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Here's the article from Yahoo:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070821/ap_on_re_us/reading_habits_ap_poll
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070821/ap_on_re_us/reading_habits_ap_poll
One in four Americans say they read no books in 2006
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I don't get how you can go a whole year just reading four books, or seven. That's nearly as troubling as the thought of reading no books. I mean...seven? In a whole year? I can read seven books in a fortnight!
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one in four
I find this a pleasant surprise. If three out of four Americans did read a book last year, that's a heck of a lot more than I've seen in many other polls.
I find this a pleasant surprise. If three out of four Americans did read a book last year, that's a heck of a lot more than I've seen in many other polls.
And I insist on making pictures with words. Heh. I know how you feel though.
Not only was I the first person in my family to go to college, but I was also the first one to own an actual bookcase, and no...I'm not joking. Unless you count people using a bookcase for knick knacks, but I would label that a "multi-tiered shelf."
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Hell, yeah. I work in one. It's full of ugly chavs who can't read, there for the free computers.
Yeah, but ONE BOOK? I mean, are we counting nonfiction here, people? It could be like, FIXING YOUR DISHWATER FOR DUMMIES. This is why I'm glad I'm a teenager.
And *cough* don't live in America. *cough*
So, who can I move in with?
And *cough* don't live in America. *cough*
So, who can I move in with?
And spoilt brats whose parents can't be bothered looking after them, so they treat the library as a creche. Trust me, I've seen it.
There are security guards in Dundee's libraries now. Yep, security guards in libraries. The one in my local branch threw out a youngster who brought out his piece-box/snap tin/sandwich bag and his mother came storming in later, demanding to know, "Where's he supposed to eat his dinner?!" Can you believe that?
Anyway, the security guard said, "This is a library. No. Eating." The woman wasn't best pleased, especially when he suggested she looked after her own kids and fed them at home.
Between "piece-box/snap tin/sandwich" and "wasn't best pleased" my eyes are bleeding. Thanks SP, you get a rep point for that.
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I know I'm not the only low-incomer whose extra money goes onto my bookcase, arranged by subject and size.
If people love it, money will not keep them from it. I blame dwindling attention spans and not getting people when they're young. If a kid doesn't read before he hits school, being forced to read (even great, entertaining books) is just going to make him rebel. Being forced to do anything will make him rebel.
Can I blame MTV and music videos? I like them. I know they've ruined my ability to concentrate on something for a long period of time. Something I've had to work on. It's what's kept me from reading some of the shouter classics out there.
If people love it, money will not keep them from it. I blame dwindling attention spans and not getting people when they're young. If a kid doesn't read before he hits school, being forced to read (even great, entertaining books) is just going to make him rebel. Being forced to do anything will make him rebel.
Can I blame MTV and music videos? I like them. I know they've ruined my ability to concentrate on something for a long period of time. Something I've had to work on. It's what's kept me from reading some of the shouter classics out there.
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Seven is a great year of reading for me.
Maybe you don't understand what it's like to be a slow reader, peaches. If I could read faster, I would. I don't appreciate the elitism.
I don't think there was any elitism in my post. Being a fast reader doesn't make me an elitist. It just makes me a fast reader.
I just don't get how someone can take a whole year to read seven books. I honestly don't get it at all. I mean, especially if one is a writer. It's like...training. Or studying for the job.
I just don't get how someone can take a whole year to read seven books. I honestly don't get it at all. I mean, especially if one is a writer. It's like...training. Or studying for the job.
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I don't think it was meant to be elitist, SF. I'm sure she wasn't thinking of people who have a rough go of it, but people who think reading is a complete waste of time.
I know my family thinks I'm nuts for writing and reading. They find it a waste of time I could be spending on a 9-5 job, or cooking for my husband.
They also think I'm an elitist jerk, though I don't try to be that way. They're the ones that have come to the conclusion that reading more books than they do makes me "better than them." ::shrug::
Edit: Argh! Peaches, you beat me to it. Damn your quickly moving fingers!
The thing is that I find funny is that most Americans don't like to read but they want their children to learn.. Whats does that tell you?
I don't think it's an exclusively American problem, either. I remember being at school and the girl sitting next to me closed a book, put it down on the desk during English class, and she said, "Well. That's the first book I've ever read."
I was amazed. She was 14, and the book wasn't even that long. About 200 pages.
Of course, I don't go anywhere without some reading material, but...to go 14 years without reading a book stunned me. Especially as we were still at school. You wonder what her previous teachers had been playing at.
*sigh*
I was amazed. She was 14, and the book wasn't even that long. About 200 pages.
Of course, I don't go anywhere without some reading material, but...to go 14 years without reading a book stunned me. Especially as we were still at school. You wonder what her previous teachers had been playing at.
*sigh*
Hey, movies are cool, too. There are tons of thought-provoking, non-passive movies out there.
I don't think it's a society thing. I think it's a human nature thing.
I don't think it's a society thing. I think it's a human nature thing.
Yep. Movies, even intelligent ones, do take less effort. Like, you don't have to move your eyes across the page five hundred thousand times.
And, in my experience, human nature leans toward the lazy side...
....when I'm sick and tired, you know I'm popping in a movie, as opposed to tackling Hemingway.
In what country does 25% = most?
It may actually be "most" but I know very few people that don't like to read.
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Yeah well I guess I was saying that there's nothing wrong with watching an intelligent movie. It takes less time than reading an intelligent book, but well...it still gets your wheels turning.
Nothing against cinema myself. I go often. There's no either/or when it comes to movies and books. You can do both.
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