The document summarizes the results of tracking the author's library checkouts over a period of 95.5 weeks. Some key findings include: - The author borrowed 250 movies, 30 TV shows, and 779 non-fiction books from the library, saving thousands of dollars compared to purchasing them. - The author tends to read and watch media in bursts, and reads mostly business and management books. - An estimated 123.3 hours were spent reading based on an assumption of 30 minutes per book, with reading often done as a secondary activity like on public transit.

1. Sacha Chua: http://sach.ac/quantified
Quantified Self Toronto: http://quantifiedself.ca/
August 22, 2013

2. I tracked my library checkouts
(Oct 2011 - present)
Automated scraping of library accounts page
Analysis period: 95.5 weeks
Limitations:
• Two other people in household, some conflation
• Date analysis is by due date, which does not
totally reflect when I read it. I read about 80% of
items.

3. The library is an incredible money-saver.
• Borrowed 250 movies and 30 TV shows.
Assuming $15 for a DVD, that’s $4,200.
• Borrowed 779 non-fiction books.
Assuming $20, that’s $15,580.
• Probably wouldn’t have bought all of them,
but still… wow.

4. I read mostly non-fiction (I knew that),
but we watch more movies than I
thought we did.
6
30
183
250
779
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Other
TV
Fiction
Movie
Non-fiction

5. I tend to read and watch in bursts.
No correlation
between non-
fiction reading and
movie watching
(doesn’t get in the
way)

6. I really skew towards business books.
14
18
22
30
33
38
45
59
82
328
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
340 - Law
300 - Social sciences, sociology &…
610 - Medical sciences; Medicine
640 - Home economics & family living
000 - Computer science, knowledge &…
800 - Literature, rhetoric & criticism
740 - Drawing & decorative arts
150 - Psychology
330 - Economics
650 - Management & auxiliary services
Number of titles by major category

7. I tend to read about subjects in bursts, too.

8. It’s good to cross-reference with time.
If you double the time to account for multitasking when reading
is not the primary activity (ex: subway), ~30min per book.
Source: Discretionary - Productive - Nonfiction (QuantifiedAwesome.com)
123.3h from Nov 2011
to July 2013

9. What do I do with all this reading?
• Book notes:
quotes, ideas, etc.
• Blog posts
• Visual book
summaries
• Recommendations

10. Next steps
More! More! More!
Going through my science fiction backlog
Checking out Amazon recommendations
Taking more notes of some books
Visit your local library tomorrow!
TorontoPublicLibrary.ca
Related post: sach.ac/p/25537