1 in 4 adults read no books last year
 

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I read this in the newspaper this morning and was appalled. I know the United States is a country of morons, but I don't think I'd ever have picked that 25% of us damn Yanks read no books at all in the past year and the median number of books read was a whopping four.

I looked up the full results of the poll, and the percentages are:

• 0 books: 27%
• 1: 4%
• 2: 6%
• 3: 9%
• 4-5: 11%
• 6-7: 7%
• 8-10: 8%
• 11-12: 4%
• 13-15: 4%
• 16-20: 5%
• 21-30: 6%
• 31-40: 2%
• 41-50: 2%
• 51+: 6%

The average number of books read was actually 14.9, which works out to one book every three and a half weeks. Of course, the poll didn't take into account newspapers, magazines, and other non-book word delivery systems, which I guess might be enough reading material for some people. But I can't imagine taking three and a half weeks for one book. :(

Also, 64% of people who said they read two or more books in the past year said that at least one of them was the Bible or another religious text. :o

Do you read? A little bit or a fuckton? I made a super scientific poll for this thread with the same numbers as the list above for you to super scientifically participate for SCIENCE. Discuss the AP-Ipsos poll, how much you read, how you grew up in a family that reads three old-growth forests worth of books per week (like mine), etc. here. READING MEGATHREAD

I used to be a super reader in my teen years, eating book after book, but that was partly because it was pretty much the only thing allowed at home. =p

My reading rate have been going downhill eversince I left my parent's house around 7 years ago. That sucks and it makes me want to punch myself, but meh, it seems I constantly have some other petty thing to do. ~_~

IF manga and international novels count as books then I average 20~30+ books total a year. If we're talking only American literature then 6-7 a year seems appropriate for my book count. That's my current count, when I was younger, I read half a book a day (Japanese though...so again, don't know if that counts).

I read all 42 volumes of Dragonball in a span of 12 hours once but that is so nothing to boast about...(rather ashamed of it actually) :(

I read a lot more than my family does.

My father reads absolutely nothing. I once caught him with a copy of the DaVinci Code and went nuts on him. All this time of no reading, and he STARTS with Dan Brown?

My sister reads nothing but Greek philosophers and Ayn Rand. She's an ass.

It kind of surprises me, though. 0 books. I see a LOT of people reading books up here. I don't know about the REST of the country, though. =/

If we consider comic books, I read a shitload of them, only they're downloaded -_-. As for books, I like reading books, I read a lot of books when I was in my early teens. But these days, I barely have the time to sit down and read. Hell, in the past month, I bought 3 books and haven't finished any. And my friend lent me 2 books both I haven't finished reading (just scanned through it).

Do comics and graphic novels count? I probably read those more than regular books but I do enjoy those as well. I read about 4 to 5 a year, much more now however.

I am reading through my fourth book this month; however, there are some months where I do not read so much. This depends on whether I spend some leisure time perusing bookstores or have a particular title recommended to me (Decline and Fall anyone?).

Three in the last year, I guess. That doesn't count manga. I've probably read a few dozen volumes of manga. My reading rate has been abnormally slow this year, I blame society. Seriously, I blame the fact that I left a bunch of my books with my old housemate when I moved out. I only just got those two boxes back last month, and now I can start reading again. ^_^

Two. The last two Harry Potter books. :p

I rarely read. I've been reading a screenwriting book on and off for a few months now, and I read the first Harry Potter book a few months ago.

I read, occasionally slowly, but I probably read about 25 books last year; I'm including complete graphic novels in there (Sandman read again ++ mode (I count that as 1)), as well as short story collections; let's also not forget textbooks, of which I read one in its entirety for a test.

Oh, and stephen king. Let's not forget the Stephen King. Also other genre fiction.

If you count technical manuals then I read a lot. When I was younger I could read 3-5 books a week but these days I rarely read books for pleasure.

Probably around 2-3 Books so far this year that haven't been discounted for arbitrary reasons (As I read a decent number of Manga and Graphic Novels) and a few Technical Books as well.

What about when you start a book, but don't finish it because it's boring you to death? Does that count?

I read more articles and crap online than actual books lately. I'm not really regular about it, though. Sometimes I read several books in a month, and sometimes I don't pick up a book for a couple months. I chose "6-7" in the poll, but that's an estimation.

This type of poll is sort of a bad way of figuring out how much people read, books being different lengths and all that.

