1 in 4 adults read no books last year

Originally Posted by Alan Fram, Associated Press

One in four adults read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and older people were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.

The survey reveals a nation whose book readers, on the whole, can hardly be called ravenous. The typical person claimed to have read four books in the last year -- half read more and half read fewer. Excluding those who hadn't read any, the usual number read was seven.

full article

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.

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

Jam it back in, in the dark.