Who doesn't read books in America?

I haven't. I think that number is too low, I'd guess it's more like 50%.

Ask Chris Rock. That's why he hides his money inside books.

A number of students in my college honors class told me they would not ever read a book for pleasure. These are supposed to be exceptional students, but the idea of reading for fun was alien to them.

I'd put that number at closer to 75% for post-college adults

I feel sorry for people who don't read. People who don't read tend to be, well, dumb.

A recent study shows that 26% of adults in the US haven’t read a single book, in any format, in a year. That’s more than a 1/4 of the population! How many books do you read a year?

Actually, that number is over 80%, OP. Also, 33% of Americans are either completely illiterate or functionally illiterate and can barely read above a 4th to 5th grade level. That's over 100 million Americans. Canada is not much better at 32%. Over 7 million people in the US are completely illiterate.

I am about 30-40 books per year. They are my life blood.

r8 that's a good number. Thirty to fifty books (higher if listening to audiobooks or reading (e-)books during driving commutes) is an impressive number but allows time for other perhaps non-sedentary pastimes

I read lotsa books, but technical books for work. Does that count?

Hukd on Fonikx durnt wurkt for me!

I don't read much any more. I write.

I haven’t read a book in probably 3-4 years. I like reading, but who has the time?

When I was in college I rarely read a book on my own for pleasure, but afterwards I would always be reading. If anything in the last several years I've been reading more than I ever had.

Who has the time, R13? People who like reading.

If the jandras of true crime and self help were excluded, I wonder what the percentage would be?

I used to read a lot, but now I don't. High school, college, I read book after book. Then in grad school I had to read technical papers - so many, none of which I was interested in. That seemed to kill my desire to read.

I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't either. But I do read scripts and plays for work ALL the time. Usually 5 scripts and 1 play a week, every week on average. Does that count?

Everyone has the time r13. How much time do you spend surfing the internet and watching TV shows? Don't pretend that time is the reason.

R1 I concur. Barnes and Noble would be doing much better if those numbers were true.

I also suspect people are counting the Bible which Deplorables "read" [in part] every year. That might explain why it says only about 1/4 of the U.S. doesn't read.

R17 same about grad school. I avoid non-fiction like the plague, only picking up memoirs of people I like. I do still read shit by economists a lot. IDK they make great social scientists but they do.

R18 yes your shit counts .

R19 put the logic knife away. No need to stab people... yet ;D!

[quote] Actually, that number is over 80%, OP. Also, 33% of Americans are either completely illiterate or functionally illiterate and can barely read above a 4th to 5th grade level. That's over 100 million Americans. Canada is not much better at 32%. Over 7 million people in the US are completely illiterate.

Where are you getting those figures?

[quote] jandras of true crime and self help

Spoken like an individual who reads a great deal.

I’m surprised it’s that low, OP. I’ve read that something like 18 percent of Americans never read a whole book again after they graduate from high school

R19, yes I do watch a lot of TV, but TV is important. You act like watching American Horror Story, Arrow, How to Get Away With Murder, Mom, Haunting of Hill House and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina are optional (just to name a few). After all the required TV viewing, who has the time to read?

And don’t tell me watching Arrow is not a requirement. Do you really want to be the only person in your group of friends who isn’t caught up and discussing the latest ep?

I read a lot; books, magazines, newspapers. It's a constant with me. I enjoy it.

Binge watching has replaced reading for many people. Before people had to patiently wait for the next episode of their favorite show. Now, if you don't watch it right away, you're less likely to later on.

R24, I get the attempt at humor, but one great side effect of streaming is that no one talks about "the latest episode" anymore.

They do talk about what to watch next, but the whole thing is so decentralized that there is nothing that is must-know. And the things closest to must know, you can put off without loss of social capital.

So why not read.

i used to try [italic]The Artist's Way[/italic] by Julia Cameron, then when the week to 'not read anything' came, i couldn't do it. I'd sooner spend a week detoxing from caffeine addiction.

I work at a campus with a robotics magnet program. Out of the 126 students enrolled, I've only seen one with unassigned books. Most of the others spend their free time talking to each other or looking at their phones, with the exception of the small group of Lego enthusiasts who play with their little figurines together.

Most of the staff still read, but two of the math teachers admit that they don't. One prefers sports and building robots, and the other spends most of his time discussing conspiracy theories or stabbing his coworkers in the back. Some people just find other interests more fulfilling.

Books are so boring. I haven’t read a book sense college and I’m doing just fine without them.

Men especially dont read

Texas.

[quote] I haven’t read a book sense college

This truth is self-evident.

Growing up in the 80s I would read all the time! I loved it and it was an escape for me. Plus we only had one television without cable TV. My dad usually monopolizedthe TV so I would read. Now it’s hard for me to find a good book that I’m into. I’ve started recently listening to audiobooks while driving. That has been entertaining.