My god, I've never heard of a more carefully cultivated, affected taste. It's so bad too. I hope you taunt her endlessly for this.

As for me, after having an unfortunate run-in with L. Ron Hubbard in my youth, I don't read all that much. I've been trying to do right by picking out random books in the literature section of people I have heard positive things about*, but even still I probably only read about five or six books for pleasure in the last year.

* they were lying when they said all publicity is good publicity.

I put one. I've read it six times, to completetion, that I can remember, within the last three semesters.

This year's been pretty bad for me reading books. I've only finished four so far. I grew up reading books all the time, probably for hours a day, but it's harder to find time to read now. Full-time school and near full-time work doesn't leave a ton of time for reading or other things. I wish I could count textbooks, but they're all math books for me now, nothing I can actually count as reading.

I still read the newspaper every day and I read magazines and articles online, so it's not like I hardly read anymore, it's just hard to find time to get through books.

When I'm at school, I pretty much always have a book with me. I typically get to class early, so I read then. My calculus classes the last two quarters had really boring lectures and it would take the professor twenty minutes to get through an example, so I typically read through them, and I read at the dining hall whenever I went alone. I read during my free time, too, so I ended up reading a lot of books.

Now, I take a book with me to work and read during my lunch hour, and I read before going to sleep.

I've always read a lot, and relatively quickly too. Because of my classes (English/Writing Major), I easily read 25 books before Spring semester was over. Summer I slowed down a bit... I'm still stuck on this one book that just started picking up (it only took a hundred or so pages!!! :mad: ). I read for pleasure, something I've actually gotten ridiculed for. :(

How can you not taunt a girl like this?

She worships Plato and Socrates, thinks that they are some sort of ancient gods.

Last I saw her, she was reading "Socrates in Love," which I almost threw in the campfire upon spotting it in her handbag. Before that, it was Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which is a step up from anything with Socrates in the title, suppose. Her boyfriend at the time stole the book from her - for good or for bad, I am unsure. I hear a lot of people out there enjoyed this Motorcycle Zen shit. Me? I don't need a book to explore values. I AM A HEATHEN LIKE THAT. O, I almost forgot the God Delusion, which convinced her to become an atheist. She's vulnerable like that. My being an atheist for years and years and being pretty vocal about it always caught plenty of criticism from her. BUT SUDDENLY, A BOOK TOLD HER TO BELIEVE IN NOTHING. So she did.

Needless to say, my normal sub-intelligent taste in books makes her :frownyface:. I am a barbarian to her. I have no passion for philosophy therefore, I must be a complete moron. I pity the man who puts up with her in the future. (Presently, a 34 year old Brazilian who can hardly speak English. Smart of him, since they can only communicate in a primitive sign language at this point.)

Let us not forget in this day and age that a book isnt nessessarily something that SHOULD be read or SHOULD be considered a book.

How many of those people were reading Harry Potter and wrote down HEY I DONE READ BOOK IN THIS YEARS?

I'm not much of a reader to begin with. The book usually has to catch my interest PRETTY well for me to read it. Otherwise, I have no patience for it.

If anything from school counts, then it's probably about three or so. Otherwise, I wouldn't spend money trying to buy a book or anything.

Like niki, I used to read a lot more in early high school years..but not too much nowadays. Don't know why, the habit just...stopped.

I'm also quite surprised on the 0 count though..would have thought that people might at least grab 1 book during the entire year.

I read, at the very least, a book a week, so 51+ doesn't sound too unreasonable for my yearly total. Reading is fun! ::rainbow::

0. o.0" (Yeah that's right)

Reading's just not for me. I don't see many benefits from it, but let's not start some whole book-benefit-bashing thing (hey it's a benefit! I learned alliteration from a book.) :3:

I recently had to read a book for school...but I just looked up a summary online. Funny thing is, I came first in the test we had on the text. Fancy that! (take THAT you benefit bastards!)

Edit: Just fixing a typo, don't mind me.

Maybe if you read more you'd learn how to properly form a contraction.

e: Typo, sure.

If it's not on the Internet or in a video game, I probably won't read it. I don't even like reading novels.

I kinda abide by Kaleb's opinion on this, but I read around 10 books this last year. School-related. Books on quantum mechanics aren't exactly favorite reads of mine :mad:

Hoping to tear through a few whilst offshore... But for fun =U

Can we just go ahead and autoban anyone who freely and shamelessly admits to being an unread illiterate retard

I promise you we won't be losing anything valuable

I have an habit of reading at at least one large book, (500 pages up) and several short ones (like novels) per month, but thats when my income is good, and I can afford those, there is a public library 2 blocks from my house, but I like to read on my own pace.

