Only 16 percent of Americans read for personal interest or pleasure

[misanthrope]

This study includes any reading done outside of work. That includes news, magazines, e-readers and even audio books. Reading is a vital tool for mental health, problem solving, rational thought and developing empathy.

A recent study from the United States shows the daily reading for pleasure rate in the country has declined by more than 40% over the last 20 years.

SNIP

Previous research has linked leisurely reading with benefits to mental health and less psychological distress. One study also found reading can help develop resilience and a positive outlook on life in older people.

“Reading has historically been a low-barrier, high-impact way to engage creatively and improve quality of life,” says Sonke. “When we lose one of the simplest tools in our public health toolkit, it’s a serious loss.”

https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/social-sciences/reading-rates-decline-us/

[SheltieLover]

1. Scary! I'm doing my part reading 2-3 books / day

[Bettie]

16. I don't quite read that fast, but

I do two or three most weeks.

But, I also play computer games.

My DH got me a kindle over 20 years ago, because of the slide zones in our house. (Yes, I know we're not supposed to use such things, but, I have 20+ years of content on it and I re read things all the time.)

[SheltieLover]

17. I've pretty much run out of cozy mystery authors

& have taken to rereading as well. And I detest redundancy, but one must read. Lol

[Harker]

27. I sometimes reread favorites from my younger days...

and relish how 50 years of living between readings changes them.

[SheltieLover]

35. I do as well!

Great minds...

Sort of a way to measure our growth, isn't it?

[Harker]

52. Well put!

As an example, I started reading Hesse's "Steppenwolf" at eighteen, and was frightened sufficiently by it to stop reading it.

At thirty-six, thirty years ago, I bravely set out to read it straight through. In doing so, I was delighted, and laughed when I found what lay just beyond where I'd stopped previously.

May we always discover new meaning in old favorites, ShelteLover!

[SheltieLover]

55. Fabulous!

I've never read that ine, but I'm so glad you confronted your old fear & found humor in it!

[Harker]

65. Changed my life for the better to embrace and integrate the masculine, feminine, and lupine elements of my nature!

[SheltieLover]

77. Ooooh I'll have to give it a try. Sounds Jungian.

Ty for sharing!

[Harker]

90. He was a curious blend of old fashioned and newfangled.

If you decide to read it, we'll discuss it afterwards, I hope.

My pleasure, and thanks to you!

[SheltieLover]

116. My library doesn't have an e copy

With as much as I read, I'd need to take a 2nd mtg to pay for all the boojs & I have ltd storage space. 😓

[Prairie_Seagull]

105. Not only yea but, you knew it, HELL yea. nt

[Ilsa]

48. Who are your favorite cozy mystery authors?

Are they Kindle downloads or your local library (texts or downloads)?

[SheltieLover]

58. David Rosenfelt, Carl Hiaason, Lilian Jackson Braun, Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Just to name a few.

Yours?

I read e books through library.

[Ilsa]

91. I don't have any yet. I'm currently reading a physical

book from my local library. It's from 2017, by Tal Keinan, titled "God Is In the Crowd". It's about techniques for the survival of Judaism in the 21st century since Israel has issues with recognizing conversions of faith, and vastly different discriptions of "Who is a Jew" within Israel and the US. Keinan has an extraordinary way of laying out issues and addressing them.

[SheltieLover]

92. Sounds interesting.

Enjoy!

[Ilsa]

94. Thank you for your list. I'm bookmarking it. nt

[SheltieLover]

95. All but Hiaason's involve cats or dogs (Rosenfelt)!

Yw.

Enjoy!



Ps Sofie Kelly is another great one! Fern Michaels is prolific & Ellery Adams is stellar for bibliotherapeutic effects & superb character development. 👍

[imaginary girl]

96. Susan Conant has some fun cozy mysteries with dogs!

"Susan Conant is an American mystery writer best known for her Dog Lover's Mysteries series, featuring magazine writer Holly Winter."

[SheltieLover]

98. Ty sooo much!

Already checked library & they have 10 ebooks by her!

[imaginary girl]

107. You're welcome! I hope you like them!

[DeeDeeNY]

128. Hiaason's books are great

But my favorite mystery writer of all time is the late Ross McDonald. I've read every single book of his.

[SheltieLover]

129. Thx! I'll check out his work.

[DeeDeeNY]

132. He started writing in the 50's

And yet they don't seem dated.

[SheltieLover]

97. Miranda James is another with a cat

The Cat in the Stacks series!

