So I’ve recently taken up reading as a hobby of mine. I used to read about 1 book a year, at best, after finishing college. I’ve always associated reading with something being made to do while I was at school (assigned readings), which made me dread of ever doing it. However, at the age of 26 I’ve recently been getting into reading a lot more and I love it! I don’t know anyone around me that actively reads… do you think we have a big reading culture here in the US or nah?
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Overall, I’d say no. But there is a significant minority of people who do love reading. I am one of them. I had a goal of reading 50 books this year but have gotten super bogged down in a serious non-fiction book and it’s September and I’ve only read 18. Oh well. But anyway, if you really enjoy reading you’ll probably find that you gravitate to others who enjoy it, and then you can trade books and recommendations.
Absolutely! Lots do for sure. I have a few of those “tiny libraries” near me. And I’ll look at them every so often to see if there’s anything I like. But the books are constantly changing.
if there is a reading culture I don’t notice any of it. book clubs exist but I’ve never heard of anyone actually joining one
Not as much as we should sadly. Tho I’ve set a personal goal to read a hundred books this year. I’m only at 33 tho so don’t think I’ll accomplish it 😭
I like to read…
As a teenager I read obsessively and I’ve since toned it down but still enjoy reading alot…
I read more then I watch shows or tv.
Can’t say I know other people’s opinion on it though
My time working at a public library showed me that *plenty* of people read. Some people check out so many books that I think that’s all they do.
And speaking of public libraries, many public libraries will host book discussion groups.
nope
Kind of depends. I get through around a book a week give or take. I also know people who haven’t read a book since the last one that got assigned to them in High School.
I’m not the only reader I know, but my impression is that we’re the minority. Not a super-niche minority, it’s not that hard to find others, but I think more people are not avid readers than are.
I bet more people do than you would think. My dad is an avid reader and so is my MIL. My wife is part of a book club and is always reading. I don’t read as often as I would like, but I do try to get in a few books a year.
Almost everyone I know reads regularly. So it must be a social circle thing.
I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t read books. My friend group is largely college educated people so perhaps I’m a bit biased.
Overall probably not, but there’s a significant minority who has both the time and will.
I know plenty of people who read regularly (myself included) and multiple people who are members of book clubs.
Tbh there are also a lot of people like me who enjoy reading but find themselves struggling to read as much as they might like because of the demands of work/social calendar/gym time/life admin work.
Not sure, I have been an avid reader at very young age. None of my friends read a lot if at all. It has gotten worse since I got a kindle lol.
“Most” is a lot of people. To me, that’s more than half and probably more like 3/4 or more. So no, I don’t think “most” of us are reading books “often”. We have a lot of choices on what to do with our leisure time.
[According to a pew research study conducted in 2021](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/01/06/three-in-ten-americans-now-read-e-books/), 75% of Americans had read a book in the last year (the median American having read 5 books in the last year). The demographics more likely to be readers are women, college-educated, white, young, higher-income, and living in urban communities.
If I had to guess, I imagine education and income are the biggest indicators.
I think reading is becoming more popular again with the rise of audio books. I’m normally a pretty big reader, but haven’t as much in recent years because of pregnancy/little kids. But I grew up reading a bunch – my mom read a bunch (still does and is part of a book club) and my grandmother when she was alive also read a lot as well. My husband reads a decent amount too, though he prefers more non fiction or difficult classics (he’s been into Dostoevsky lately).
Idk about most but in my echo chamber of America, reading lots of books is very common.
Book publishers in the USA raked in about $28,000,000,000 last year. $28 billion is a lot of money. Somebody is reading books.
Globally the industry is worth about $80 billion. So the USA makes up about 35% of the global book market share.
A lot do. Books are very in demand. But like every other thing, it varies wildly among Americans.
When I commuted to work via subway I would read 3 or 4 books a week. Now that I work from home I seem to read far less
I haven’t read in whole book in a few years
Mainly magazines until I got an audible subscription
Game changer
I think it’s completely dependent on the person. I’ve read 36 books this year, so far. Most of my friends read, we love to share the good ones! But I also have some friends who never pick up a book.
Life happens and I have had years where I just don’t read as much and years/months where I read more than my usual.
I haven’t had solid time to read in a few years. Do audio books mostly now.
I wouldn’t say most read books, but the ones who do are usually voracious readers. There are a lot of books and e-books sold here every year.
I read a book every few days…. My husband has ready 2 books in the 17 years I’ve known him .. just depends
I like to read and spent a good chunk of the pandemic in 2020 reading books. One book I tackled was Ball Four by Jim Bouton and I also read other nonfiction books.
Not sure about most people. I am currently reading The Expanse series and loving it
I think a lot of people read and keep it to themselves. I recently started reading again at the beginning of last year and I’ve noticed that my friends and coworkers around the same age as me have been reading too.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but in my circle of friends and family, pretty much everyone reads. We often give books as gifts.
