Comments (107)

1. Personally, I blame A. my failing eyesight, and 2. spending every waking hour reading stuff on the internet for a living. But that’s just me… and I read books voraciously most of my life. I still buy tons of books for my kids, and they read them.

   However, I know quite a few people in their 60s, 70s, and 80s who never ever read anything more complicated than the phone book after high school. So although the numbers might be going up, the behavior is not really new.

   posted by Miss Cellania on 4-25-2011 at 12:00 pm

2. Do those surveys include only physical, paper books? What about the popularity of those e-Readers & downloadable books onto iPods?

   posted by Susannadanna on 4-25-2011 at 12:02 pm

3. That 80% of families did not read a book last year is scary. Interesting is that the linked story reports that 80% of the population want to write a book. I guess that bunch are pretty highly concentrated in the 20% of book-reading households.

   posted by wordkyle on 4-25-2011 at 12:11 pm

4. I remember seeing some graphic on the internet that showed a Facebook home-page on the left with all the status updates, and on the right side lots of different books, including War and Peace.

   The script said, “Today I read lots of this….and none of this.”

   I think about it all the time because it rang so true for me. I’m an English teacher, and I honestly think the only reason that I still read books is because I have to read them to teach them. I think I would read a lot more often if I could disconnect from Facebook and the internet.

   posted by Sarah on 4-25-2011 at 12:12 pm

5. I’d say that the lack of reading is making society dumber. Every now and again when I have nothing else to do (or don’t feel like doing anything), I’ll start reading something. Within the last year, of the few books I’ve read that aren’t sports-related, I’ve finished most of them. It won’t surprise me anyways when bookstores become extinct within the next 20 years with all the tech

   posted by Chris on 4-25-2011 at 12:16 pm

6. Alarming but not apocalyptic. The college grad 42 percent can be stood on its head — 58 percent do read another book and that’s a lot of people. Two-thirds of high school grads do read books? That’s amazing news.

   Still, we can’t deny a cumulative ignorance and a dwindling attention span in our times. But people who never read a book cover-to-cover have chosen to lead smaller lives, and the loss is theirs.

   posted by Bruce Watson on 4-25-2011 at 12:25 pm

7. I play games, but I still read quite a bit. I think it is very important to do, even if it isn’t a groundbreaking work of literature. I read fantasy and scifi, but know within myself that even that fires your synapses and helps with diction and vocabulary, things that are frighteningly missing nowadays, and causing many social problems.

   So, just read people. Don’t force yourself to read something you don’t like, read something you are comfortable with and enjoy the fringe benefits of having a challenged brain.

   posted by scott on 4-25-2011 at 12:40 pm

8. Wow, that is appalling, especially the part about 80% of families not reading a book in the last year (when you consider that most families have school-age children). I have always loved reading, and now with my new e-reader, I can read even more books than I did before. I can’t imagine my life without books in it, and I really hope to be able to instill that love of reading in my kids someday. Still, I don’t think we can blame technology and media for this- I love my iPhone, my DVR, and my blogs, but I still manage to read a lot because I simply love to read.

   posted by Alana on 4-25-2011 at 12:46 pm

9. I really do not have high confidence in the source of the statistics- the article linked was written in 2003 and, while it sites other websites as sources, it doesn’t actually link to where the stats were specifically posted. I have trouble believing only 20% of households have read a book in the last year.

   posted by Wendy on 4-25-2011 at 12:48 pm

10. Wow, those stats are scary. As a child, the librarians knew me by name, and when a new book in the series I liked came in, they held it for me. I pretty much stopped reading for pleasure until my last couple years of college.

    I kind of find it funny, how much reading was instilled in me and my siblings, yet my parent’s don’t read books for pleasure. I don’t think I’d ever seen my mother pick up a novel until she went back to school. One of my grandmothers, however had a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf filled with paperback romance novels.

    posted by Mary on 4-25-2011 at 1:01 pm

11. Startling statistics. Very sad to hear. I blame technology, movies, TV and the internet. Not that there’s anything wrong with those things. Personally, I read only history books at a rate of about one per month, sometimes more in a good month. If I could get the same amount of quality information from proven professionals from the History Channel (HA!) or the internet (double HA!) then I would. But books have always been the real deal. Plus, there’s always been something special about a new book in your hands. I love the way they smell and the way they feel. I love to order my books and wait for them to show up in the mail. You get home from work one day there it is. Sitting on your front doorstep, packaged and perfect and you tear it open and get the book. “Nice,” you tell yourself. It’s a great feeling.

    posted by Red Bunny on 4-25-2011 at 1:06 pm

12. Since I learned how to read, I always have and will continue to love books. I only fit into the last stat in terms of books I have bought but not finished.

    I also cannot imagine my life without books in it. Instead of buying all my books I go to the library. I didn’t for the longest time because I got sucked into buying them from Chapters.

    Also, books are always better than the movie.

    posted by Rina on 4-25-2011 at 1:07 pm

13. I believe there is a small portion of the population that are true readers (those who read for pleasure). But we who are in that population read like crazy! And we can read fast, so we burn through books. I think authors and publishers should throw us a party now and then. ;-)

    posted by Teresa on 4-25-2011 at 1:08 pm

14. Those statistics are very heart-breaking. Books are instilled in me with the fact that both my maternal grandmother and my mother have worked and are working in a library. I remember going to my grandmother’s library and helping her clean books and just randomly choosing something to read for the rest of the day. It opened my eyes to books I would have never thought I would like. Also my grandmother and mom used to trade books and authors all the time.

    I am also compelled to go out and buy the book which made me feel sad that I was not helping out the local library. In fact, my New Year’s Resolution was to stop buying books and check them out of the local library. I’m happy to report that I’ve kept that promise.

