I’m a creative human. Even if you’ve only so much as passed by me at the grocery store, you can probably catch that vibe. As much as I want to claim being a well-rounded individual, there’s an under-nurtured area of my personality that doesn’t see a lot of action: Analytical stuff. Statistics. The precise predictability of numbers.
My husband loves that stuff, so we balance each other out pretty well. But I noticed a study recently conducted by the Pew Research Center that made my ears perk up: reading trends among U.S. adults.
Which, yay, statistics! News I can use! But the results are… a little icky.
Of the U.S. adults surveyed, less than half of them (38%) have read at least one book in the past year. Very few of them enjoy reading in any kind of book club community (only 5% of men and 10% of women). And one quarter of them—that’s 25% for those of you who are even more number-averse than I am—read zero books at all this past year.
There’s still a small percentage of surveyed adults (about 14%) that have read more than 20 books in a year, but the big numbers are revealing that many adults read, at most, one book a year and, at worst, no books.
Take a look at another survey from August, where we see a steep decline in adults who read for enjoyment over the past decade or two.
These surveys don’t really dive into the “why” too much. It’s likely a bundle of unique circumstances—the overwhelming busyness of day-to-day life, socioeconomic disadvantages, mental fatigue, as well as learning disabilities that make reading less enjoyable for some people—but I’m more concerned with those who aren’t reading not because they can’t, but because they just don’t want to.
So if that’s you, and you’ve somehow wandered onto a blog that’s written by someone who is part of that weird 14% who reads 20+ books a year, but also someone who writes them… pull up a chair. Let’s have something tasty to sip on. And let’s chat about the Why.
“Reading feels like homework.” No actually, it really does. Sometimes. I love my book club, but some months are easier than others when it comes to powering through a book that isn’t something I normally read. But if you’re an adult that’s out of school, here’s something great to know: You can listen to your favorite music in the car. You can eat cereal for dinner if you want. You can have a birthday cake when it isn’t your birthday. And you don’t have to read any books you don’t want to read. Sometimes that means I re-read books I loved as a kid (Goosebumps, Baby-Sitter’s Club, the OG American Girls historical fiction books, Animorphs, even The Stinky Cheese Man). Nostalgia is a heck of a drug.
Really. Nobody’s making you complete a required reading list. How freeing is that! Get a book, any book, and dive in. Once you start reading things you actually want to read, you might start to branch out and read things outside of your interest level. You might even learn something by accident but it won’t even feel like school when you do.
“I don’t like books.” I can reassure you on the homework thing, but I’m gonna have to put my foot down here. Yes you do. This is a point in history where anyone can publish a book about anything. An. Ee. Thing. If you like it, there is a book about it.
Maybe you thought books weren’t your thing because you’re not into romantasy like all the Booktok girlies are right now (spoiler: me neither, actually). Or you think life is too hard to actually enjoy a thriller or horror book, so maybe you could try a low-stakes cozy read. It might be that fiction isn’t something you enjoy at all. Awesome! Do you have any idea how many insanely compelling non-fiction books there are out there?! Your reading preferences won’t be the same as mine, to which I say, “Amazing. You do you, boo.”
“Books are expensive.” Undeniably. I won’t argue that point. Everything is getting prohibitively expensive, and seeing hardcover books go for upwards of forty dollars is—sorry, fellow authors—stupid. And that’s if you don’t go for sprayed edges or Super Duper Special Editions or whatever else they’re trying to upsell you on. Even paperbacks are running about twenty bucks. E-reader copies are sometimes affordable, but even those run you about six dollars on a normal day.
If I can challenge you to venture outside of your Barnes & Noble, or your preferred big box store, or That One River Running Through Most Of South America (you know the one), though, you might find some alternatives. Many independent bookstores offer used books—many of which are recent used books that are in demand right now and not just the dusty dog-eared copies of your grandma’s old bodice-ripper paperback but hey listen there’s a place for that sometimes—and many places will even pay you (or offer store credit) for books you read and want to unload. Or, next time you’re thrifting for a mythical pull on a hanger, scoot over to their books on offer. You might discover a treasure there, too.
And, of course, if you don’t want to pay anything at all, there’s the valuable advice that we all learned when watching Arthur: “Having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card!” Most libraries don’t charge you anything to join; all you have to do is be local to that area. And when you try a book at the library and don’t like it, you can choose from one of the bazillion other offerings! Many libraries also work with Libby, an app that allows you to read library books right on your e-reader.
“I like listening to books instead, but someone said it doesn’t count as reading.” Yes it does. Audiobooks count as books. And anyone that says otherwise can be directed to me so I can have a little chat with ‘em about how not to be a pretentious butt-head. You keep doing your audiobooks, champ. Enjoy them.
Have you ever been in a reading slump, or did you have to re-discover the joy of reading altogether? How did you do it? Let me know!