Asside from books, I also read tons of newpapers and magazines, as well as comic books, mangas and imported magazines, altought those don't count as reading a book, It does count's as reading something, since most of the stuff I read is informational (reader's Digest, Natgeo, etc)

Yet, I still feel an ignorant ass because noone I know have the same habit, and pretty much all they talk is weird shit on TV.

oh jesus. I bet she's read the Divine Comedy a couple of times too for street cred, huh?

I read a bit of Cicero recently, when looking up what lorem ipsum meant. He seems like a reasonable fellow.

Oh good, I guess the shameful and hesitant illiterate retards are safe then. I hate to admit that the last book I read was last June. The fucked up part about it is I actually love reading, I just don't know what angle to approach books and authors from. I am, by nature, flawfully accepting, so I have a hard time narrowing fields by genres or writing styles, and the pool to draw from is immeasurably vast. Where do you even start with literature.

Do what I do and reach back into the mists of time to your high school english summer reading lists.

I'm amazed so many people read books! I always thought it was eating up so much of my time, movies are much easier. I never read books. Scientific magazines are more my cup of tea.

I don't count my books about separation principles, warmth transfer and chemical process industry though.

I like to read a lot, but I don't get to do it as much as I'd like to. Earlier in the year I was pretty good about reading 15-30 minutes a night, I'd read while on the bus, and spend a bit of my lunch time reading. It was nice to start doing it again, since I usually don't read at all during the school year since between textbooks, homeworks, and technical papers I hardly want to read another word.

Of course, then my girlfriend came out for the summer and doesn't let me read at right before I go to sleep because she wants to do something else. I miss my books. :(

(Currently stuck in the middle of this one about Tesla that the professor I work for gave me. He's a pretty neat dude, but I swear the author has ADD and no knowledge of science whatsoever.)

What, like you haven't?

It's more appropriate, I think, to say that she's soulless.

I read maybe 5 books a year. I'm a slow reader by comparison anyways because I have a problem staying awake. Generally it's all non-fiction. Worst thing is that people are jealous of me because I read one book in four months that I just so happened to bring with me to school.

That hurt, LeHah. What'd I do to deserve that. :(

actually, in my younger years, I bought the first one, I think it was inferno. But it was too dull to get through and I think I quit within fifty pages.

My attention span was fried by video games and shitty decathelons by scientologists. I'm just glad that it got fried before I read too much awful sci-fi and fantasy books. Terry Goodkind was bad enough.

Inferno itself is devastatingly boring. I'm glad someone else thinks so. I felt like such a bastion of American stupidity for not liking it at all.

In all honesty, though - if it hadn't been for Pang, I would have probably never loved a lot of the books I read today. If there's ever any doubt about Pang and his knowledge of literature, it should be shot down immediately.

And yea, Divine Comedy. Ugh. She likes Voltaire's Candide, though. So she can't be entirely discredited.

I read all sorts of trashy low brow literature. If we're talking over the span of a year, I think I read through all of Robert Jordan's books sometime last year, again. Then I've read a ton of books off of Baen's website. I'd say 30+ there this year. And that's on the conservative side. Then I downloaded a bunch of other books, to grab the Dark is Rising series, and I think I've consumed another 10-12 books on top of that from the same batch.

I go on binges, so it's really hard to guess how many total, but I'd say it's easily over 51. I know a while back for about a week, I was reading multiple books a day.

About the only "high" literature I've read that comes to mind is Fanny Hill, and Tom Jones, by John Cleland and Henry Fielding respectively.

I managed to finish it and all I could wonder was how it became popular in the first place. And, really, if hell is that boring, imagine how purgatory must be. :psyduck:

Lurker, at least L. Ron Hubbard taught us how two lesbians into S&M go about raping a guy!

haha Sass. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Similarion was like that too; actually, I don't think I would've made it through Lord of the Rings if I hadn't watched the first movie ahead of time.

God why do you hate yourself

<3

Let's be honest, here. Tolkien drones on and fucking on. He takes for fucking EVER to get to his point. It's awful.

I had a hard enough time not falling asleep during The Two Towers. I kept hoping and praying for the second half of the book to appear in between the pages sometime soon. No one gives a shit about the elongated version of the battle of Helm's Deep.