    I’m also very sad about books going electronic. I understand the convenience of it all, but who doesn’t like the smell of a good book?

    posted by Colene on 4-25-2011 at 1:16 pm

15. I have always been a voracious reader. As a SAHM with two kids, I don’t read as much as I used to. But I still do read. My kids are used to seeing me reading, and my 3rd grade daughter is the same way; loves to read, and is way above her grade level. My son it’s too early to tell, but he has to have his bedtime story. All this is to say, I really don’t think it’s that hard to instill a love of reading in your children if you, as a parent, love reading. It is the easiest way to set a good example for your kids :)

    posted by Laura H on 4-25-2011 at 1:17 pm

16. These stats are frightening. I’m an on and off college student, and I admit I do read a lot more extracurricularly when I’m in school than out, but I can’t imagine reaching a point where I completely stop reading or never go to another book store again. (I do have a kindle, but I still read physical books in addition)

    posted by kittycaller on 4-25-2011 at 1:38 pm

17. Oh, and I suspect a lot of people want to write a book because they don’t read, and assume it’s easy. I don’t write (right now) because I’m certain I don’t have the skills yet to write a GOOD book. Reading quality writing is extremely satisfying, but it sure does psych one out. ;)

    posted by kittycaller on 4-25-2011 at 1:40 pm

18. About the only real “book” books I buy or look at are my collectible cookbooks. All other reading I do is on the Kindle–my husband goes through at least a book a week on his Kindle. We have bought very few actual books since we were early adopters with the Kindle and now are on our 3rd gen models. I just recently went into a bookstore for the first time in about 4 years–I do recall a friend telling me she never even read a book in high school (only Cliff’s Notes!) and has not read one since (we graduated in 1978!)

    posted by Border Bonnie on 4-25-2011 at 1:46 pm

19. Having heard a few folks in the last couple of years proudly, smilingly proclaim, “Oh, I HATE books. I never read,” I can’t say I’m all too surprised.

    I think there’s a large group of people who never set foot in a bookstore, and then another grand percentage that can’t get enough of books. Hopefully it almost evens out.

    posted by Jenn_Thorson on 4-25-2011 at 1:51 pm

20. tl;dr

    posted by 8rustystaples on 4-25-2011 at 1:54 pm

21. @Jenn_Thorson: Considering the amount of books my family and I read, we probably have a number of non-readers covered. :)

    I think for a lot of people, it’s a lack of time, as well as a shorter attention span. A lot of people can’t see themselves stopping everything else in their lives to pick up a book. They also can’t just sit and read for long periods of time.

    posted by Jenn on 4-25-2011 at 2:02 pm

22. As Mary pointed out I’d be a bit cautious regarding these stats as they are 1)out of date 2) provided by The Jenkins Group which is a self-publishing entity who would benefit from making the “standard” publishing industry look bad.

    posted by David F on 4-25-2011 at 2:04 pm

23. My impression is that since all other media currently available comes in short clips, sound bites, or easily-scannable blog posts, the American attention span (in general) has just not maintained its ability to focus on an entire book. Kindle sales of short stories and anthologies are increasing as people learn to take fiction in bite sizes (and instant downloads).

    Interestingly, this creates a nice market for writers who excel at short-form fiction, but is increasingly worrisome for authors of novel-length work (and series in particular).

    Of course, those who spend little time on the Internet or have been strong/voracious readers since childhood probably don’t have this problem. Last year I read 96 books, though this year I’m not likely to meet that mark. The 50-books-a-year club isn’t going anywhere, but dead-tree book sales do seem to agree with an overall decline in readership.

    posted by adrienne on 4-25-2011 at 2:14 pm

24. So here’s a personal anecdote. I’m currently tutoring a guy who’s trying to improve his scores on the MCAT reading comprehension test. This is a fairly wicked test, if you haven’t seen it — it provides a variety of closely-worded responses and often attempts to trick the test-taker. For example, if you know real-world things about the topic, you’re not supposed to use that knowledge in answering questions — you’re only supposed to use what’s contained in the passage presented. So sometimes “the right answer” is “wrong” because it doesn’t appear in the passage. It’s one of the hardest reading tests I’ve seen.

    So anyway, my point is, the guy I’m tutoring doesn’t read books. And frankly, I don’t judge him for it. He simply doesn’t read books, though he does read — he reads on the web, he reads The Economist (!), he reads medical and science journals, and he reads tons of textbooks. Watching him work with this material, it’s clear that he’s brilliant and perfectly capable of reading, he just…doesn’t read books. And his reading comprehension is relatively good, it’s just not at the top of the curve — so we’re working on improving that through practice.

    So I look at this fellow and I wonder, why do I read and why doesn’t he? The simplest answer I can find is that my family had a culture of reading. Growing up, we’d go to the library every week, pick out books, and then read them. This was our main form of entertainment (though we did watch some TV and sometimes we’d go out for a movie). It was perfectly normal, at lunch, for all four members of the household to be reading a book while munching on a sandwich. So I grew up in a household where reading was normal and expected. Indeed, I spent most of my afternoons after school at a public library (often upwards of four hours a day), volunteered there, and went on to get a degree in Library Science.

    But when I ask this guy about his family and whether they went to the library, the short answer is that it wasn’t a part of their culture. There are lots of admirable things (martial arts, meditation, lots of public service, etc.) that they did and still do. But sitting around and reading wasn’t top of the list.

    So when I think forward to the next generation, if reading is important (which, probably largely because I’m a writer and a library junkie I think it is), we should integrate it into our family lives and pass on the culture of reading.

    I also think we’re going to have to learn how to measure what reading online really means. I’m sure lots of “kids these days” read primarily online — and probably, in volume, read roughly as much as I did as a kid with books — but it may be harder to quantify. Because nobody gives you a pizza for reading web pages. (Book-It, anyone?)

    posted by Chris Higgins on 4-25-2011 at 2:16 pm

25. These are some startling–and frightening–statistics! I admit that after high school I didn’t partake in leisure reading because I was too busy studying for classes in college and reading good ol’ boring text books. However, after I graduated from college 5 years ago, one of my goals was to get back into reading and I’m happy to report that yes, I’m still an avid reader to this day, and I’m even keeping a count on goodreads.com. I don’t know if I can place the blame on just one area on why the numbers are down on reading the written text, but for me personally, I can tell you that I’d rather be at home reading than running on that dang treadmill at the gym!

    BTW, Colene, I totally agree with you — I refuse to get a Kindle/Nook/e-reader because I love the smell of a book too much! And I enjoy building up my little library :)

    posted by Vickipedia on 4-25-2011 at 2:16 pm

26. I’m torn on this. On one hand, I still read books, although not as often as I used to, and I would love to see more people read. On the other hand, I am a video game nerd.

    I just finished a game called 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, that I would suggest to anyone who wants an engaging story with a bit of interaction. The text was long and thick, sometimes with cutscenes that lasted over an hour. There was no voice acting, I read every word. After playing the game, I don’t really feel like I played a game in the same sense that most would associate with gaming.