I rarely read fiction, but I love non-fiction.

With the internet, who has time to read books? But that doesn’t mean people don’t read on a daily basis. They read Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, DL, YouTube comments, TMZ, etc. It takes a LOT of time to keep up with it all, especially since it changes daily and fresh content keep cumming in every hour. It can be overwhelming and no one has time for books after all that reading. It’s exhausting.

Is there a jandras troll on the Datalounge? I've never seen this tragic spelling anywhere but on here.

I cant count the books I read on one hand since I got out of school. This book was one of them....

all the kids at the private charter schools.

I think less of people who don’t read books and I can’t imagine that ever changing.

I agree, r41.

Deplorables.

"We estimate that 1 in 7 adults in Palm Beach County lacks basic literacy skills meaning that they can’t read a bus schedule or fill out a job application or understand information found in books, newspapers, magazines and manuals. We also know that nearly half of all third graders in our county are not reading on grade level."

I'm retired (now 57, but retired at 51). I read all the time. I love it. That is all.

R21 out of his ass, most likely

I read books all the time... however, in Americans’ and others’ defense, thanks to the Internet, people are reading now more than ever before.

R47, are they? I don’t doubt that the internet has increased skimming, but actual reading?

I'm going to estimate roughly 60 to 70 books in 2018. I try to enter at least a brief comment for each at Goodreads, but I have skipped some here and there.

Here in Seattle, it's very common to see folks with either a print book or a Kindle. I'm fond of audiobooks at bedtime, and on public transportation to block out the conversations around me.

A fair amount of nonfiction for me, too, R36.

My father and stepmother were teachers. Neither of them read much of anything besides the local newspaper and magazines like Time and Reader's Digest.

I worked as a librarian for three decades and most librarians I knew or worked with, if they read books at all, read mysteries and romances. And Harry Potter, of course.

I try to read a book a week. And lots of newspapers and magazines. But I worked with people who never read anything at all. They were all very nice but uninformed and boring. And didn't care that they were. Sad, really.

I hate the fact that I don't read more. Feels like it's my new year's resolution every damn year!

Seriously. This is like the disappearing bumble bee. Soon each generation will read less and less until the whole world is just a bunch of idiotic mongoloid morons

America is a land of illiterate,uneducated, immoral, yet self righteous, neanderthal knuckle-draggers, especially since November, 2016. 'Nuff said?

President Trump has said he has not read a novel in years and years and years.

Toddler-in-chief doesn't even read pop-up books. His supporters seem to LOVE certain parts of the B-I-B-L-E.

You think non-Americans read?

[quote] I haven’t read a book in probably 3-4 years. I like reading, but who has the time?

People who waste time posting on an Internet gay gossip forum [bold]certainly[/bold] do.

Me. I read a lot of news, but not books these days.

These are the same kind of people that don't listen to classical music.

I blocked every person on this thread who says he doesn't read books.

I've read well over 10,000 books, but you know....eldergay…..

I think people read more than they say. It is a toxic masculinity affectation to say you don't read.

You know, like saying you can't stand how "fake" musicals are with people bursting into song, but go to all the superhero movies, like those are somehow less "fake."

Or saying politics are boring but spending countless hours on fantasy sports leagues that are the definition of ennui.

Reading is very unpopular among men

Lionel Shriver says we MUST surrender ourselves to the author.

She says the current generation are losing the ability to read fiction.

She says it in about the tenth minute of this discussion.

I agree with what she says but, frankly, I resent surrendering myself to another for so long.

R68 Does it matter if one reads fiction? I occasionally read fiction, but I much prefer to read non-fiction history. And, when I do read fiction, it tends to be the classics. The newest fiction I've read in the last five years was a series of Agatha Christie novels.

I can think of two people I know who've never read a book.

I'm not sure I'd go that far, R67.

R61 It's easier to listen to quality classical music than read quality fiction.

It's easier to read non-fiction than fiction.

It's easier to pick up my gleaming Apple and play around with pictures, movie pictures and interactive LIVE conversations than surrender myself to the flat, motionless page and be the passive recipient to the author of quality fiction, (R68).

I read a book a week. I also try to read articles from back issue magazines I collect, such as the late Richard Valley's Scarlet Street.

Do audio books count ?

I read a lot of books but I can't say I finish them in a timely manner.

Right now, I am reading four books. Three non fiction and one fiction. But I still don't think I read enough.

I usually only finish about two books a month which is sad considering I love to read and hardly watch TV.

R74 No, they don't.

You need to concentrate if you want to savour the prose and understand the author's subtle intent.

R76 is an idiot.

Young men think it’s effeminate, which keeps them from reading. Men are ashamed to be seen reading by their friends

I suppose in knuckle-dragging parts of a flyoverstan that may be true, but most educated guys do read books.

Most of America is knuckle dragging

You can be president without reading

Boys consistently read less, and less well, than girls.

