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> “If you ask people how many books they read in the past year, they’ll say four. Or two,” she says. This is so sad. Depending on length and style, I might rea
by Semaphor 2y ago
> “If you ask people how many books they read in the past year, they’ll say four. Or two,” she says.
This is so sad. Depending on length and style, I might read 2 books in a month. Or maybe not really sad, because not everyone might get the enjoyment out of books that I do, but I’ve loved reading my whole life, being known to walk to school/the store/within school/etc. while reading (I very rarely do that, nowadays, it’s a bit weird for an almost 40-year-old man. Though the last time was not much more than a year ago, the bus ride was over, but the book was too gripping, so I continued reading while walking from the bus stop)
- MathMonkeyMan 2y agoI wonder what the distribution looks like. I hardly read at all, and then will binge 3-5 books. So, fewer than 10 per year. A friend of mine reads two books per week. Maybe most are between. Or maybe not.
- vidarh 2y agoOne of your binges a year would bring you to or near the median, at least for the US. In 2016, Pew Research found 28% of Americans had read zero books the previous year[1]. The median number of books read by Americans was 4. The mean was 12, heavily pulled up by people like your friend. [1] https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2016/09/01/book-reading-2016/ https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2016/09/01/book-reading...
- dieselgate 2y agoI understand where you’re coming from but don’t think it’s sad personally. Why should it be? It’s the same as if someone doesn’t do any other activity. I rarely read or finish books but spend all that time doing myriad other things which give meaning and have relevancy. Not to say there aren’t books which are important to me I would just generally rather do other things. This makes me think of the bit from Bill Hicks about “what you reading for?” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BwkdGr9JYmE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BwkdGr9JYmE
- Semaphor 2y agoI came to the same conclusion right after the first sentence: > Or maybe not really sad, …
- simonw 2y agoEvidently no one will read your second sentence!
- Semaphor 2y agoThe comments here really now make me think that it is sad, because reading comprehension is sorely lacking.
- block_dagger 2y agoDirectly contradicting your opening sentence, no less.
- m463 2y agoYou could say the same thing about movies -- some of these large comfortable theaters are empty sometimes. People aren't watching movies. but they are. I read a lot when I was young, and now I have few (physical) books. But I read lots more books books than I ever did when I was young. I also listen to audiobooks. When I was young they were at first unavailable. Then they were expensive and cumbersome to change tapes. Then it was change a stack of CDs, then they were large downloads, and now it is relatively frictionless. You can even get through a book by ping-ponging between the book and the audiobook if you want.
- blitzar 2y ago> “If you ask people how many marathons they have run in the past year, they’ll say one two,” she says. This is so sad. Depending on length and style, I might run 2 marathons in a month.
- soco 2y agoThis is so sad. I meet my friends for beers and banter every week. And traveling for concerts. Raising kids, gardening, doing a photography course, teaching tricks my new dog, how about y'all stop being so judgemental about those who don't partake in your hobby/fixation/whatyoucallit? Unless you were sarcastic - but the OP definitely wasn't.
- blitzar 2y agoThis is so sad. Depending on length and style, I might do 12 lines of cocaine in a day.