    I read a visual, interactive novel. And there were multiple endings (6) that I played through, reading new things each time. It wasn’t a game. It was a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book with full color pictures that sometimes moved.

    I Googled ideas presented in the game. I learned about Locke’s Socks and the Ship of Theseus, about Sheldrake and the Ganzfeld experiment, Prosopagnosia and that the Brittanic was a sister ship to the Titanic, originally called the Gigantic.

    If we are moving in this direction when moving away with books, I’m not really too upset. Reading and gaining knowledge doesn’t always come from traditional books.

    posted by Amauriel on 4-25-2011 at 2:25 pm

27. It raises questions about who is buying the Kindle and downloading all those ebooks? If most people don’t read then are most of the people that are buying ebook readers just doing it to be cool? Do they really read much of anything on them at all?

    posted by bhupi on 4-25-2011 at 2:26 pm

28. The statistics don’t really alarm me because these numbers are probably pretty “normal”.

    For most of human history, the majority of people were illiterate. Not necessarily by choice, but by lack of educational opprotunity. We read of Ambraham Lincoln walking for miles in the snow to borrow a book and the numbers of people swarming schools whent they’re first opened in disadvantaged areas and imagine that everyone has a hunger for knowledge. But that isn’t necessarily true. It’s a universal constant that what comes easily isn’t highly valued.

    Our society is anti-intellectual. (Witness Republicans using the words “intellectual elite” like it’s a slur.) Note how smart people are portrayed in movies and television: socially inept, somewhat pathetic people who need someone to rescue them and show them what’s “really” important in life. A character is usually only shown reading a book for a utilitarian purpose; if it’s not, then it’s to demonstrate how lonely they are.

    We claim to value education, but we really only value it as a means to an end. Education is something to be endured so that you can get your diploma and move on to the “real world” of work. We don’t see education as a goal in of itself, which is why we don’t extend it into other areas of life.

    posted by Lissa on 4-25-2011 at 2:30 pm

29. I still read (voraciously). I visit the library several times a month, and the book store several times a year. My parents read, my siblings read, and their children read. My children are also avid readers.

    Every Christmas, my mom would shop for all the “regular” gifts (clothes… ugh), but my dad always bought each and every one of us a book. The book was always my favorite gift, and the one I looked forward to the most. I have carried that tradition on to my girls. Every Christmas they get a book (whether or not it’s their favorite gift is another story, but I know they read them!)

    While e-readers are ok, to my mind, there is nothing more exciting than picking up a real book and turning the pages.

    P.S. My older daughter has decided to major in secondary education – literature.

    posted by Tracy on 4-25-2011 at 2:36 pm

30. I’m highly skeptical of the source of these statistics. Do you simply link to anything that seems startling? How about a wee more skepticism in your writing?

    posted by Steven on 4-25-2011 at 2:42 pm

31. I find it very difficult to believe that there is any great decline in reading books. I read for pleasure every day, and I visit bookstores quite often; they are just as busy now as they were 20 years ago. My two oldest grandchildren, who are 15 years old, read books voraciously.

    posted by Mary on 4-25-2011 at 3:12 pm

32. @bhupi–please see my post above. We actually do read the books on our Kindles, and at the ages of 50 & 59 I doubt anything we do could make us look cool!

    posted by Border Bonnie on 4-25-2011 at 3:17 pm

33. I too am skeptical of the statistics, but my informal “public transportation readers” poll suggests there is some truth to it. Every morning I have a 15 minute bus ride to and from work. The bus is usually packed. Of my fellow passengers, there are usually only one or two people reading a book/eReader/iPad/paper/magazine. Most are sleeping, staring out the window, or listening to an iPod. The bus passengers are a wide cross-section of ages, genders, and occupations, including scientists, doctors, secretaries, food service workers, and house cleaners. I’ve never understood why this period of dead time, where you can go nowhere, would not be used for reading.

    posted by janeeyre316 on 4-25-2011 at 3:23 pm

34. I’m a 2nd grade teacher with a background in English. The statistics do not surprise me. It’s all I can do to get kids fired up about reading. However, once I get them excited, they’re on to the next teacher and the next. To sustain the excitement of reading is a real challenge. Not only does each teacher in every subsequent grade have to provide exciting materials, they have to appeal to a wide audience and focus on keeping the reading relevant. Often curricular restraints keep us from sharing the books we want to share too. Perhaps most importantly though, parents have to not only “believe” in reading but also exhibit reading their own books at home in order for their kids to think that’s normal behavior. Getting a kid to read on their own when their parents don’t read at home is almost impossible. In fact, in eight years of teaching, I’ve only seen that happen a couple of times. For the most part, readers beget readers.

    I have to take exception to what a couple of people have said above though. Not reading does not make people less smart. What it makes them is less knowledgable. There are plenty of people who are capable of reading. They simply choose not to do so and so we are producing a generation of people who only have a surface knowledge (if any at all) of history and culture. Kids growing up these days are addicted to screens, whether it’s TV, computers, DS or movie theaters, we have created an intensely visual culture and society. E-books at least give reading a chance in the future so if you want to keep reading alive, please support those formats. Whether you like the smell or feel of paper books is irrelevant (I happen to like them too). Like candles, mono recordings, b&w movies/tv or wax records, paper books will one day very soon be relegated to niche markets for people who buy them for nostalgia. The rest of the world will be reading on screens so just get used to it, then go a step further and begin embracing and promoting that technology or you’re just shooting yourself in the foot.

    posted by Phasmoid on 4-25-2011 at 4:21 pm

35. I still remember an incident when my Wife and I were having our housewarming party and one of her cousins came over, and looked incredulously at the bookshelf we had sitting against one wall (which actually represented less than half of our book collection) and asked “Have you read *all* of those?!” Or when friend of mine was having a party and there was a noise complaint, and when the police showed up, they took a look at his bookshelf-lined walls and said “Oh, you’re one of those book people…” and proceeded to heckle him about it.

    posted by Greylurk on 4-25-2011 at 4:42 pm

36. It’s too much TV. I gave up cable for a year and half and I was reading 1-2 books a week. Now that I have it back. I have read maybe two books within the past year.

    posted by Dano558 on 4-25-2011 at 4:42 pm

37. I have always read voraciously- I’m usually in the middle of several books at once. Last year, my New Year’s Resolution was to catalogue each book I read, how long it took, and how many pages it was, but I gave up around May because I would finish books at work and forget to write them down. Maybe someday I’ll get back to that.