The first part of the Silmarillion reminded me a little too much of the Bible. I put it down after the first 20 pages or so. ;_; (I feel bad about it to this day, since my friend Sarah finished it. But she never finished high school and she's not the brightest. SAD)

lolling at that set of priorities.

Come on, Similarion is just a backstory. It's not even a real book like Lord of the Rings is. It's all just elf Ayurmuer travelling to these lands and doing battle with banished kings and his best elf friend Myroumer dying and with his last breath cursed the heavens, and that's why the area is a swamp to this very day.

I haves confessions to makes.

The historian in me is precisely why I love the Silmarillion.

I dont read any novels a year, in fact, outside of the little reading I did in HS I havent sat down and read anything, though, if I ever plan on taking any (community) college in my lifetime, I guess starting a regiment of a few a month wouldn't hurt.

I would've expected the results to be worse, one in four is not that bad. Quite a few people that I know have hardly read a book in their whole lifetime, let alone last year.

Aside from the Halo novels, I haven't read any non-technical/textbook type of books since 4th grade for book reports.

I'm actually reading a lot more than what I ever did for quite a long time. I remember being 11 years old and I use to read as many hardy boy books I could get my hands on. I haven't really kept up with much reading until recently. I work at a job that requires sitting in a truck for the majority of my work day on occassion, so I try to take as much reading material as humanly possible to try to occupy my time.

I just finished reading Battle Royale the actual novel, not the manga, and I usually read a few books concerning the type of work I'm doing to help improve myself with all the environmental work that I do.

So pang, what are graphic novels?

A graphic novel is a comic book with a BA in English. And they're fine, this isn't a LOL COMICS R FOR KIDZ tirade. For a long time Batman was taking up more of my drive space than my music directory. Comics are fine and good, and many of them contain great stories, but they're not books. The difference between a comic and an actual novel is vast in terms of the way they disseminate information. A "graphic novel" contains about as many actual words as half a chapter of a legitimate novel, and that's generously counting OOF!, POW!, BLAMMO!, and ZAP!

(well, ok, they might be "books" in some loose meaningless sense that they have covers, pages and bindings, but nobody's going to get credit for reading map books or stampbooks, are they?)

I don't even remember the last book I have read. I have graphic novels. But I rarely even buy those. Not one book has not caught my attention, I know I'm not gonna find one for awhile to many crappy books.

I read quite a lot, about 2-3 books a week. When I was in Japan I had to spend a lot of time on buses and trains, and aside from my ipod, what could keep me better entertained then books? I think I must have read close to 150 books in the past year, most of them Japanese pockets, since they're cheap and help me with my studies, but I've read some heavier books from time to time.

I don't read for pleasure very often as I simply don't have the time. Maybe 1 or 2 books a year at most, if that. I do read quite a bit though but in the form of text books, technical/science journals and tons of material on business theory.

Well, I guess that means that sandman doesn't count; still doesn't knock me out of my vote bracket.

I read all the time but I hardly ever finish books, probably 10 a year. As far as subject matter covered, I've read far more, but I hardly ever finish books anymore. I get what I want out of them and then move on. My adhd gets priority here!

Anyhoo, though I tend to favour books, I actually read my first manga recently. Akira. It was mind blowing.

I don't read and I'm not ashamed of it at all. In fact it annoys me when people act like if you don't read you aren't intelligent. It really does nothing but marginally expand a person's vocabulary. I find reading boring... period. I have a low attention span and I can't focus on books. Have I read books before that I liked? Yes, but it still was a chore to get through them.

I read things like news articles, sports columns, etc. But there are plenty of other things I'd rather do than read. Like play sports, workout, go to movies, play a video game, whatever.

It's not exactly intelligent to not read and not feel a little bad about it, no. You're an unread cretin, basically, instead of being unread.

YouTube Video

Bradylama...that video is fucking dope. However, something tells me that Beethoven is doing acrobatics in his grave right about now.

It is perfectly intelligent. Your words may sound cool to you as you type them out, but you really can't explain your logic. It sounds to me like you just say things and latch on to them simply because other people say it. That is something I would classify as unintelligent.

No, not reading books because "they're all boring and I struggle" is unintelligent.


Well, unless you're dyslexic. And even then, I know dyslexic people who read MORE THAN YOU.

You're either unintelligent or arrogant to the point of.