[SheltieLover]

100. Rita Mae Brown yet another

Charming series about a woman, her Corgi, & cats, with the animals able to communicate, but not with the woman.

[Ilsa]

120. These sound like wonderful, lighthearted

stories, easy to read before sleep.

[SheltieLover]

121. Yes, they are!

Nothing graphic, no "thriller" dynamics, etc. Just nice stories about people in mostly nice communities with their pets, some of whom have some extraordinary abilities.

Nothing nightmare inducing, for me antway.

Enjoy!

[SheltieLover]

60. Ellery Adams & Fern Michaels, too

[terip64]

51. I am almost finished the Shetland series by Ann Cleeves.

She has written many books, so I am looking forward to reading them all!

[Pinback]

110. Ah, the stories with Jimmy Perez?

I loved the TV series, and I’m sure the books would be worth a read.

[róisín_dubh]

122. I think she also wrote the Vera series...

If I’m not mistaken.
I’ll have to get the books upon which Shetland is based.

[Dancingdem]

80. Me too!

I love cozies. A good story can relieve alot of stress and anxiety.

[SheLiberal]

85. I love Cozy Mysteries

Especially if they are set in early 1900’s England. I do mix in some non-fiction but with the state of the world I need a good murder mystery to distract me.

[SheltieLover]

86. I agree! Cozies are like taking a vaca.

I don't know of any authors who set their work in England during the stated time period.

[SheLiberal]

104. I have enjoyed Elizabeth Peters

Unfortunately she has passed away so no new books from her. I also enjoy Emily Organ and Anna Lee Huber. Carlene O Connor is also good with a more modern Irish Village Mysteries.

[SheltieLover]

117. Ty so much!

[raccoon]

124. A lot of my favorite cozy authors have died. So I'm in the same boat.

[SheltieLover]

126. Surely there must be some you haven't read?

Diane Kelly's Paw Enforcement?

The Chet & Bernie series?

[raccoon]

130. I've read chet & bernie. that other one I haven't.

[SheltieLover]

131. Diane Kelly is one of my favs!

Both her "Paw Enforcement" & "Death, Taxes and..." series are great!

The former is about a female cop reluctantly accepting K-9 duty & the latter is about an IRS agent.

Let me know what you think if you check them out?

How about Carl Hiaason's work? Fever Beach is exceptional, but really all his work is!

Enjoy!

[marybourg]

140. Amazon Kindle has an endless supply of cozies.

I pay $12/month for Kindle Unlimited and just mainline them (I’ve saved a lot of money by not having cable TV for the past 52 years, Nor do I have Netflix or any other streaming, except for Amazon Prime)

[SheltieLover]

145. Thanks, Mary! I don't have any cable, streaming, or

even broadcast tv. I agree, we are both saving a lot of $$$ & protecting our sanity to boot. Lol

[HeartsCanHope]

26. I want to be you when I grow up!

You must be a super fast reader!

[SheltieLover]

72. Yes, I guess...

[ancianita]

56. Awesome!

[Polybius]

69. 2-3 per day?

That sounds incredibly impressive, but nearly impossible to me. I can't even begin to imagine reading one book in under a week. How do you sleep and eat? Wouldn't reading 3 take 24 hours?

[SheltieLover]

75. No. I'm not reading heavy material.

Cozy mysteries with a good dose of humor.

I don't have a lot else to do & I thoroughly enjoy reading.

[Escurumbele]

82. I definitely do not read that fast, but I do read about 12 to 14 books per year, lots of articles, art books, etc.

Maybe DU should have a sort of "Book Club"? where we can share ideas for reading?

My sister visited me and left a book by a British actor, Peter Ustinov, he passed away, he was a fantastic actor and a fantastic writer. If anyone want to read and laugh, I strongly recommend this book:

"The Old Man & Mr. Smith" by Peter Ustinov. He has a huge list of books he wrote, and I intend to get many of them. The one my sister left me is in Spanish, and I liked it so much that I bought the original version in English, so I started reading that one, although I find the Spanish translation was very true to the original book, very well done.

Also, great books to read that will take your mind off our current situation while you read the books:

"The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson. This author also has other books that are also very entertaining.

I also have a good list of political, economic, art, etc., books.

Also, if someone likes fantasy, these three are part of the "Empyrean Series" by Rebecca Yarros
1. Fourth Wing, 2. Iron Flame & the last one so far (I think there are 2 more coming) 3. Onyx Storm

I sometimes read two books in parallel, I manage to finish both, which is great.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

115. Oh wow..im reading a book a month..fiction

[SheltieLover]

148. Whatever works for you. I don't have a lot else to do.

[radicalleft]

147. That's weak...I read 7-8 books per day

And do tax accounting on the side...

