This isn't Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (which I've re-read several times.) It was light reading for the fun of it with no comprehension required. And most of them weren't that great. Georgette Heyer was the exception. Most were just trash. Which made reading quite relaxing. My record was three in one day.
The Library of Congress got started with a $24,000 purchase of Thomas Jefferson's personal library, which was not enough to pay off his debts, but was start. How far down we've come!
I was there several years ago. They had a Gutenberg Bible on display. I was able to find a 1920 edition of Tom Swift and His Undersea Search, which I didn't have a copy of at the time. I was tempted to xerox it. I also found a book called Auto Linotype, which was a book on poems about Studebakers.