Moronic and ignorant response dude. It has nothing to do with my intellect. I simply don't enjoy reading books. I find the hobby boring. There are other things I would much prefer to do with my time and it has nothing to do with intelligence or arrogance. It is no different than someone who doesn't enjoy skateboarding or someone who doesn't enjoy tennis. People just aren't into certain hobbies.

If you had half a brain you would've realized that before you spouted out that pointless drivel. Especially since you don't know a thing about me.

Books present new ideas, perspectives, and lessons about the world, human life, social interactions, and human values that aren't as easily expressed in other mediums. Willfully avoiding these ideas means that you're not interested in anything outside of your myopic lifestyle, and are therefore an ignorant cretin.

GET FUCKIN EDUCATED NIGGA

and you can learn about those things through other mediums like the internet, movies, tv, documentaries, etc. Anything educational that is in a book, you can pretty much find online, and you can learn plenty of things from educational TV shows, movies, documentaries, among real life social interactions and conversations.

and as technology continues to grow, the easier this information will be obtained.

Back in the day when these other mediums didn't exist to this capacity, I can understand where the whole "read books and be educated" stuff came from, but that certainly isn't the case anymore. You can get educated in plenty of different ways today, through plenty of different mediums.

Is reading bad? Absolutely not. I encourage everyone who enjoys reading to read. But is someone who read a lot of books automatically smarter and more educated than someone who doesn't? Nope.

Ok dude, have you ever read Agymah Kamau's Pictures of a Dying Man? Of course you haven't, you don't read books, but if you had read it, it would become apparent just how unworkable the story is when transferred to another medium.

Have you ever read Starship Troopers? Of course you haven't, you don't read books. If you had read it, though, you'd notice just how off-base from the book the film is, despite doing well on its own merits. I suppose you should read Stranger in a Strange Land, which is another one of Heinlein's masterpieces, but I don't think it's been made into a movie yet so I don't think you'll bother.

Ever read Thomas Sowell? Of course you haven't, you don't read books. Sowell's tendency to bash dem lieberuls doesn't exactly sit well with a lot of people, myself included, but Affirmative Action Around the World is a comprehensive study of affirmative action and how its effects have been counter-productive for race relations in all countries that it is implemented in.

The understanding of the subject won't be as complete if you merely read about it on a website, or wait for a documentary that will never come (do you think Michael Moore is a documentarian?).

The internet cannot transcribe all evidence to support a claim. The internet does not care about academic standards or review. Film can't convey the intricacies and layers of information that a book can. You sure as Hell won't read about a lot of things in books in the sports page.

Stop being a cretin. Read a book, nigga. A fuckin book nigga.

You learn things from books. That is evident. I never said you don't. My point was reading books doesn't make you smarter on a whole than someone who doesn't. You don't NEED books to be educated and learn things was my point. Certain books may enlighten you on certain subjects where you can't quite get to that level on other things, and some books aren't like that. Either way though, you can look up the information in books online and read passages and get information from books.

Btw, I do have interest in certain books that provide studies of certain things, and I didn't say that I NEVER read. I do read an occasional book here or there if it really interests me, but it is usually things like studies and not fictional novels or mystery books.

For the most part though, reading books is on the very end of my lists of favorite hobbies.

Okay dude, it is impossible to argue with you. You obviously can't comprehend the virtues of reading a book if you don't read.

You are avoiding books. That is unintelligent, period. Do not tell me that you are not broken, you Eagles-loving Dragon Force-rocking retard.

Bradylama has already explained why this should be considered a rhetorical question, but he veered off into the fringes of an awkward pretendetarian polemic like he usually does (and he used "Heinlein" and "masterpiece" in the same sentence :( ). So, for the sake of your short attention span:

Yes, you idiot. Yes.

Books are an extremely efficient method of conveying information, THEREFORE:

People who get information from books get that information highly efficiently, THEREFORE:

Those people can more easily absorb a like quantity of information as compared to those gleaning said information from other sources, THEREFORE:

You're just dumb as hell. The only information you'll get from TV is the information the station's billionaire owners want you to get. Enjoy that. Also: enjoy your delusion that writing as a method of communication survived for millenniums because it's LESS useful than conversation.

Fuckin' moon unit

or we can just agree to disagree on this particular subject.

No, no, agreeing to disagree is like when both people have a valid point but no one wants to budge.

THIS is something else, because it's basically us saying "dude, educate yourself, wtf" and your response taking the form of "BUT I NEEDS RITALINZ!"