I average 55-65 books per year. I’m on track to break my record this year – so far I’ve completed 58 in 2023. Some for fun, some for work, fiction and non-fiction. I read a little of everything. It’s my favorite hobby.
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ETA – when a teammate and I were chatting, she asked if read books (like actually reading) vs listening to books. I’m a reader – I don’t really do the audiobooks thing – but that’s just my preference.
Surveys show most Americans don’t read much. But some of us read quite a bit. I’ve usually got a couple of books going.
Yes, Americans read a lot of books. Novels and biographies are pretty big this decade.
I don’t know if most do. Just speaking for myself, I *love* to read. I’m down to the last dozen or so of the 50+ books I borrowed from various libraries several months ago. I’m working my way through 2 huge reading lists and I doubt I’ll ever get through them because I keep adding to both, but I see it as a worthy challenge.
Book Nerd Here. Lets look at my Kindle Insights.
I’m way behind on my Kindle reading from last year. I’ve only got 56 books down so far, I’ve been hitting 100+ books a year on Kindle since 2019.My longest reading streak being 217 weeks in a row and 106 days in a row reading. Just on Kindle I average about 100 books a year it seems, then I add probably another 40-50 books to my bookshelf a year if not more.I just finished reading the Communist Manifesto, now I’m about to go read some Thomas Sowell. (I needed a pallet cleanser)
I’ve been encouraging my friends to read 10 pages a day for the past few years instead of sitting on their phones. So far the few that have been keeping up with it are starting to love it and are picking up the pace that they read at.
As a kid that was my form of entertainment. I brought home stacks of books from the library. I still read, just not as much, mostly nonfiction. In the summer I don’t have the time to get immersed in a good book, probably because I spend too much time on reddit.
I don’t think most Americans read books very often, but that still leaves plenty of people that do.
Most?
A huge amount of people? Yes.
Shit, I’ve read like a dozen books this year. My kiddo has read at least a dozen. The ex wife has had a half dozen.
My mom has probably read a couple dozen because she’s a lunatic.
This is all ignoring the kid books I read for the toddler before bed. Did you know that little blue truck is basically the John Wick of children’s stories?
I read constantly. At least a book or 2 a week.
Yes. I read often. Most people I know read books.
I always an reading something. I’ve been an acid reader since I was able. 😂. Sometimes it makes a great escape from reality for a bit. Other times I read to absorb knowledge.
> I used to read about 1 book a year, at best, after finishing college.
and
>I don’t know anyone around me that actively reads…
Wow.
I think you and your friends are waaay below the norm.
My girlfriends and I read a lot and love to talk about books, half of their partners can’t remember the last book they read.
Most no.
But some of us read quite a lot.
I don’t read as much as i would like to, but i do listen to audiobooks. My job can be a bit mindless at times, and i get to listen to about 1-2 books a week.
I think it’s definitely not *uncommon* but if I had to guess, I don’t think the majority of people would count reading as one of their main hobbies. And a small portion of the people who do are just saying it to sound smart but their book mark has been on the same page of the same book for months (like me).
I mean the amount of people who finish an entire novel and start a new one every few days is probably relatively small. But I’d guess tons of people have probably saw a book about something they’re interested in and checked it out at some point in the past year.
Most as in over half no
In my experience, it’s nearly all or nothing.
Meaning people read a couple dozen books a year (or more!) or they read one or two books every few years. Or literally zero.
Sure there are a few people in between that, but it’s much more black and white than gray in my experience.
My wife and I are a good example. I have probably averaged around 30 books a year the last five years. My wife had read maybe 2-3 total in that time. No judgment, but some people just aren’t that into it.
I like audio books better.
Most of my friends/family read rather frequently. I’m in school, so I read less often and do other things to quietly relax because typically don’t want to engage my mind, but when I was working I read a lot.
I think almost everyone (maybe not like 90%, but probably 75%+) reads a little (like, 1-3 books a year.) The percentage of people who read a lot (one or more books a month) is probably much less. And that includes paper books, ebooks, audiobooks, etc. all as ‘reading.’
I read regularly. I also joined a book club in my neighborhood about 9 months ago and the thing I enjoy the most is reading books that I might not have otherwise chosen. Some are duds but most have been fantastic.
Yes I do. For over a decade my livelihood depended on it.
(Now, there are people who- when this argument comes up – get very precious about what “reading books” means and start dismissing whole genres. If we can avoid this, I’d like that. Please?)
Yeah, I’m also 26 and read a lot. Right now I’m reading An American Childhood by Annie Dillard. Before that it was a book on Che Guevara called Che Guevara Speaks. I’d say most of my friends read at least a little bit, but I might be the most consistent with it.