[SheltieLover]

149. It's not a contest, but good for you!

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Soon there will be more writers than readers. Not sure who they think will buy their books. ./nt

[Elessar Zappa]

3. A lot of people don't have time to read much.

Working long hours, children, house chores, etc.

[erronis]

29. But I wonder if many of them don't find time to sit in front of the T.V.

[SheltieLover]

64. Precisely!

I've not watched any tv in well over 10 yrs.

[thought crime]

152. What? Do you mean reading netflix subtitles doesn't count?

[NoRethugFriends]

57. Nope. That aint it.

[Escurumbele]

87. There is time, people just choose the TV over books now. "Back to School" with Rodney Dangerfield had a

scene that spoke about that, he never read books because it was faster to see it on TV, but the woman who was his teacher in the movie started him, at the end, to read books.

If people reduce the time they spent watching TV, they will have time to do a bunch of stuff.

My wife and I used to have a TV in our bedroom, I was not reading, painting (I am an artist, as a hobby), and we were watching too many hours of silly shows, until one day I realized what we were doing so I took the TV out of the bedroom, and suddenly I started reading, painting/drawing, etc. We gave up political shows to calm ourselves, we rather read what is going on than to listen to the talking heads, even those we like, because we believe the way the news is reported tends to create stress. Now we watch shows, or movies that are non-violent, zero stress, life is a bit better.

[RockRaven]

4. Yeah. No shit.

*gestures around at America*

It really shows.

[Kid Berwyn]

5. "Smart people don't like me."

Traitor like never before said that.

[SheltieLover]

18. It's why he loves the uneducated, they're easier to con

[dedl67]

6. Neil Postman long ago predicted the decline in reading in the US

“I suspect there will be an erosion of the concept of the common reader, the type of person who gets most of his or her literary experience and information from novels and general non-fiction books. There will almost certainly be an increase in both illiteracy and aliteracy (an aliterate being a person who can read but doesn’t). It has been estimated there are now 60 million illiterates, and according to a report from our Librarian of Congress, there may be an equal number of aliterates. In any case, a general impatience with books will develop, especially with books in which language is used with subtlety to express complex ideas."

Neil Postman “Conscientious Objections” 1988

It has happened and this is where we are. A nation in which a substantial fraction of citizens are not able to comprehend complex ideas.

[misanthrope]

7. Here's an irony

When Postman mentions "a general impatience" it is amusing because most of us can read far faster than we can listen. When watching a video conversation/interview/podcast, I often just stop it and read the transcipt is possible. Even speeding up the video to twice its normal rate is too slow and the words become more difficult to discern yet I can read far faster than that.

[dedl67]

13. Yes, and a typical printed news article contains much more information than can be spoken in a radio or TV broadcast

[eppur_se_muova]

14. Ask your friends, acquaintances, even relatives to read something out loud -- you may be shocked at the result.

If "US" is those of us who were taught by our parents to read as soon as we were capable, you're right, reading is faster than talking.

For those whose parents waited to let their teachers teach them how to read, not so. I remember being astounded at my fellow students in high school who couldn't read out loud without stumbling over simple words. The disadvantage of a late start may be something they never overcome.

(Reading transcripts, double-timing video, yeah, I do all that. I started studying speed reading in high school (maybe a little earlier) and sat through a training class where I finished early when the system maxed out at 2000 wpm. I can't do that well anymore because of poorer eyesight, but it just emphasizes reading is AN UNNATURAL ACT, which you can only learn to do well with adequate training and practice. Very few people get much training at all, besides "monkey see, monkey do" from their parents, who are just doing things the way people have always done them.

[SheltieLover]

20. I was horrified the 1st day of kindergarten when teacher announced

The focus would be on learning the alphabet!

I was thinking, "these kids can't read?"

Nope they couldn't & it made for a very boring year for me.

[Diamond_Dog]

43. Me too and all 3 of my boys read before kindergarten too.

I read books to them quite often when they were toddlers and I think that helped. I realize it’s tough for many parents to find the time to do this.



Your 3 books a DAY beats all!

[SheltieLover]

70. I found an at home flash card program for younger daughter

Where you create "flashcards" (quite large because of toddler's undeveloped sight) & show them & clearly state the word. It worked very well!

Younger daughter was 6 yrs younger than her older sister was & when older daughter was in 5th & 6th grade & struggling to spell a word, younger one would blurt out the spelling.