    I don’t think I’ve ever seen my father read a book for pleasure. He read to me as a child, and he reads magazines, newspapers, and web pages, and the occasional instructional manual, but never “fun” books. Maybe I’ll ask him why.

    posted by Megan on 4-25-2011 at 4:58 pm

38. i still read, and i’ll keep reading, although i have to admit that high school almost my love for reading. We were supposed to read specific books for no specific reason (none of the classics for example) and being forced to read is a killer. So after high school i didn’t touch books for years, but then my sister got me a great book for during the summer holiday and i was hooked once again. Thanks sis!
    Lately i tried all the “new stuff” that has been on the market, like e-readers, books on the iphone and ipad and audiobooks on my iphone and there’s only one conclusion to be made: nothing beats a real book, nothing! The smell of paper when opening a new book is simply not replaceable.
    I’m not reading as much i would like but i guess i have my job to blame for that, too tired when i get home. I fall asleep while reading. ;-)
    Latest purchased book: the collected works of Borges. My summer’s going to be pretty good!

    posted by Martino on 4-25-2011 at 5:05 pm

39. I think it is just a shift in entertainment. As films and online media continue to expand, people are forced to neglect what used to be book time to those creative outlets. If I only have 3 hours of leisure a day, then I have to divide that time between books, movies, and online articles. 100 years ago, that whole time could have been used reading books.

    While I love reading, I don’t really see this shift as bad. A film is little more than a play. Actually, I like to watch Shakespeare plays much more than reading them. Internet writers spread stories through humorous articles, and even small short stories.

    I think we need to stop thinking of reading as sitting down with a hardback book that is 350 pages long. Instead, we need to recognize and embrace variety of ways that people express their ideas.

    P.S. I am the only person in my group of friends who reads for pleasure now. My social circle consists of early 20-somethings who are college educated. The number one reason my friends say they don’t read is because there is nothing good out there. They have been exposed to too many “classics” that they never understood or respected. You were simply told to read some horrendous, 500 page snore of a novel in a week, and then asked to discuss it in a 50 minute class for a day.
    Personally, I feel that if we actually reformed reading lists to books that are meaningful AND a pleasure to read, we wouldn’t have so many young adults who never wish to complete another novel.

    posted by Mike on 4-25-2011 at 5:05 pm

40. I like the convenience of e-readers, but I also like the aesthetics of paperbacks, the smell of the pages in a new book; the crack the spine makes as I crease it, marking my progress through the book,;the way the books fill my bookshelf, the fact that I never have to charge a book’s battery power, I just need light to read it. Plus I can loan paperbacks to friends, you can’t do that with an e-reader

    posted by Shash on 4-25-2011 at 5:33 pm

41. I am 51, and have a voracious appetite for reading. Always have. I graduated from ‘See Spot run’, to ‘Lord of the Rings’, by the summer between third and fourth grade. My older sister had it as required reading for school, and could not believe I read her school book. I read a bedtime story to all 3 of my children, when they were small. I have raised 3 readers. My son isn’t as rabid about reading as his two sisters, but still enjoys reading. My oldest daughter reads a lot. But my third child LOVES reading. She is 15, and is building her library. For Christmas, she asks for books. James Patterson’s ‘Maximum Ride’ series is one of her favorites. I don’t buy books for myself anymore. My house is FULL!…. But I wear out my library card…

    posted by old hippy chick on 4-25-2011 at 6:28 pm

42. That’s awful! I visit bookstores often. I would say before I met my husband, he didn’t read much, but I bring him to the bookstore with me and he almost always leaves with one or two. I intend on getting my kids into reading young, just like my parents did. I can understand people not going to bookstores though, considering the fact that a lot of people have ereaders now.

    posted by Erica on 4-25-2011 at 6:32 pm

43. This is absolutely horrible news. I would blame it on the general idiocy of people today :). I just finished a memoir called Angela’s Ashes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela‘s_Ashes) and I’m only 12… I love to read. And not only that, but I was recommended this book after I finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, which made me cry… If this wasn’t mentalfloss.com I was reading the 80% of families statistic from, I wouldn’t believe it. That is just downright scary. And yes, I’d say that books are still just as interesting. Sure, there’s a lot more junk out there now, however there’s still great books and books from long ago still exist, so there’s no excuse.

    posted by Someone on 4-25-2011 at 6:36 pm

44. I’m such a reader – I love nothing more than curling up with a good book, a blanket and a cup of coffee on a Saturday morning. I got a Kindle for Christmas and have already read over 80 books!

    My husband, on the other side, hasn’t read an entire book (cover to cover) in I don’t know how long!

    posted by WhineyIney on 4-25-2011 at 6:48 pm

45. In reference to Mike who said:

    “While I love reading, I don’t really see this shift as bad. A film is little more than a play. Actually, I like to watch Shakespeare plays much more than reading them. Internet writers spread stories through humorous articles, and even small short stories.”

    I agree with you that watching plays is great. I love watching them too and I’m glad to see that you read as well. However, what I worry about is a culture who gets to the point where all they want to do is watch things (tv and movies). When that happens, we have given up on imagination. When you read a book, you get to create a whole world in your head. When you watch a play/movie/tv, it’s all spelled out for you and you don’t have to imagine anything.

    I’m not saying that watching things is bad but a blend is what’s important. People should take your example and divide their time between reading and watching things. That way they get the best of both worlds. Cultivating this idea in people is what is hard because “watching” is what our culture has made it so incredibly easy to do and at the expense of everything else.

    posted by Phasmoid on 4-25-2011 at 7:27 pm

46. Just because people aren’t reading books, doesn’t mean they’re not reading. I read a lot fewer BOOKS these days, but I read a lot of articles online as well as reading parts of things for research without dipping too deeply into the whole. I blame lack of time and poor editing.

    It seems that book publishers have a 500 page minimum for books these days. I find a lot of these novels could do with some heavy editing instead of the insertion of padding to increase the word count.

    Remember when people bought books because of the story and not because “this one is thicker than that one, so its a better deal”?

    When I was growing up most of the stuff available in the bookstore was under a dollar and under 200 pages.

    posted by Joe on 4-25-2011 at 8:03 pm

47. I think reading is important, but I have some books in my room that haven’t been read- or haven’t been read in a while.

    posted by Sara in Al on 4-25-2011 at 8:07 pm

48. This is my job. It’s what I do for a living. I hear from people CONSTANTLY that there’s nothing but shit to read in the big bookstores.

