When you read a book which has been published in multiple volumes – *or* you read a series of short novels which were subsequently published in one volume – how do you track the numbers in Goodreads/Storygraph?
For example, I’d imagine most people would count each volume of Lord of the Rings separately, but Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun has been published in 1, 2 or 4 separate volumes. On the flipside, Michael McDowell’s Blackwater saga was originally 6 short novels, but each volume doesn’t quite feel like a complete story.
I imagine the format you read it in may affect this; you might mark off Wolfe’s BotNS as 2 entries if you read the most common Shadow & Claw, Sword & Citadel editions.
Or is it more subjective than that? If you take a break between volumes, or if there is a more natural conclusion between volumes?
by Gay_For_Gary_Oldman
8 Comments
* If it’s a manga/comic, I track only the last volume.
* If it is one book in different volumes, I count it all like the same book. E.g Anna Karenina can be found in one or two volumes, I just count it as one since it was written as one but split by publisher.
* If it is two books merged in one edition, I count it as two books regardless of the publisher merging them since they were originally written & published as multiples. E.g reading all LOTR’s in one massive book would make me count it as three, not one.
* If it is a collection of short stories, I put the book in as a whole.
* If it is a singular short story, I just put it as-is.
I don’t really overthink this very hard, though. I will change things up, adjust my reading goals, my collection etc a lot just to fit my needs. Whatever makes it easy for me to remember or search it up later.
I list BotNS as 4 entries on my list. Mostly like this: Shadow of The Torturer (BotNS 1) – Gene Wolfe
There are no rules! If you feel the need to count, count however you like.
A ‘book count’ is a pretty useless measure anyway, since a 1000 page tome counts the same as a 100 pagr novella or even a 30 page childrens book. It is only useful as a measure for your own pleasure, so follow your own rules.
Eh I don’t do anything too specific, but generally I try to keep recorded books around 200-400 pages. So if all the volumes together makes some 1200pg behemoth, I’d definitely record them separately. If all together it’s 400 pages, I’d record it together. And if it is manga I do my best to record them together, but if they’re only available in story graph (I don’t use good reads) as individual books then oh well, I get a boost to my reading goal! It isn’t too serious 🙂
I feel like you guys are making reading harder than it has to be.
I read Lord of the Rings last year, it was the illustrated edition and had all three parts in one. I counted it as one book because it is one book. I made little notes in StoryGraph on days I finished Fellowshop and started Two Towers and the same with ending TT and starting Return.
In my to read I have an omnibus of the Chronicles of Narnia, I’m going to count it as one book, but do the same. Make notes when one ends and I begin the next. Again though, I’m counting it as one book. Life is too short to get weirdly complicated with this shit that matters to no one but yourself.
I make it super simple for myself: If I bought it as one file, it’s one book. That means that my Japanese version of the Neverending Story is two books, since it came in two parts, but the collected works of Lovecraft are one book, since they came in one file. It seems counterintuitive, but every other way of counting would be kind of arbitrary.
It’s not a competition, and reading is just for your personal enjoyment, so you should do whatever works best for you
(Some people don’t even track what they read at all; I never have, for one)
“Etiquette” on counting the books you’ve read. What an age we live in.