Cripes that made for a fight every time. Lol

I always read to both of them everyday!

[Diamond_Dog]

136. Flash cards work great for reading, and math, too!

My youngest picked up the book Little Bear by Maurice Sendak one day out of the blue and read it out loud to *me*. He was 3 and 1/2. I had him do it again and mixed up the pages I asked him to read just so I knew he hadn’t memorized it and he read it again perfectly.

I used to bring him with me when I volunteered at his older brother’s school with struggling readers (1st grade) because I didn’t have any baby sitter. He would tell the kid who was struggling what the word was and I had to tell him not to do that! Lol. All my kids were early readers.

That 3 and 1/2 year old eventually earned a prize for best German student in HS and got straight As in everything else. He is now a software engineer.

[misanthrope]

76. I started learning to read when I was two

It led to a lot of boredom in school later on.

[SheltieLover]

79. I can relate.

[JI7]

8. But it's not any type of reading which helps

make people empathetic. I think a lot of people read the self help type books which includes a lot of bs.

But I think they have to be novels where you can follow characters and what they are thinking . And I agree with this.

How can we make people get into reading again. And combine it with social media where we can discuss and promote what we read.

[Prairie Gates]

28. The novel invented free indirect discourse

It's certainly plausible that this technical form resulted in a general increase in empathy, and the reduction of novel reading produces the opposite.

[ancianita]

66. True. But all kinds of reading improve the intellect. Studies show that one can increase their IQ by reading alone.

How can we make people get into reading again? One way I encourage reading is giving books away; sometimes I buy multiple copies to give away so that friends and I have a future mutual experience to talk about.

When I taught film, I told my students that a high percentage of movies are based on books, and actually increased the sales of those books once folks saw the movies. They liked that. They also liked that one Academy Award category is "Best screenplay Adaptation" of a book. I don't know if that exists anymore, but it did during the years that I taught.

https://ticiamessing.com/50-books-and-movies/

[ForgedCrank]

9. I am forced

to read for work, but it's become difficult and uncomfortable due to my eyesight changing as I age along. I really dislike reading on the computer screen, but I can't zoom on a book without gadgets so I've mostly abandoned books at this point. I read the bare minimum required, almost all technical manuals and no longer can enjoy the stuff I used to.
I've tried audio books, but it's just not the same.

[unc70]

54. Have you had cataract surgery?

For many of us, that surgery made a dramatic improvement in our reading ability. Mine is now better than it had been for 70 years.

[ForgedCrank]

139. Well, I

ask the eye doc every year and he says I don't need that and probably won't for at least another 10 to15 years.
I just have the standard problem with my eyes not focusing, pretty typical stuff. I find myself needing a flashlight to read small print. A mag helps if I have no light suppliment, but I'm too lazy to carry around either of those things. I'm also noticing a degradation of my eyesight at night when driving.

[Midwestern Democrat]

123. Age related farsightedness also caused me to lose the habit of reading books.

I had 20/20 vision up until about age 45 - one of my favorite ways to end the day was to read books by lamplight - mostly history and political books but also some novels; by age 45, I couldn't do that anymore with the naked eye, but I could still see well enough to read a computer screen (at normal 100% size) up until about age 48, when I finally had to start wearing reading glasses to be able to read anything at normal size - that three year period caused me to lose the book reading habit.

[ForgedCrank]

141. I've just

tried to find other things to do to stay busy at night and I do my best to avoid the damn TV, it's mostly poison. The news is a terrible draw, but I avoid that as much as I can as well (which is why I may seem a but out of the loop sometimes).
Now, I mostly work, be it for my job, or around the properties. But with winter closing in, daylight is starting to become a premium again, so shop work will start filling that void soon. There's no end to the broken stuff needing repair in one way or another. I've just had to give up the books for the most part because straining to read just ruins the experience for me.

[sinkingfeeling]

10. Explains a lot of what went so wrong in America.

[kacekwl]

11. My wife and I spent 8 days

dog/house sitting for my son and family in Costa Rica this summer and after a couple of hours the internet went down and never came back . I read 3 books did endless games of solitary and spent hours in the pool. I think I've read 3 books in the last 5 years and enjoyed books I've been meaning to read for years.

[QueerDuck]

12. I believe it!

[Aristus]

15. I've known I am in a reading minority since I was in second grade or so.

In reading circle, I noted that everyone else treated reading like a chore to be gotten over with as quickly as possible. Like drudgery. I've loved reading ever since I learned how. And I don't understand people who don't.