    I agree. It’s even offensive, how condescending these publishers are, playing to a “dumbed-down” audience that never bought books in the first place.

    I know for a fact readers are reading as much as ever, if not more. It’s just that they’re not reading crap. The publishers are publishing crap.

    The editors at the publishing houses are mostly corporate harem girls, just out of college. The literate editors have long been laid off.

    They’re blaming the literate for not reading their crap.

    posted by Ed on 4-25-2011 at 9:11 pm

49. Time! Life is much busier than it was even a decade ago, and books require time to finish.

    posted by Hally on 4-25-2011 at 10:06 pm

50. I confess I haven’t actually read a novel of any kind for many years. I simply can’t seem to decide what kind of novel I want to read. If I want fiction, books are the last form of media I enjoy.
    However, before I graduated college I never once purposely read a whole non-fiction book because I was forced to read so many for educational purposes. Now it’s all I read.

    posted by Sarah on 4-25-2011 at 11:34 pm

51. janeeyre316 – You’d never catch me reading on a moving vehicle; it makes me nauseous.

    I don’t read books nearly as much when I have access to the internet. When I was a poor substitute teacher, I read five or six books a week from the library. Now, I rarely get through even one because I spend most of my leisure time online. I still plan on having a home library someday when I have a house of my own.

    posted by Eva on 4-25-2011 at 11:57 pm

52. What I would like to know is: Do “these people” read to their kids? Don’t they read a newspaper or a magazine? …

    I have to read a lot of books for work, but nevertheless read books in my sparetime – although I’m not totally against TV, WWW etc.

    “It’s the combination, brother, the combination!”

    posted by ql on 4-26-2011 at 7:11 am

53. That is a bit sad. I am in college and I read all the time (school books and reading for fun books). I think for the younger generation, college kids like me,high schoolers, middle schoolers, etc. those people have shorter attention spans. They just can’t focus on one thing for a long time..unless it is a movie or video game…and even then they are normally texting or playing on their cell phones at the same time.

    posted by Chelsea on 4-26-2011 at 9:23 am

54. @Someone: Angelas Ashes is a pretty tough read for a 12 year old, and has some pretty adult content in it. I read it when I was in my early 20′s and can’t imagine a 12 year old getting through it. I’m impressed.

    posted by Red Bunny on 4-26-2011 at 9:52 am

55. I remember the quote my high school math teacher kept posted at the top of the blackboard. “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
    Benjamin Disraeli

    Scrolling through the many numbers and links posted on the book statistics website, all the news isn’t bad and taking into account the probability of error I don’t think there is any reason to panic.

    I also take comfort in my personal observation that the people who do love books–LOVE books. I don’t think we’ll see the end of the printed page for quite some time.

    posted by Bella on 4-26-2011 at 10:14 am

56. Although the statistics are suspect, there is no doubt that our methods of learning are transforming. I greatly enjoyed reading as a child, but wasn’t very socially adept. Was the reading a cause or a result? I don’t know. All I know is that reading seemed very natural then. Now when I read, I can’t help but feel that I should be doing something more productive with my time.

    We seem to have contracted cultural ADD from the onslaught of behavioral modification input (including bogus statistics). Reading offers a respite from the constant badgering and vying for attention. We may be throwbacks, but reading offers a harbor of serenity in a manic world.

    posted by Tom Lee on 4-26-2011 at 10:26 am

57. I remember the quote my high school math teacher kept posted at the top of the blackboard. “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
    Benjamin Disraeli

    Scrolling through the many numbers and links posted on the book statistics website, all the news isn’t bad and taking into account the probability of error I don’t think there is any reason to panic.

    I also take comfort in my personal observation that the people who do love books–LOVE books. I don’t think we’ll see the end of the printed page for quite some time.

    posted by Bella Bowie on 4-26-2011 at 10:33 am

58. I’ve always noted that as I went through school, less and less people wanted to read. I was always a very big reader, so it surprised me. But I will admit, now that I don’t have nearly as much required reading (in college now) I find myself reading less. Well, I do read, but not things that fit into the “higher standard” of literature. I have over 500 books in my room, plus some located through the house, but 80% of them are graphic novels. But when I see the statistics listed, it makes me feel a bit better because, well, at least it’s still reading.
    And I want to be a writer: I have been since third grade and that’s never wavered. I wrote daily in high school and I still write at least twice a week now that I have school and work, but it’s concerning to see that by the time I’d even possibly get something published, almost no one would be reading at all anyway.

    I know my attention span has greatly dwindled over the years: In 8th grade I was reading the Lord of the Rings series for fun, and now I can’t even finish Pride and Prejiduce. It makes me sad to know that my focus isn’t what it used to be, and I think that’s because of other forms of media. Television, games, computers, movies. These take less time to grab our attention and less effort to keep it. Parents who grow up with technology will pass it onto their children and basically let it raise their children. There’s hardly any advertisment for reading: there’s some, but in my opinion for every 100 movie or game trailers you see, you’ll get 1 reading or book advertisment. And the only book/author I see advertised specifically is James Patterson. There are commercials for products to help children learn to read, but we hardly see anything encouraging kids and teens to keep reading.

    I’d love to do a social experiment and see the effects of not reading on individuals.

    posted by Shandra on 4-26-2011 at 10:35 am

59. I can’t live without reading. I read an average of a book a week. I’ve also had guests come into my house, see my bookcases, and ask, “Have you read all those books?” I buy cheap books at Goodwill and check books out of the library, and my mom and I trade books. Weekend mornings I make a huge mug of coffee and go out on the balcony with my book and the cats. Nothing could be better.

    posted by Carol on 4-26-2011 at 10:49 am

60. So sad…the outcome I see is an astonishing lack of reading comprehension skills. I work in customer service, and I can’t tell you how many times I have had someone read me something, but not understand what it means – and I’m not talking complicated language.

    posted by Regina on 4-26-2011 at 11:11 am

61. Wait a sec. Most high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives? How do we know this? Presumably, the modern high school graduates we’re interested in aren’t dead yet. Either we’re looking at people who graduated high school a long time ago, or people who have in fact only spent a few years not reading instead of the entire rest of their lives.

    posted by cadaeib on 4-26-2011 at 12:20 pm

62. I wonder if this a trend or if this is how it always has been. It seems the 20 – 80 rule applies to almost all human behavior.