I am plenty educated. I graduated college with good grades, and learn new things all the time. You know nothing about me, yet you assume these things about me because I'm not reading books all the time. For someone who claims you get smart by reading, that is a pretty stupid thing to do.

It is also stupid to say that you don't get much out of TV, because I have learned plenty of things off programs like documentaries. Different kinds of first-hand exclusive interviews that you won't get anywhere else. For example HBO's White Light/Black Rain had exclusive footage and interviews that you aren't going to get anywhere else about the bombing of Hiroshima.

It is also stupid to assume that reading informational facts and studies in books is the only form of "learning" and "education." I'm sorry, but I play sports every day and I don't care how much reading you do, you aren't going to get information from a book that you get first hand from playing sports.

There are all kinds of ways to learn and educate yourself on certain aspects of life. Say person A is highly educated on literature, math, and law, and person B is highly educated on sports, weight-lifting, and movie directing. Person A isn't smarter than person B. They are educated on two completely different subjects. You are assuming education only comes in specific forms and subject matters.

Ok. Going to college does not make you smart. Have you ever heard of Ward Churchill?

Of course, you could probably read a book about Hiroshima and it would convey much more information than the documentary. We aren't telling you to stop watching informative programming, we are telling you to start reading books.

The internet doesn't have this word, it's probably in a book somewhere. Can you explain the mystery? (I see it referenced to pretend vegetarians)

That's true, but it's also completely irrelevant to the argument. There is no substitute for direct experience, and that's true when it comes to anything. However, for most people direct experience is out of the question on a great many issues. Like, um... oh! Yes, you mention this HBO DOCUMENTARY about the Hiroshima bombing. Now, obviously I have no idea what it's like to live through an atomic bombing of my city, nor do I have any desire to find out firsthand. But I can satiate my curiosity via research. Now, I can watch a CABLE DOCUMENTARY with whatever "exclusive interviews" they can get out of the handful of decrepit oldsters left alive from that period, OR I can read this: Children of the A-Bomb: Testament of the Boys and Girls of Hiroshima, a collection of the eyewitness accounts of child residents of Hiroshima a mere six years after the bombing. Which version of this information do you think is more robust?

(seriously guys, awesome (horrifying) book, get it if you can find it)

You might be able to get larger quantity of information, but on the other hand the exclusive footage HBO had(I'm not 100% sure it was exclusive, but I read it was on a news site) is also a different form of education. You can read and imagine things in your head, but until you see it for yourself, you can't truly grasp certain things.

Basically I'm saying there are different forms of education. Like if you read that book and someone saw the documentary. You probably have the upper hand in terms of facts and number of eye-witness accounts and stuff, but they have the upper hand in terms of the visualization of certain aspects of how things unfolded. Both two seperate kinds of education and both important in their own right.

and that book would be something I'd be interested in. Like I said before, it isn't that I never read, but I prefer to do other things.

If you count books you've STARTED reading this year, but didn't finish (which you don't), I've probably read about.. 3? Like Chaotic, I'm not much of a reader. I do have periods where I'll read a shitload of books in a week or so, then won't read another book for six months. Frankly, I don't have enough leisure time to read books (although I do seem to fit in video games somehow).

Last book I read was about seven years ago, it was a Tom Clancy book. This is a warning to others who are thinking about reading a Tom Clancy book, watch out!

Do books?

I dunno, as long as they are, I think watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy is a much faster method of obtaining the essentials of the novel than trying to trudge through 100000 pages of the blandest writing this side of Brady's LJ.

Do you seriously think I was including fiction in my calculation, or are you just trolling me :(

More so than the internet, I daresay.

I guess he could go to a library and access a database but, UH, LOTS OF BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY. :gonkmelt:

More so than the internet, but not nearly as much as a peer-reviewed journal. I think the Time Cube guy has a book, but last I checked he hasn't been published in Nature.

Even if you don't, it still matters what kind of learner you are. Some people are visual, some people are auditory, some people have to write material in order to learn it, and some have to do something in order to learn it. A person that is best at learning through hearing isn't going to be getting a whole lot out of books.

To me this feels kinda like the argument that some people I've met seem to believe that unless you listen to classical music then you can't actually be that smart.

Reaver, the argument is here because I think DragoonKain is trying to troll but failing miserably and showing his idiocy while doing so.

I find it fairly despicable that most people my age have some kind of aversion to picking up a book. In my entire circle of friends (numbering maybe 25), I can think of two who actually enjoy reading.