[SheltieLover]

21. Same here!

[Diamond_Dog]

137. Me too Aristus.

In school I would have been completely happy to stay inside at recess and read but the teacher made us all go outside for fresh air.

I suppose reading didn’t come as easily to some kids and they struggled with it, which was a shame. I always loved to read anything I could get my hands on. My mother always had tons of books around the house - I learned to enjoy what she enjoyed.

[Aristus]

142. My fourth grade teacher had a program during which, for the last half hour of the school day,

we could read; anything we wanted. The time was ours, but we had to be reading, and we had to do it quietly; no talking.

I loved it.

[synni]

19. Reading well-written articles online also counts as reading

Many people do that nowadays.. There's much more to the internet than just social media, thank God.

[UTUSN]

22. I read a lot but in the format of the internet instead of print. & longer pieces as directed to

by summaries, like decisions whether the longer things are worthwhile. & the interaction and posting Comments is immediate.

*** Moby Dick, FALKNER, and James JOYCE's Ulysses now seem to be arrogantly self-indulgent attention whores - like, why should others spend gigantic chunks of their own lives deciphering what might be a good little conversation - or a 20 minutes' YouTube?

[Tom Dyer]

23. Couldn't be more obvious. N/T

[Midnight Writer]

24. My goal in retirement is to read all the stuff I never got around to. I will never make it.

I reckon I spend more than 66% of my waking hours reading.

I belong to several book clubs and I subscribe to over 100 magazines and newspapers. And then there are online articles.

[Prairie Gates]

25. Our local bookstore is thriving

Barnes and Noble has reopened dozens of brick and mortar bookstores across the country.

[hunter]

30. Reading is what I do when many people would be watching television.

That's why I don't consider television any kind of necessity.

When I was a kid televisions and television repairs were expensive. Our family would go for months without a working television in the house.

But we never went without books, magazines, and newspapers.

[Trueblue Texan]

41. Right...

...as poor as we were, and that was VERY poor, we always had books. True, some of those books we had read multiple times, but my mother always found reading material we could afford at used book stores and we always had our school libraries and in the summer time, the bookmobile. Magical smelling places, those!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

31. People consume lots of "chewing gum for the eyes". . . . nt

[Tree Lady]

32. I am part of that percentage

Read at least 2-3 books per week.

[Raftergirl]

33. I read several books a week. I am a very fast reader.

It drove me crazy that my kid wasn’t a reader, plus he was a slow reader. I told him he’d never make it in college being a slow reader. Another thing I was wrong about. He went to a top 20 LAC, had an enormous reading load, did just fine and now has a very successful career.

I would have also told him to rip up his college application essay, too, and start all over. I read it while going through his college app stuff to throw out. He was accepted at all 10 colleges where he applied. I’m glad he never showed it to me!

[ancianita]

34. Pitiful. Literacy is the foundation of civilization. They have no excuse.

[Trueblue Texan]

44. Reading is very difficult for some people...I don't judge them.

One of my daughters was a slow reader to start, but she benefited from federal programs designed to help kids like her. She is an avid reader now and was throughout most of her education. Some are not as lucky as she was to get the support they need and never learn to love reading.

[ancianita]

50. I completely understood that as a former teacher of reading. But the numbers should be reversed to reflect that reality

"Some people" doesn't excuse the rest of the 84% who don't read though they can.

In other words, "some people" -- whether they're dyslexic or have other processing problems or even physical problems -- should be in the 16%, while the reader population should be the 84%.

[Trueblue Texan]

133. I agree...

But I hate to admit, the older I've gotten and the more difficult reading has become for me due to visual issues, I don't read as much. And the internet has done a lot of damage to my ability to focus. So I understand that people find being entertained easier. I suspect those people never really learned to love reading. Even though it's more difficult for me these days, I still love to curl up with a good book. E-readers help with visual issues, but they just don't offer the sensory experience (the smell of a book especially!) that so many readers associate with peaceful times with books.

[ancianita]

146. Cool. Well then, you'd also likely agree that those unable to read for good reasons should not

make excuses for the lazy to justify their own lack of curiosity and stagnant intellects. That's enabling childish ignorance.

It's incumbent on those who value reading -- whether they have legitimate problems or not -- to speak up to the incurious, especially among their family members and friends, to be lifelong learners who will gain so much more by reading than not.

They need to literally be told -- not 'high mention,' but TOLD that with regular reading...
They will get smarter from the best minds of our society.
They will gain higher IQ's.
They will in fact gain family, friends, and online respect for their thoughts and opinions.

