23% of Americans didn't read a single book last year.

jackiback · January 2014

If you want to get good and depressed, read this article from The Atlantic. It shows the decrease in books read over time. It's insane.

The Decline of the American Book Lover

I really and truly cannot imagine not reading a single book.

EliStar · January 2014

I only read 50 last year and it felt like a sad, paltry number compared to how many I usually read. Not even one? ONE?

Sad. So sad.

RiverPlate · January 2014

My DH is part of this 23%. Although he reads newspapers and magazines daily, and I'm really sure I don't have time for that.

jackiback · January 2014

I know, right?!

And I know that it's unfair to compare people to NBC because we're freaks- 50-100 books a year is no big... but ZERO BOOKS READ?!?!? It's crazy.

There is a girl in my circle who will say proudly that she hates reading (which is why she is "in my circle" and not "my friend"

) and she even read one book last year.

pinkybooklover09 · January 2014

When people say they hate reading it makes me so angry. I don't know how you couldn't read a single book for the whole year! That just seems wrong and inhuman.

Kate&Mark · January 2014

This makes me so sad.

RevJen · January 2014

I know someone in that 23% and it makes me sad for her. Reading is like oxygen to me. I can't imagine living without it.

jenndawnp · January 2014

I can't even imagine not reading one book all year long. I want to go cry now.

RiverPlate · January 2014

We must upset the curve so bad. Just think, if the average American read 11 books last year, and some of the girls on here read upward of 200.

Young_Love · January 2014

MH isn't a reader AT ALL, but he still manages to read at least one book when WWE stars come out with a biography or something.

beebe918 · January 2014

Up until last year my H was among the 23%. I'm so glad I've turned him onto audio books! I think he listened to 10 books last year and has a goal of 20 this year.

SacGeoLover · January 2014

Young_Love said:
MH isn't a reader AT ALL, but he still manages to read at least one book when WWE stars come out with a biography or something.

Right? MH is not much of a reader either, but every once in a while even he will pick up a nonfiction about WWII or something. He even managed to get through TNOTW and he basically never reads fiction. Really? Nothing?

sassypants527 · January 2014

How does that work? What do they do with their time?

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i289/musicmad123/Tumblr%20Gifs/tumblr_lolq4ckm6O1qafrh6.gif

booknerd226 · January 2014

This bothers me. I only manage to read 40-50 a year (#gradschoolprobs) but I can't imagine reading none at all. I know so many people who don't read anything and they seem proud of that and they look at me like I'm the weird one for being obsessed with books. Like being obsessed with movies or TV shows is any cooler.

Skeezon · January 2014

I'm a reader. My mom is a reader. My wife is a reader. I don't comprehend a life without books. I don't understand people who say "I don't like to read." What? You don't like to dream or imagine? You don't like to learn and grow? You don't like to escape and fall in love?

Good luck with life without a soul.

sweetrhythms · January 2014

That is just so so sad.

fabk · January 2014

Mh doesn't read. He is the low end of the curve and I am at the high end.

beebe918 · January 2014

I don't really get the sadness here, everyone has different hobbies.

jason&robin · January 2014

What Skeez said! I can't imagine a life without books

jackiback · January 2014

beebe918 said:

I don't really get the sadness here, everyone has different hobbies.

"The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read." Mark Twain

LaBellaBarv66 · January 2014

It's not only a hobby, reading makes you empathetic and knowledgeable. It's more about the alternative. I wonder what percentage has viewed a reality TV program this year, I'm sure it's higher. IMO it is sad that there's a decline in an intellectual hobby.

jlq2005 · January 2014

fabk said:

Mh doesn't read. He is the low end of the curve and I am at the high end.

This is me and my husband, also. He reads other things for school (he's a teacher and is taking grad classes), but he's not the type to pick up a book and read for fun.

jackiback · January 2014

jlq2005 said:

fabk said:

Mh doesn't read. He is the low end of the curve and I am at the high end.

This is me and my husband, also. He reads other things for school (he's a teacher and is taking grad classes), but he's not the type to pick up a book and read for fun.

The article also gives stats for reading for fun, but this is just a book. Any book, for any reason.

My husband rarely rarely reads novels but reads a lot of books related to his field. That counts

julie37619 · January 2014

People who choose not to read, in my opinion, also choose not to broaden their horizons in terms of people and situations they may not face in daily life. They're also choosing not to be lifelong learners. I'm not saying you need to read as much as I do or the same things I read, but I do lose respect for people who proudly declare that they hate reading and the statistics that show more and more people are giving up reading all together do concern me.

EliStar · January 2014

beebe918 said:
I don't really get the sadness here, everyone has different hobbies.

I think you may have forgotten to check what board you were posting on before you wrote this.

beebe918 · January 2014

jackiback said:

beebe918 said:

I don't really get the sadness here, everyone has different hobbies.

"The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read." Mark Twain

Right, but we're talking about reading books specifically not reading in general.

I think there are infinite ways to learn and broaden your horizons that don't necessarily involve reading books.

Newspapers, magazines, traveling, watching the news, watching documentaries, attending lectures, talking to people etc are all ways to accomplish what we accomplish by reading.

I just think that everyone enjoys different things and I don't think it's sad that a percentage of people choose not to read books. I'm sure the majority of the 23% of people who don't read receive some sort of enrichment elsewhere and enjoy it.

That being said I love reading and I do think people who don't read are missing out but someone who loves gardening may think I'm missing out because I don't enjoy it.

oliversbear · January 2014

A co-worker once bragged that she had not read a book in 20 years. When I was caught staring open-mouthed at that comment (holding a book, open to the page I was on), she said "why bother, everything will eventually be on tv."

julie37619 · January 2014

If I had to guess though, if say that the populations spending their free time watching documentaries and attending lectures are the kind who also read. And there have been several studies recently released showing the benefits to empathy from reading a full novel. You can't get that same emotion from a short Internet article.

beebe918 · January 2014

EliStar said:

I don't really get the sadness here, everyone has different hobbies.
I think you may have forgotten to check what board you were posting on before you wrote this.

Eh, I get that everyone here loves reading and I do too, but I also accept that not everyone is like me and I don't think that's necessarily a sad thing. I'm just saying I'm sure there are people who live perfectly fulfilling lives without reading.

ETA: I get that people being proud of hating reading is frustrating and I do think that the fact that reading for pleasure as whole is on the decline is sad. I was responding more to the comments of not understanding what people do with their time if they don't read/not understanding how someone could go a whole year without reading an entire book etc.

julie37619 · January 2014

I think it's sad because it's an indication that that portion of society doesn't value literacy. Obviously it's still a minority, but I think there is definitely cause for concern when a society places a low value on literacy. It's not the everyone has to be like me, but literacy has traditionally been very valued in our society. When people see it as unimportant we lose that value and pass it on to our kids. An illiterate society is a problem. I think you're saying it's just a hobby, but it's not. Literacy has far more importance that just a hobby.

beebe918 · January 2014

julie37619 said:

If I had to guess though, if say that the populations spending their free time watching documentaries and attending lectures are the kind who also read. And there have been several studies recently released showing the benefits to empathy from reading a full novel. You can't get that same emotion from a short Internet article.

This I understand and agree with. You're right my initial response was geared more towards the responses expressing confusion at what people do with their time if they don't read. I just meant that there are people that enjoy doing other things with their time and that doesn't mean their lives are lacking. Also just a disclaimer I'm fairly new here and this is me enjoying a discussion not being argumentative. Not sure if that's coming across, here

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