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24HourForums.com > Supported Forums > Saint's Printing Press > 1 in 4 Americans say they did not read any books at all last year! |
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Saint Forum-Blogger© Pioneer100© Member  Polymath
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One in four read no books last year (This is crazy!) By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press WriterTue Aug 21, 1:58 PM ET There it sits on your night stand, that book you've meant to read for who knows how long but haven't yet cracked open. Tonight, as you feel its stare from beneath that teetering pile of magazines, know one thing — you are not alone. 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. 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. "I just get sleepy when I read," said Richard Bustos of Dallas, a habit with which millions of Americans can doubtless identify. Bustos, a 34-year-old project manager for a telecommunications company, said he had not read any books in the last year and would rather spend time in his backyard pool. That choice by Bustos and others is reflected in book sales, which have been flat in recent years and are expected to stay that way indefinitely. Analysts attribute the listlessness to competition from the Internet and other media, the unsteady economy and a well-established industry with limited opportunities for expansion. When the Gallup poll asked in 2005 how many books people had at least started — a similar but not directly comparable question — the typical answer was five. That was down from 10 in 1999, but close to the 1990 response of six. In 2004, a National Endowment for the Arts report titled "Reading at Risk" found only 57 percent of American adults had read a book in 2002, a four percentage point drop in a decade. The study faulted television, movies and the Internet. Who are the 27 percent of people the AP-Ipsos poll found hadn't read a single book this year? Nearly a third of men and a quarter of women fit that category. They tend to be older, less educated, lower income, minorities, from rural areas and less religious. At the same time, book enthusiasts abound. Many in the survey reported reading dozens of books and said they couldn't do without them. "I go into another world when I read," said Charlotte Fuller, 64, a retired nurse from Seminole, Fla., who said she read 70 books in the last year. "I read so many sometimes I get the stories mixed up." Among those who said they had read books, the median figure — with half reading more, half fewer — was nine books for women and five for men. The figures also indicated that those with college degrees read the most, and people aged 50 and up read more than those who are younger. Pollyann Baird, 84, a retired school librarian in Loveland, Colo., says J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter fantasy series is her favorite. But she has forced herself to not read the latest and final installment, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," because she has yet to file her income taxes this year due to an illness and worries that once she started the book, "I know I'd have to finish it." People from the South read a bit more than those from other regions, mostly religious books and romance novels. Whites read more than blacks and Hispanics, and those who said they never attend religious services read nearly twice as many as those who attend frequently. There was even some political variety evident, with Democrats and liberals typically reading slightly more books than Republicans and conservatives. The Bible and religious works were read by two-thirds in the survey, more than all other categories. Popular fiction, histories, biographies and mysteries were all cited by about half, while one in five read romance novels. Every other genre — including politics, poetry and classical literature — were named by fewer than five percent of readers. More women than men read every major category of books except for history and biography. Industry experts said that confirms their observation that men tend to prefer nonfiction. "Fiction just doesn't interest me," said Bob Ryan, 41, who works for a construction company in Guntersville, Ala. "If I'm going to get a story, I'll get a movie." Those likeliest to read religious books included older and married women, lower earners, minorities, lesser educated people, Southerners, rural residents, Republicans and conservatives. Last edited on 10:32 pm by Saint  A^2 + B^2 = C^2 |
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AuldFartte Original500© Member  Make the Scary Palin Go Away!!
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Sad state of affairs  I used to read at least two per month, but that has declined over the past few years as I've gotten into other pursuits like photography, drawing, etc. I bought about 30 books in the past few months which I will read over the winter. That ought to get me back on track 
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Marie5656 Forum-Blogger© Original500© Member  Just hanging out
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Like AF, I am also one who used to read more before, when I was younger and had less tired eyes. But to not read at all? Nope, I will always read. I would say that I have read alot more in the last few months than I have in a long while. I have taken to checking books out of the library, and also buying from the library's used book store. On my vacation in July I read almost 3 full books. Got through the third the week after vacation. Now I always seem to have one going. I keep a book in the car. My husband and I carpool to work, and I get out an hour and a half before he does. So I read.
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shirohniichan Original500© Member  Obscurius per obscurum
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More women than men read every major category of books except for history and biography. That's almost exclusively what I read! I'd like to see the results of a more thorough study regarding the content of the books people read. I don't consider a fluff book about Paris Hilton to be a "biography" equal to a scholarly work done on John Jay, for example. Luther's Bondage of the Will shouldn't be in the same category as any of Joel what-his-name's books in "religious works". Political hit pieces disguised as books are also so devoid of serious thought to be disqualified from being a "book" unless we're going to include trashy romance novels and other junk. I read so many popular publications regarding the auto industry (e.g. Car & Driver, Automobile, Auto Week, etc.) that I don't read as many books as I used to. I read to my 7-year old when she goes to sleep every night, and lately it has been the American Girl series. I'm reading Zhukov's Greatest Defeat, a history of Burns Lake, BC, and a book on the Spanish Armada concurrently. Lately the Angels' games have been going past 10 PM, so I haven't been reading as much as usual.
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Marie5656 Forum-Blogger© Original500© Member Just hanging out
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Interestinf about women reading more books than me. I got my love of reading from my dad. After he retired, he was always raiding my book shelf for reading material.
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24HourForums.com > Supported Forums > Saint's Printing Press > 1 in 4 Americans say they did not read any books at all last year! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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