They need to be told that being a non-reader is not a life strategy.
Told that the mindless habit of entertainment for shallow bonding, emotional soothing, is not a life strategy, either.
Told that a distracted life is not a free life, and that an unfree life is a life of worry and suffering.
Told that their mere perceptions will change to adult perspectives on reality.
Told that their lives would improve when they change how they spend soothing time, by hanging out in a local library where librarians love to personally help them find books on any, ANY current interest they might have.

Question: What's worse than the life of a person who can't read? Answer: The life of a person who won't read.
Tell them that's why you're telling them to read. And guarantee them that by reading daily their lives will be much better.

[Trueblue Texan]

151. Preaching to the choir here

And just like telling them TSF is going to drive our nation to ruin...it goes in one ear and out the other. I pick my battles, because I don't have spare energy to fight the losing ones.

[BigmanPigman]

36. I have a very short attention span

as well as being a slow reader. I must read every word and sometime reread sentences since my mind goes off into 1,000 tangents.

Biographies and non-fiction are the only books I can read.

I taught 6 year olds how to read for over 15 years as a teacher. I learned as much as my students did. I like to get facts and info quickly and so did they and they had fun doing it. Most people assume kids like fiction/stories but that is not what teaches them to read very well. Comprehension is a whole other skill.

[berniesandersmittens]

37. Tragic

Reading is fundamental.

[biophile]

38. Child of an acquaintance said "Reading is boring!"

First of all, he interrupted a conversation between myself and another adult when I said that my husband and I read at night. My parents would never have let me do that! At least, not without saying, “Excuse me” first.
Second, his family is MAGA. So he’s going to grow up opinionated AND ignorant. He will make a perfect Republican. 😏

[Tetrachloride]

39. I would be curious to see the raw data

[Demsrule86]

40. I love to read...I also like audiobooks. I like mysteries, fiction mostly.

I also read some that are smutty love stories...read 1 or 2 books day.

[Polybius]

71. Hey, how have you been?

Long time no see!

[DiverDave]

42. I've been reading for

Pleasure for 60 years.
If i had a good book, I'd read at recess.
Came home one day to see my oldest reading on the couch. Almost cried.
He devoured Harry Potter.

[bedazzled]

93. My son and i were talking about rowling the other day

Say what you will about her now, her books encouraged a whole generation to read. I am old but I loved them, too.

[Keepthesoulalive]

45. Reading well written books on history was my passion

My kids used to say, mom took out so many history books the bums were amazed. I’m referring to the library, we made sure the little people were into reading.

[Bristlecone]

46. I'm not surprised.

Not a day goes by that I am not reading or listening to a book.

And I have to read all day for work. Direct and team messages, emails, documentation , etc.

Probably why I gravitate to audio books.

I have friends though and they tell me they hate to read. And Audio books are out also for them. But social media and tv are mainstays in their lives.

[AverageOldGuy]

47. We read a LOT

Wife reads more than I. She’s into detective and crime fiction. She knocks out 2-3 a week.

I read current events, politics, history along with the old classics that I did not read in high school and college ( thanks to Cliff Notes ). Re-read a lot of Faulkner, just started “Flags in the Dust” for 4th reading. Have Ta-Neishi Coates lined up to start next week, re-reading.

[mgardener]

49. I volunteer at a food shelf

I read a lot of food menus to people.

[kimbutgar]

53. I admit I don't read as much as I used to !

But in the school I substitute 3-5 grades have a silent 20-30 minutes reading requirement everyday. While they are reading I try to read a book myself!

Any when I fly on planes I try to read instead of watching a movie. I looked around a couple,e years ago and I was the only one reading in my area on the plane.

[Skittles]

59. I honestly cannot imagine my life without books

I read to relax before bedtime......I like how I enter new worlds and envision the characters.......

[llmart]

111. I agree wholeheartedly!

I read before bedtime also, but I read during the day too. I do read more in fall and winter than the warmer months since I like being outside then.

I have been an avid reader my entire life. I tend to read novels at night but during the day it's nonfiction so can keep learning. I volunteer in a used book area of a large library (I worked in libraries for 10 years) and we have four book sales per year. People are lined up at the door a half hour before the store opens and the room gets so crowded you can barely move. Lots of young mothers with little children. It's quite fun to talk with all the customers and see what they are buying.

[Skittles]

113. certain books I will read during daytime hours

for example, Stephen King just does NOT cut it for relaxing and drifting off......