Literature's always been an integral part of my life. If I don't have the free time to lay back and pick something engaging up, then god dammit, I will make time. It's a priority.

'sup audio books

Seriously, while it's all fine to learn-through-doing (or through-hearing, through-seeing, etc), that isn't Kain's problem. He's perfectly capable of reading the sports page for information that he wants from it. He just doesn't read books, arbitrarily. I've never heard of learning-by-reading-newsprint-only. We could probably fool him into reading Crime and Punishment if we disguised it as the Sunday Times and sprinkled pictures of basketball players here and there.

Technically I read every day. I read news articles online and forum posts.

However, in my entire life, I have never read a book from start to finish. I just don't have the patience to sit down and start reading something I can't finish in one sitting. Does that make me stupid? Try having a conversation with me sometime and find out for yourself. I'm not incredibly smart, but I manage to get through the day-to-day with no problem.

It's unfortunate that you need to judge people by how much they read. It doesn't mean shit in the big picture.

So, do you actually have a point here or are you just trolling?

I think it's pretty obvious that I'm not referring to 9/11 The Big Lie.

Hey, thanks for your eyewitness report that failure to be literate does not cause Instant Death Cancer, Ikky. Obviously a person can be very successful without reading anything more advanced than My Pet Goat; that doesn't make it an admirable trait.

Man, what a thing to break a lurk for. "HEY, I DON'T READ BOOKS, AND I DON'T THINK I'M DUMB".

A lot of high school "literature" is a bunch of crap, but then you get the occasional awesome teacher who thinks that reading something interesting AND educational is important. (Charles Dickens WHAT THE FUCK)

At the same time, a lot of people have to read a bunch of bullshit throughout their educational career. It comes with the territory sadly. You're not going to like the majority of what you read in a academia, or so I observe from pretty much everyone I know.

However, I'm surprised that you don't distinguish between "pleasurable" reading" and "this is bullshit" reading.

Frankly, reading a GOOD book is sometimes better than going to the movies or whatever. I think it's the matter of finding a style that you can really get into. Which I admit is extremely hard on occasion.

Vonnegut. 'Nuff said.

I read all the Halo novels last year. :)

and a few Steven King novels and shit, I guess

I've read probably 2 books in the past year,not counting magazines and manga. ;p I haven't had that much time to read sadly. ;( But I do tend to read atleast 1 or 2 books a year since I have trouble falling asleep at night alot. So I sit in bed reading until I get sleepy. ;p

I suppose this whole thing might be how I've never actually felt satisfied after I finish a book even though I read a ton. I'll usually get a good way into it, finally start to enjoy it, then the ending happens and I'm all "ok that was kinda weak." Of course, I also don't like most long books because I've found so few authors actually have 600 pages of worthwhile material to write.

I don't even know why I bother reading all of the books I do.

His Dark Materials. Also 'nuff said.

Maybe The Dark Is Rising.

Unless a book interests me intensely, I almost never read actual books anymore. Last year, the only real books I've read are all of Dan Brown's works. This year, I've read nothing but Harry Potter 7 and a couple of Michael Moore books. I always look for cultural interest books on the shelves like Freakonomics and such but I never end up buying them and thus never get to reading any. My reading is primarily internet articles, and textbooks don't count.

I am beginning to think you guys don't like reading books because the only books you've ever read are shitty ones. It's like your parents taking you to see your first movie, and it's Troll 2. The medium becomes suspect.

out of all honesty, i haven't set a leisurely finger on a book since elementary school. i would certainly have to say that school has really spoiled reading for me (this is not to mention all of the bitter tales and bland historical documentation having weened me far from it).

i really don't think that school does well enough to encourage people to read or utilize public libraries as resources. there's plenty there for everyone, but outside elementary school, libraries are primarily used for a few key books to help with research for papers. its hard to remember times when reading wasn't objective.

having to wade through the swell of authors was a feat that i did not want to put myself through. i wasn't willing to dig around to find a book among the labyrinth of shelves only to find that it was just short of appealing.

i also happen to appreciate videogames more than reading. with all the time i could spend reading a book, i could be finishing one of the hundreds of games left in my collection...

I like to read for entertainment and sometimes education. How many books I read a year depends on how interesting I find a particular series. I started the Dresden files by Jim Butcher a few months ago and have reached book 4, so at a rough guess I read at least a novel a month but can get up to one a week if I'm feeling the need to read. I'm always willing to try new authors since I go to the public library (free books = reading lots of books).