    posted by Kmuzu on 4-26-2011 at 12:31 pm

63. I really find this hard to believe when I am at a bookstore and there are dozens of people in my way. How can these stats be right if there are still so many people buying books? I do know a few people who admit they never read books but the majority of my friends have an admirable collection that doesn’t have dust on it anywhere.

    posted by zella on 4-26-2011 at 12:48 pm

64. I would say that this is more a shift in medium than a rejection of reading in general. I read many many hours a day, but only about 10-15% of that time is spent in books (unless I get a really good book).
    I spend the majority of my time in Google Reader reading articles and opinions from over 130 RSS feeds. This covers everything from this blog to news to science topics to short stories and pleasure reading.

    posted by Buddy on 4-26-2011 at 12:55 pm

65. I usually read a book a day. This week is an exception because I am reviewing grants so that’s about 400 pages of reading a day in itself. I have cards for two public libraries, and according to Amazon, I bought 40 books from them last year, which doesn’t include the ones from Barnes & Noble and Borders. No independent bookstores near us, alas!

    Why do I read so much? I guess because I never developed a taste for TV.

    There seems to be a real bi-modal distributions among my friends when it comes to books. I have several who probably haven’t read a book in years and others who have hundreds of books in their homes. Most of my friends who don’t read much spend their spare time in the gym. Within my very non-random sample of friends, Internet is not the reason for not reading.

    posted by ANNMARIA on 4-26-2011 at 2:48 pm

66. I really don’t know that I believe this. I’m about to graduate college and the last couple months I’ve read more books than any other time in my life. Perhaps its because I recently just got a nook and buying and reading books is much easier on it. I have about 14 books on my self-assigned summer reading list…My mom is the same way. Do we just have too much time on our hands?

    posted by cre89 on 4-26-2011 at 2:54 pm

67. Where do AudioBooks fall in this discussion?

    posted by Griswald on 4-26-2011 at 3:20 pm

68. I think people are still reading but not as many books. People might be reading magazines and articles online so they are still reading but just a different format. I hardly read for pleasure in college as I was too busy reading textbooks. However since graduating I have read for pleasure again. I will admit I spend too much time watching tv and reading online but I do read books when I’m on business trips. (especially on the plane)

    Now that I have a newborn baby I don’t have time to read a book after working all day, taking care of him, chores, etc. I do read magazines, parenting books, and articles online. (Mental Floss, the news, etc.) However I do read to my son board books so our family is part of the 20% that does read book (if children’s books count).

    posted by Gina on 4-26-2011 at 3:25 pm

69. yes. Dumber.

    We ( as a society ) need to fix this.

    posted by FastEddie on 4-26-2011 at 4:00 pm

70. “I’ll bet you money that more than 42% of college grads kept reading books in the 1950s, 60s, 70s.”

    Only %5 of the US population graduated from college back then, though, as opposed to about %25 in modern times. So even if that were true, that’d wouldn’t overwhelm the much larger _increase_ in education, and presumably interest in literature.

    posted by Andy on 4-26-2011 at 4:08 pm

71. I think that there are many people who do not really benefit from a college education, and it’s a big waste of resources to put them through college.

    posted by db on 4-26-2011 at 4:10 pm

72. One of the biggest reasons for this is that many people are given a classic literature education during high school and college. Instead of giving teenagers/college age students books they want to read, we give them books we think they should read. In doing this, we’re creating an alliterate society. Don Gallo and Sarah Herz talk about this in their book From Hinton to Hamlet where they talk about using young adult texts to teach classic texts that are expected of students. I’m not saying that the classics should be neglected, but books that students want to read should be included as well. One of the biggest ideas in Children’s Literature scholarship is “It’s not what they read, but how they read it.” Teaching children how to read will help to foster lifelong readers.

    Sorry I’ll step down from my soap box now. This is one of those issues that, as a voracious reader and a Children’s Literature scholar, I get a little excited about.

    posted by Kayti on 4-26-2011 at 4:31 pm

73. Probably a little bit of all those reasons. The high rate of adults who have never entered a bookstore is probably due, in part, to online booksellers such as Amazon.

    posted by Jacob Andrews on 4-26-2011 at 4:37 pm

74. If you have a hard time finding a book you might like to read you might want to check out this link to a service called Goodreads vs. Craig Bowser.

    http://chimac.net/2010/06/23/goodreads-via-craig-bowser/

    posted by Chimacintosh on 4-26-2011 at 4:50 pm

75. “Or are we, as a society, getting … dumber?”

    That’s a result, not a cause. Because people don’t read, they’re getting dumber. Because people are so lazy they want things spoon fed to them in sound bytes, they’re losing the ability to think, reason and imagine.

    posted by David on 4-26-2011 at 6:21 pm

76. this is sad news for anyone that is striving to be a writer.

    posted by Ev on 4-26-2011 at 6:52 pm

77. I was a very avid reader once, then I went to college for 10 years. After I graduated I was burned out on reading, of any kind. Two years later I’m finally starting to read again.

    posted by Ellen on 4-26-2011 at 7:43 pm

78. I put some of the blame on high-stakes testing in our schools. Reading has become a nightmare for our kids because they are DRILLED to look for different things in each story rather than just READING TO ENJOY READING. Freaking No Child Left Behind is going to alienate even more readers.

    posted by Matrinka on 4-26-2011 at 9:03 pm

79. Even assuming all of these statistics are true, the absolute number of books read is surely higher then it has been in the past. There is no baseline for these statistics, therefore they are of little value. The percentage of people that go to college s way higher then in was in the 50′s so you are going to have people there that do not care about reading.

    posted by ryan on 4-26-2011 at 11:38 pm

80. More people are reading more books now than ever before.

    posted by Steve on 4-27-2011 at 2:20 am

81. This is indeed very scary. I just hope that these statistics don’t include ebooks, but something tells me that I’m wrong. I used to work as a teacher and it felt horrible having to explain basic culture/history facts to 18 y.o. students. They didn’t have a clue.

    posted by CornwellWriting on 4-27-2011 at 4:02 am

82. I question the statistics you cite. Have you read the study that was supposed to have been conducted by the Jenkins Group? It’s fun to read shocking stats, but we need to remember to be critical of these. I’d be very interested to learn the details supporting the idea that “80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year”. WHAT? I live in the U.S. and I don’t know anyone who didn’t buy and read a book last year. And, what is considered a “US family”, what geographic part of the nation these survey respondents from? Where do they fall on the economic strata? How were the survey respondents recruited? Were they compensated for their participation in the survey? How old were the survey participants? Who paid for the survey? How large was the sample size? You did provide a link, which goes to a 2010 writer’s workshop page, that website lists The Jenkins Group, but the stats and/or the methodology of collecting them is nowhere to be found on that website. Let’s not forget to think critically about what we read, and make sure it’s logical or at least probable prior to believing it.