OMG I am avid buyer at those used book sales and also a prolific donor

[llmart]

127. Great!

Thank you for supporting libraries. I was poor growing up but my mother would take me to the library every Saturday. That opened up a whole new world for me since we lived out in the country and lived a very insular life. To my mother's credit, she would tell the librarian on duty that day that I had permission to take out books from the adult section

[Gore1FL]

61. Most of my reading goes into researching for my job.

I guess political articles count as interest, but I kind of feel those are a duty, too.

[sakabatou]

62. I wish there was a better breakdown of reading for the poll

Such as actual books vs. digital vs. audio. And what does it define as a "book?"

[BarbD]

63. The Bobbsey Twins were my first --

Then on to the Hardy Boys (Nancy Drew was too wimpy), then all the Walter Farley horse books -- The Black Stallion, The Island Stallion etc. Of course Albert Payson Terhune and his collies, Lad a Dog, Bruce a Collie etc. Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey, Agatha Christie, John D. McDonald, Margaret Maron, Rhys Bowen, Elizabeth Peters, Jacqueline Winspear, Jayne Ann Krentz.

I read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich while nursing my first kid in 1964 and just finished 107 Days by Kamala Harris and about 1/3 of the way through We the People by Jill Lepore. My literary taste is eclectic and I do re-read my favorites. I LOVE TO READ! It has been my salvation and escape.

[Xavier Breath]

67. I used to be a voracious reader.

In my twenties I'd buy a book just about every Saturday. I was the paperback king. As I've aged, though, I've gotten away from it. I read the newspaper every day, and I'm out here daily, and there's the occasional magazine, but that's about it.

[NNadir]

68. All of my "leisure" time is reading, as is much of my work day.

This of course excludes time with my wife and sons.

It's how I dealt with insomnia going back to my boyhood.

I have always lived for libraries.

If Americans aren't reading, this might explain why we have an ignorant orange pedophile in the White House.

[Polybius]

73. Does DU count as reading?

Or Facebook?

[2na fisherman]

74. Lack of Language skills nurtured by new media

Many high schools have student graduates who cannot read beyond a sixth grade level. But they are often more able to communicate among their peers using a truncated text language version of English and emojis when they communicate on smart phones: "R U @ home yet? W8 4 me. I'll C U L8R." All communication must be fast and geared for limited attention spans by years of conditioning via non-verbal advertising images designed for quick emotional responses. So it's no wonder that the younger generation, and elders, view literature as a dying art. In many ways, it's a foreign language to them. And trying to spend time to ponder things like subtext, nuance, allegory and irony presented using a large vocabulary is just too boring when compared to the cheap thills offered by video games. And who needs to write anything when there is a speech-to-text AI bot nearby?

[live love laugh]

78. My book club reads a book a month on average. I usually read extra books because a month is too long.

I’ve read at least 18 books this year.

[Sneederbunk]

81. Would like to see age breakdown of the16 percent.

[HuskiesHowls]

83. I finally slogged through "Les Miserables", all 1,222 pages of it

after starting it some 60 years ago, and putting it down multiple times. I counted the words in one sentence, that was a whole paragraph; it turns out it was just over 1,000 words! Victor Hugo is hard to read!
For light reading, its a lot of sci-fi and light fantasy. When I'm feeling like having to think for awhile about what I've read, its usually Plato, St. Augustine, maybe some Adam Smith, and The Atlantic for current events.

I love to read, and always have. I don't understand people who don't read, they are missing so much.

[Ping Tung]

84. I learned how to read when I was 4. I'm still a heavy reader and I feel sorry fot non readers.

There are many worlds available in books and they're missing them.

[barbtries]

88. that's scandalous

and tragic.

[exboyfil]

89. Listen to audiobooks 3 plus hours a day

About the same amount of time I walk. Great stress reliever.

[mcar]

99. That explains a lot. nt

[Skittles]

114. yes

attention span, for starters

[Dave Bowman]

101. I feel sorry for the 84% who don't read for pleasure, they don't know what they're missing.

[The Third Doctor]

102. I dont read as much as i used to but i still do.

This somewhat explains the lack of basic knowledge in society. Whether it be civics, science, history ect. I was taught reading broadens the mind.. I particularly love history.

[mnhtnbb]

103. Since I moved to Durham

in January 2021, I've read 232 books borrowed from the County Library. I've read another 50-60 books I've purchased during that time. Most of what I read is fiction. I'll discover a writer I like, then often work my way through everything the author has published.
When my children were young, it was difficult to find the time to read for myself. I read them bedtime stories. Took them both to the library to check out their own books. One became an avid reader, the other only reads for work or related subjects.
I can't imagine not having a book going now. I love reading.