I am on book # 59 right now for the year, The Ruins by Scott Smith. My reading tastes are pretty much eclectic, I will read anything from just about anyone as long as it sounds interesting to me, or is by an author I have already invested heavily in.

I have for the past few years averaged around 5 books per month, but somewhere this year I got way ahead of myself.

I went highbrow this summer. Fiction-wise, I branched out from my favorites (e.g., "1 Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovitch" from "The Brothers Karamazov," Yeats from Eliot, "The Fairy Queen" from "The Song Of Roland). For non-fiction, I found brilliant modern histories of my ancestors' homes (Prussian Germany and Tuscan Italy). I finally caved and subscribed to The Economist and the Wall Street Journal instead of getting them free from school. Hell, I even finally parsed out my 25 favorite classical/art music composers, which required a lot of reading.

I've already purchased my requisite blazer, pipe, and monocle.

Just one, I don't actually feel the need to read. I just do so whenever I like.

No lie. The guy sitting next to me in the computer lab right now wrote a paper about Halo.
My opinion of those of you who have only read Halo books shot through the roof.

I haven't read a book for 8 years, except for text books for school and manuals for work(4,000 page manual, bleh.) I don't get any enjoyment from reading books, for some weird reason. Maybe, I'm just weird..

I have several books that I read over and over--so my count would be off. But, once in a while, I'll find a story that interests me, and if I enjoy it--I look for that author's work.

Right now, I'm in the middle of reading a Mary Higgins Clark novel.

The numbers in the article are somewhat depressing and while I was sure the numbers wouldn't be huge, I didn't think they'd be that low. 27% haven't read a single book in a year? As a rather voracious reader I think I'd go mad if I didn't read for a year.

With the internet, who needs to read books?

Honestly, it doesn't matter what medium text is delivered and consumed. Maybe the reason why people are reading less books is because there is so much choice outside of books. Nowadays I mainly read books for fiction. Non-fiction-wise I can find out almost anything from the internet. In the end, it's the number and quality of words - look at the choice: newspapers, articles, reviews, interviews, poetry, speeches, recipes, journals, manuals, tutorials, code, wikipedia, blogs, urban dictionary, eBay, discussion boards, GFF. I read volumes and volumes of that stuff without ever having to touch a single book. Same could be said of many adults.

Also, just because one doesn't finish a book doesn't mean there was no value gained from reading a part of it (at least language-skill wise).

Admitivly I'm not a big reader of your standard 300+ page dealys however, the recent surge of (Translated) Light Novels have been something of a boon to me.
All I would need is a WIFI internet palmtop with a decent resolution and I'd be reading till the cows come home.

Just now it's just till I come home.

Off the bus.

Readin' my Boogiepop.

I used to read a lot books, especially encyclopedias, since I must reserve my pocket money for daily living I couldnt buy books as much as I used to be, I depend on library fand friends or reading new books. >_>

the only books I buy regularly is manga, that I guess it's considered a real book.

I did not read any books likes year, but I read one this year :D (about 500+ pages and in 1 day)

Even though I all into the bible I have read one book this year. Family, work and school just sucks up time and I am left with little time to myself to read.

I'm big on research on subjects but reading is a luxury for me.

When I was younger i used to read a book a week, but as I got older and discovered computers, I have begun to read less and less. I think the last book that I read from cover to cover was The Talisman by Peter Straub and Stephen King and this is going back some 2 or so years. I started another book about 18 months ago when I was on holiday called Ilium by Dan Simmons but I only got half way through it. I've another holiday on the horizon, so who knows, I may actually get around to finishing it.

How was The Talisman? My grandmother gave it to me a while ago and said it's really good, but I'm pretty reluctant to get into another ridiculously long novel by an author that generally doesn't interest me.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is why reading is important. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ons/eng101.gif

It is quite possibly the best book that I have ever read, took me a while to get going, but once I got into it I just couldn't put it down. A must read.

Talisman is really good, and there are times where it really doesn't feel like you're reading either King or Straub; more lyrical than either, honestly. Stylistically, it fits more in with the early Dark Tower, but even then, it's not quite like that either.

Out of a field of what, 3?

Christ, the both of you. The King/Straub books aren't bad for what they are, but be serious. :/

i read nothing in school, then i got unemployed, had alot of time on my hands so i started reading. i mostly read comedy books and fiction.

zero... i don't like to read books

i'd rather watch jdorama or anime

may partially have to do with my slow reading :D