Amazon Kindle discussion

I am honestly curious here - would love to hear all opinions.
What percentage of your reading, would you say, consists of brand new books (as in, published this year or the year before?)

In 2020 so far, I've read thirty books, not including graphic novels, comic books, short stories and some small format stuff. That's a lot for me, and it was obviously helped by the fact that I've spent most of the year at home, as so many of us have. Of these thirty, the one published most recently was 'Where the Crawdads Sing' from 2018. To me that's new and fresh.

And yet I see so many people - random people, not ones working in publishing - responding on social media to posts like 'What are your top ten books published in 2020?' I can't help but wonder - do many people read enough new releases every year to make a top ten? Is it that they read much more quickly than me, or is it that they read only new releases?

For me, there are just so many books in existence, written over hundreds of years (with so many being available for next to nothing on Kindle), so that the knowledge that I'll never read them all makes me want to read as many of them as possible, so I rarely get to the brand new ones unless they're by an author I'm already familiar with and following. With hyped up bestsellers I actually prefer to wait a couple of years to see if their reputation stands the test of time first.

On the other hand, the one downside here is that I don't get to support new talent, which is something I'd like to do more. I also hate that more often than not the movie of the book comes out before I've had a chance to read it.

Would love to hear your thoughts/input!

a mix here, but I read upwards of 200 books a year especially now that I'm retired (it was probably over 100 before that). My Goodreads export to a spreadsheet show I've read 24 books this year that were published in 2020, but a good percentage of them were free books from Tor and other publishers. Ten were from the major publishers or, in the case of Quentin Bates, a self published author

The Family Business by Allen, Hania
Cold Malice by Bates, Quentin
The Shaman of Karres (Witches of Karres Book 4) by Freer, Dave & Flint, Eric
Smoke Bitten (A Mercy Thompson Novel Book 12) by Briggs, Patricia
No Fixed Line (Kate Shugak Book 22) by Stabenow, Dana
Love & Other Crimes: Stories by Paretsky, Sara
The Shooting at Chateau Rock: A Bruno, Chief of Police Novel (Bruno, Chief of Police Series Book 15) by Walker, Martin
The Third Sister (Family Secrets Book 3) by Blaedel, Sara
The French Widow (Hugo Marston Book 9) by Pryor, Mark
Long Range (A Joe Pickett Novel Book 20) by Box, C.J.

I honestly never pay attention as to when it was published. I read whatever looks good and interests me.

and I look at the new on Kindle list and add the books to my wish list and then buy them when either they've gone way down in price or there's a deal on them

I wish I could read as fast as that! Thirty books in a year is a personal best for me.
To be fair, some books I can read in a day or two, so I can probably get to 100 a year if I stuck to those, but at least once a year I tend to read at least one that takes me 3-4 months - last year it was Infinite Jest, this year it was Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir. These books take me forever not only because they're long but also because I keep jumping back and forth to earlier references (again, grateful for the Kindle).

I read an Amazon First every month (these books will be published the next month). I'm also in the Mount TBR group, so I read books that I've had on my Kindle the longest (some since 2012). I read some authors as soon as I can (Stephen King!) and follow many series, so read new books as they come out. I read very little of older "classic" books that I can get for free, though the very first book I read on the Kindle was "The Picture of Dorian Gray".

I guess that means I read a good mix of brand new (1-2 years) and recent (10-15 years). I've read 150 books this year, which is way more than I've ever read before.

Itamar wrote: "I wish I could read as fast as that! Thirty books in a year is a personal best for me.
To be fair, some books I can read in a day or two, so I can probably get to 100 a year if I stuck to those, bu..."

I think that's the way to read! It would be a shame to miss out on the whole message or plot just to save time. And to drop in some easy-to-reads gives variety.

I read what friends have recommended or what the library has. I tend to get older books because so many of the new ones are so sexually graphic or have too many expletives for my taste. I like the classics or books that get 3 1/2 stars (at least) on Goodreads. I throw in new ones if they are recommended and fit my genres and tastes.