[Captain Zero]

106. If you like autobiography. Read Willie Nelson's

The title grabbed me first:
It's a Long Story.[/b. Haha.

If you know some about him it's one you can open up anywhere and read a chapter or two.
Highly informative and entertaining. 🙂🤣
What a guy Willie is. 😎🍻🍺🎸

[MIButterfly]

108. I love to read.

My mother instilled in me a love of books from a young age. I still remember how excited I was when I got my first library card and could take any book I wanted! There used to be a bookmobile that came to my elementary school one or two evenings a month and my mother and I would walk down there every time and carry our books home.

When I retired, people would ask me what I was planning to do and I always said "there's a whole library full of books I haven't read."

[Liberal In Texas]

109. Our house looks like a library in places. Walls of books.

We read every day.
Books.

We read things on the internet. But for relaxing getting away from the screens and cracking a book can't be beat.

[electric_blue68]

112. Wow, that's depressing! Fairly avid reader....

For fiction my go to is Science Fiction, occasional other stuff. It's been ebooks since covid, then my library card expired over a year ago. I read a fair amount of stuff in my Google feed.
Just got it renewed in late Aug. Read one book. In the late beginning of another. One more on hold. 📖 👍

🤔 I might try some historical fiction, or the SF sub-genre of alternate history.

Have read non-fiction in various interests, usually in magazines.
I'd go B&N get a bunch magazines and sit down to read some articles in each: sciences, crafts, music, and more.
Actually, I started to do that also at my big Bronx library pre-covid. I should try to make that a monthly, or 2xs/month in milder weather habit again.

I just remembered looking at the National Geos in the 70's. I remember a great article on bamboo! Who knew there were that many varieties. And an article on a then rather unknown in the general USA contentious tropical fruit that through twists and turns of life - may have helped to spark a friendship bc a person I occasionally spent time with knew about it back then.

I love reading! 🥰

[misanthrope]

118. So many replies focusing on books

but what underscores the drastic tone of the study is that this is about almost any reading whatsoever. To think of people eschewing news articles, even audio books that many can listen to while engaged in other activities seems disheartening.

[mnhtnbb]

125. The rise in popularity of podcasts

might reflect a change in how people absorb writing.

The son I mentioned in my reply, above, #103, who became an avid reader, now writes and produces his own podcast called The Art of Crime. I am a visual learner. I like listening to music, but lose interest in listening to people talk. I'd much rather sit with a book or magazine where I can stop and think about something, than listen to a podcast. In fact, I don't listen to podcasts on any regular basis.

But I wonder if there hasn't been a switch from reading to listening to podcasts for at least some part of the population that were or would have been readers. You can absorb information that might have previously been presented in a book or an article via a podcast.

[LudwigPastorius]

119. TL;DR

Just kidding.

This has been a trend a long time in the making.

Forty years ago, when I worked in a bookstore, I was shocked when a woman redeemed a gift certificate she received by buying $75.00 worth of magazines. I casually commented that she really must like magazines, and she replied, "Oh, I don't read books."

Today, that woman would be considered an epistemophile.

[yardwork]

134. That's our problem right there.

[Iris]

135. I must know them all! Seriously, though, I wonder how different that is then in past decades

The reading for pleasure population has always been a small percentage. I'm sure 16% is likely a new low since life online seems to have taken over.

[Joinfortmill]

138. That explains a lot. We're in trouble, people.

[lark]

143. I guess I don't understand folks these days - reading is such a pleasure.

I'm 73 and have been an avid reader since I was a small child - I've always loved books. I love going to new interesting places in my mind so adore science fiction/fantasy and read other authors like Grisham, King, Koontz and Clancy for the stories . Heck, I'll read just about anything, historical novels, biographies, you name it, if it's not too technical, I've probably read it or something vey ike it. I've read just about every day, barring the times when I had bad measles (105 temp.), and immediately after surgery. I had to replace books with a Kindle because my house was overflowing. I sold/gave away about 300 books to reduce down to the number that would fit easily in my 2 extra large bookcases when we downsized, moving into a 300 sq ft smaller house. I belong to Kindle Unlimited which really controls the expense if you are an avid reader like me. Bookbub is great too!

[OldBaldy1701E]

144. Well, when it literally hurts to try took read a book.

I can see that this can be an issue.

[mike_c]

150. this is frightening

Holy moly, as an educator I often lamented that students don't read enough, or can't read effectively, but this statistic is way worse than I imagined. Unfortunately, it isn't surprising.