On Scholastic’s 2016 survey of over 2000 U.S. children, ages 6-17, only 52% of boys (versus 72% of girls) said they liked reading books over the summer, while only 27% of boys (versus 37% of girls) said they read books for fun at least 5 days a week. Forty-five percent of boys (versus only 36% of girls) said they often have trouble finding books they like.

On the U.S. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), boys have scored significantly lower than girls in reading at all grade levels every year since 1992 (the first year for which NAEP scores are available). And the gap grows larger, not smaller, as children get older, such that, by twelfth grade, more than twice as many girls as boys (5% versus 2%) scored as “advanced” in reading on the 2015 NAEP. Not surprisingly, given these data, boys are also for more likely than girls to be identified as learning disabled in reading.

International comparisons tell the same story, with 15-year-old boys scoring significantly lower than same-age girls in every one of 40+ countries on every administration of the Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) tests since they were first given in 2000.

By the way, these disparities continue into adulthood as well; in 2016, the Pew Research Center survey of adult reading habits concluded that “women are more likely to read books than men,” and noted that 32% of men (versus only 23% of women) surveyed said that they hadn’t read a single book in the past year.

The data are pretty consistent across time, countries and age groups: there is little doubt that, on average, boys read less, and less well, than girls. The real question is why? What is it with boys and reading?

Inaccurate poll. Most Americans do not read books

This thread would be more useful if it differentiated between 1. Fiction Books, 2. Non-Fiction Books, 3. Harry Potter and 4. Mindless Pap.

Someone upthread said that having no time to read is just an excuse but I really don't have the time, unfortunately. I'm tired after work and watching tv takes a lot less mental effort than reading a book. I try to read on vacation so I read maybe 5 books a year. I don't count reading stuff for work, just reading for pleasure. For work I read a lot of articles and a book here and there, mostly parts I need.

I kinda feel bad for those that don’t read. It’s one of the best luxuries in life. Where else can you go into your inner world and make a story come to life with words on a page. Fuck all these I don’t read, dumbass instagram I’m shirtless generation. I’m 33. Reading a book on the beach is fucking heaven to me. It’s one of the simple pleasures in life that I feel very greatful exists. I’m also into music, good music. Always have headphones in. I’m so not connected to my millennial generation. Right now I’m reading Arabian Nights. I love reading. Love music. Love food. The best things in life are free. Reading expands you and takes your mind where it needs to go. It’s the same as exercising. I’m ripped like a brick house, I do it for the drug of exercise. All these people obsessed with themselves is just so sad. Being quiet with no distractions is becoming rarer and rarer. I go to Starbucks and read a leisurely book, people look at me like I’m at a museum. I’ve had someone want to take my picture of me reading a book at the beach. It’s like it’s so rare now a days. Fucked up

Non-readers don’t trigger me anymore, once I’ve realized that I’m not accountable to other people’s ignorance and stupidity.

r87 Whether or not you're accountable, and whether or not it affects you are two different things. You can be right about the former, but should still be concerned about the latter.

And did you mean "to" other people's ignorance or "for"? I've been in too many situations when I've been accountable to stupid people and it's bloody hell.

Don’t be condescending

The religious right do not read, they are afraid of different opinions and swear words.

They read their stupid Christian fiction and rapture books.

A few of them read that stuff or Amish books but most of them are afraid to read anything but church papers.

I saw Chris Rock in a book store once, why did you say he saves his money in books? Not a wise idea.

I agree, non readers do seem to be stupid, with no imagination and no ideas.

R84, reading is reading, nobody needs your permission to find out what is appropriate reading material. As long as someone is reading something, they're using their brain. Fuck you and your pompous ass, big brother, propaganda spewing self.

R95 You need 5% brain power to read Harry Potter; 80% for Muriel Spark or Michel Houellebecq.

Team R95.

R89 This whole thread is condescending.

This whole thread is suggesting that readers are superior.

R98, well, we are. But it doesn’t matter what you choose to read, just that you do read.

This thread begs the question—

Are you reading to challenge your intellect?

Are you reading to appreciate skillful literature?

Are you reading to kill that empty time between eating dinner and emptying your bowels?

This is why Democrats lose

What a ridiculous assertion. ^

Almost everyone I know reads but I live in an urban city where people tend to be smarter and also have commutes.

Do Harry Potter books count?

[quote] Do Harry Potter books count?

All books count. Some are better than others but who cares. Read what you want to read. I sometimes think the snobbishness of some readers is what scares away non readers.

Book Lives Matter

R95 R105 please tell that to the snobbish trolls who ruined Reese Witherspoon book club thread

All books matter AND Reese Witherspoon is a ridiculous arbiter of literary taste. Both notions can coexist.

The Book Burning Festival was called off because nobody had any.

I read the bible every night

I read the Burt Reynolds autobiography excerpts that someone posted here.