One in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.So far this year, I've read 84 books. (Yeah, there's only 83 on the list. Those are books I own. I also read one I borrowed from a friend.)
The survey reveals a nation whose book readers, on the whole, can hardly be called ravenous. The typical person claimed to have read four books in the last year -- half read more and half read fewer. Excluding those who hadn't read any, the usual number read was seven.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
If You're Not Reading Those Books, Can I Have Them?
OK, I always knew that I read a lot more than the average person, being as I'm the sort of bookwormish freak that'll read in lines, during meals, while walking down the street... But, holy crap, I'm not sure I ever realized exactly how far out on the end of the bell curve I actually am. I find this CNN article obscurely shocking:
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"Now I know how _American Gladiators_ stays on the air." (The Brain)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I know that I'm not in your range, but I read at least four books a *month*.
Well, you can definitely call yourself above average, then. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm only at about half of what you've read this year so far, and I know that if I didn't have my hour-long train commute twice a day I'd get a lot less read. But no books in a year? That' -- not even mega-market bestsellers? This is sort of shocking...not to mention maybe troubling to someone like me, who works in publishing.
ReplyDelete4 in a year? Seriously?
ReplyDeleteI thought I was doing bad being around 40 or so...
I suppose it shouldn't surprise me. I mean, I know intellectually that most people don't really read books. And yet, the idea is so incredibly foreign to my mindset that I just can't quite absorb it.
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