    posted by max on 4-27-2011 at 9:03 am

83. My assumption is that literacy in this country has never been more universal and that more people, both in raw numbers and as a percentage of the population, read now than ever before. If you stop and take stock of the diversity of books published every year in this country it is truly astonishing. This kind of story creates buzz, which is why they get aired.

    posted by Jack on 4-27-2011 at 11:41 am

84. Like Max, I am also HIGHLY skeptical about these stats. What was the methodology and who exactly is the group that conducted this survey? Without that information these numbers are virtually meaningless.

    posted by Jessica H on 4-27-2011 at 4:15 pm

85. The statistics on adults ever reading a book again after graduation are simply false and wrong. The General Social Survey found in 2002 that 87% of college graduates had read “novels, short stories, poems, or plays, other than those required by work or school.” 72% of all adults said they had read such a work in the past year.

    The tragedy here is not that we read to little, it is that we do not research enough.

    posted by Waciuma Wanjohi on 4-27-2011 at 4:22 pm

86. The statistics on adults ever reading a book again after graduation are simply false and wrong. The General Social Survey found in 2002 that 87% of college graduates over the past 12 months had read “novels, short stories, poems, or plays, other than those required by work or school.” 72% of all adults said they had read such a work in the past year.

    The tragedy here is not that we read to little, it is that we do not research enough.

    (Run the numbers yourself at http://sda.berkeley.edu/archive.htm)

    posted by Waciuma Wanjohi on 4-27-2011 at 4:27 pm

87. Umm, are you really citing readership statistics from 2003? Check the bottom of that “statistics” page you’re linking to. I can’t imagine those numbers are the same now.

    And yes, I realize I’m adding to the masses of comments already skeptical about your data. Just that nobody seemed to see the little “copyright” date at the bottom of the page.

    posted by John P on 4-27-2011 at 6:17 pm

88. i love reading and i will never stop. It keeps the voices in my head from killing people

    posted by dustfinger on 4-28-2011 at 12:05 am

89. Books are one of MANY mediums/modes of transferring knowledge between people. As society has progressed, so has our way of sharing knowledge: first you began with a tree you needed to cut down, turn into paper, write something on, and then hope someone will read it…

    Now I can spout my own dastardly opinions without so much as picking up an AXE….

    We aren’t getting dumber, rather society is progressing in the way we share information. The only curious part is if we choose to entertain ourselves with it…

    And sadly society has been soooo successful that we can no-longer rely on Darwinism and natural selection to take out the ‘mistakes’ because “we” feel an obligation to help the derelicts out of their hole (which they dug themselves)… and as more of society realizes it’s easier to do nothing to get something (derelicts) more burden will be pushed on those who DO give a damn…

    Long rant short; go internets (internets>books), we learn faster this way, but we still have to find a way to get rid of the ‘special’ breeders whose gene’s seem to mutate more than need be…

    posted by McCommon on 4-28-2011 at 3:27 am

90. Unfortunately yes, the amount of people who read books is diminishing. But take into account how many hours some people spend on the internet, (Not facebook, myspace, ect.) reading, and soaking up information. I personally believe that the “Kendle”, and others like it, are the future of books. A whole library in your hand. It may not be so popular to have one now, but in twenty years that may be different. Who knows what will happen…

    posted by miller323 on 4-28-2011 at 7:31 am

91. As a librarian, I see every sort of person from the excited patron who discovers a new series and must read ALL the books (in order, of course) to the person who admits s/he hasn’t been to a library in ages, not since the days of the card catalog. The early days of the card catalog, in some cases.

    My theory? It’s becoming a cliche, but I blame it on the new scourge of internet-based ADD. People are becoming so used to reading short pieces on the internet they forget all about the pleasure of reading books. They are reading, but swinging from link to link like monkeys in the Amazon (ha!) jungle.

    Or, they spend all their time texting, playing Angry Birds (guilty!) or surfing the internet for God knows what.

    Yes, it’s scary as hell. I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum. I own more books than I can live to read, plus the librarian job and I’m also a professional book reviewer. In short: I’m a freak of nature in today’s culture.

    It’s the internet. That’s my scapegoat. Fractured attention spans, the seduction of social networking, etc., etc. And I don’t see any of this getting any better.

    Sign me,
    Glass three-quarters empty

    posted by Lisa Guidarini on 4-28-2011 at 10:29 am

92. This makes me so glad that most of my friends are readers and that my older son, his wife and all three of their kids are voracious readers.

    posted by Gracie on 4-28-2011 at 12:16 pm

93. These would definitely be very disturbing facts…if they were true!

    I don’t know who Jenkins is, but I know about NAEP scores and the National Center for Educational Statistics. As far as education-related data-gathering is concerned, they are as solid as it gets. The following info, which I got from their 2003 report on adult literacy, is not nearly as discouraging as the claims this post makes. It turns out nearly a third of Americans read books every day and almost another third read a few times a week.

    So before we bemoan the fate of humanity (and put ourselves on a pedestal of enlightenment), let’s get our facts straight. After all, just because we can read doesn’t mean we’re critical consumers of every word set in front of us…

    posted by Melissa on 4-28-2011 at 6:59 pm

94. Oops, sorry. Here’s the link:

    http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2006/section2/indicator20.asp

    posted by Melissa on 4-28-2011 at 7:03 pm

95. I think between TV and the Internet, not to mention all the other high tech stuff, people get sidetracked a lot. I do read the paper every day, but I finally joined a book club at my library so that I would read more, because I do get sidetracked by TV and Facebook, among other things. For awhile I was also hooked on too many Facebook games, and I was on the computr for hours playing all these games. I finally gave most of them up so that I’m not on the computer as much. There are so many interesting books worth reading, that all of us should spend more time reading.

    posted by Nancy Bagby on 4-28-2011 at 9:08 pm

96. What’re yew readin’ fer?

    posted by Endless Mike on 4-29-2011 at 2:29 am

97. Thanks to Melissa and others here for keeping the stats honest. I’ve come this mysterious Jenkins Group study on a half dozen websites, but was unable to verify the original source anywhere.

    posted by Joel on 4-29-2011 at 1:52 pm

98. I love to read and always have. The truth of the matter, however, is that a lot of people don’t like to read. I used to think those people just hadn’t really given it a shot, assuming everyone would love reading as much I do if they tried, or maybe if they found the right genre of book for them.

    The fact is that some people just don’t like reading. Most people I know who don’t particularly love books do enjoy film, which shows they do appreciate storytelling, which has been popular for thousands of years.

    So I don’t think it means we’re getting dumber at all. As long as society shows interest in stories and the arts, I think we’re gonna be okay.

    posted by Kelly j on 5-1-2011 at 5:04 pm

99. I love reading. These statistics shock me a bit because I just love walking into a store and picking out books. I rarely never complete a book, and I can read relatively fast so I pick out quite a few books. Some of these are amazing to me, because I can’t imagine NOT reading. I remember many students in my old HS class saying that they hated to read, and that concept was foreign to me. I wish more people read, but I simply can’t push my own opinion onto someone like that. It’s rude, and it’s just not a part of my personality.

    posted by Kimberly Temple on 5-1-2011 at 7:04 pm

100. Thank you for the update about the source and age of the cited statistics. In 2007, the National Endowment for the Arts released similarly alarming reading trends, which themselves garnered lots of press. However, a stark twist in these trends was shown in a subsequent 2009 NEA publication, “Reading on the Rise.” Both reports may be found at http://arts.endow.gov/pub/pubLit.php

     The Book Industry Study Group also released a recent publication entitled “Consumer Attitudes Toward E-Book Reading) that addresses the voraciousness of many folks that read electronically. http://www.bisg.org/publications/product.php?p=19

     While these reports provide glimpses of hope in reading habits, anecdotal evidence from commuting, social circles, and working in a rather large independent bookstore have led me to believe that there is still much validity to the Jenkins numbers.

     I really hope that the convenient ability to read on smart phones, computers, tablets, and eReaders will create a reading populace that eclipses current or historical trends. If the same folks end up buying physical books, attending author readings, hanging out at a bookstore, or patronizing their local library…all the better!

     posted by Spencer on 5-7-2011 at 12:15 pm

101. Your bachelor’s degree, or whatever degree you received should be revoked after 5 years if you have never picked up another book since graduation. That’s just appalling!

     Also, yes, our society is getting dumber. Haven’t you noticed that only stupid people breed nowadays (For the most part)? Most intelligent people wait to have babies until they’re ready and/or married. Dumb people? Not so much, sadly.

     posted by Laura on 5-17-2011 at 10:39 am

102. I questioned such stats when I read them on the web, so I looked up and contacted The Jenkins Group. It turns out to be in a town about 20 miles away where I go most every day. They do not do such survey’s, but they did hire someone else to. They gave me the name and I contacted that study group. They do studies like this, but had no record of providing such a study to the Jenkins Group. The Jenkins Group is into publishing as a business and do seem to have a strong interest in Reading as a business. I could not find a copy of the study in question. I believe the data to be true in this context.

     posted by Leon Hulett on 6-13-2011 at 10:26 pm

103. Did you notice that your link to “statistics” cites a page created in 2003?

     posted by Susan Perloff on 9-10-2011 at 9:47 am

104. I am so surprised by the these numbers. I can spend days in a book store and set a goal each year on the number of books I will read during the year. Books takes me to places I have never seen, talk with people I will never meet, and read the thoughts of the author which is a scared trust.

     posted by Alex Meador on 9-18-2011 at 1:42 pm

105. Has it dawned on anyone that not everyone belongs in college? I am afraid too many people have bought their teacher’s lie, “Everyone should go to college.” Most people do not belong in college because they do not want to learn. In fact, they are incapable of higher learning. Not that they are unintelligent, but because school has beaten the desire to learn out of them for 13-14 years (if you include pre-school) before they get to college. They were never taught to think, reason, or how to develop their curiosity. Instead, they were taught how to vomit up facts on command, how to stand in line, how to respond to bells, and how to be quiet while some dullard drones on about things that have no practical application to their lives.

     Schools are run by the mediocre (you only need a “C” average to become a teacher), the failures, the lazy, and those that care more about their pension than they do about their students. Any High School student who reads this knows the truth; teachers don’t care about you, they are not smarter than the average person, and most of them can’t “teach”. How can the aforementioned people actually educate students if they are not properly educated themselves? Do you really want your kids learning from failures?

     All over the country, teachers sport stupid little stickers, plaques, mugs, and signs that read, “We make lifetime readers”. This is a horrific lie. In fact, they suck the desire to learn and read out of most students. They do this by;
     1. Forcing the same material on everyone.
     2. Mandating books that have more to do with indoctrination than educating.
     3. Using books the students have no connection with.
     4. Employing teachers that really don’t understand the material themselves.

     They have convinced parents and the public at large that EVERYONE should follow the same college bound path. By doing so, they have openly declared war on any student that wants to become a mechanic, plumber, electrician, or any number of well paying jobs that don’t require an “education.” Moreover, they have robbed these students by doing away with programs that would help prepare them for what they are suited for. What has happened to woodworking, auto repair, and electrical classes? They are gone; banished from the curriculum because educators have determined they are no longer necessary in a modern work force (let the illegals do that work).

     Why don’t people read? Because our “educated” elite has squashed anyone’s desire to.

     Oh yea, I was a teacher for 13 years.

     posted by Chris on 9-21-2011 at 2:12 am

106. What alarms me is not so much the above statistics, which I’m not sure are accurate (I work in a bookstore and we have a healthy business year round), but that the reading level seems to be steadily declining over time. Books like Tom Sawyer and The Hobbit, which were considered children’s books when they were published, are now on high school reading lists, and many students need Spark Notes to get through them. A supervisor at work, with a master’s degree, didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘coalesce’. No one can spell or punctuate anymore. People are getting stupider and lazier about learning, and it’s catching up with us.

     posted by ceallaig on 11-12-2011 at 8:02 pm

107. We are currently rearing a generation of people who are not able to hold an in depth conversation or answer anything to do with general knowledge – especially if it’s before their time???!!! Haven’t they heard of history books. Is the non reading of books the cause? I’d say it plays a large part, but not entirely. As a human race we have to take responsibility for all the choices we make!

     posted by Shop4Books on 1-3-2012 at 8:17 am

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