Do young adults read?

Status
Not open for further replies.

RookieWriter

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 7, 2012
Messages
1,745
Reaction score
40
Location
Mojave Desert
Clearly many of the people on here are writers, so they are also readers. What I am asking is, is reading books common with young adults? It seems to me that most young adults (18-30) are watching TV several hours a day, but have not picked up a book in years. They go out drinking, play XBOX, watch movies and reality shows, and talk about fantasy football. They might spend an hour a day reading Facebook, but not a book. Reality shows like Jersey Shore will get 6 million viewers, but a great book that can improve your life will only sell 100,000 copies. Bookstores are getting tougher to find, but there is no shortage of places to buy the latest Call of Duty for your PS3.

This is a TV culture, and that seems to be the case with young people more than ever. At least that is my observation. I know "50 Shades" has gotten a lot of attention in recent months, but that will fade out. It's the first book in a while that seems to have become a household name.

Do you find this to be the case? Do you think young people do little to no reading?
 

Speed Racer

Go Speed Racer Go!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 18, 2012
Messages
80
Reaction score
5
Location
Southern California
Rookie, I think you are right on with YA, but books become movies and once it becomes popular the movies sell more books. Example: Hunger Games, Twilight.
 

Sydneyd

Aye, ye scurvy dog!
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 10, 2010
Messages
6,565
Reaction score
2,237
Location
Portland
Teenagers definitely read. All of them do not. Just like all of them don't play the XBox, or like the same shows, or fiddle around on Facebook--wait, no. Everyone fiddles on facebook.

My nieces read a lot. They love books for Christmas and birthdays.
 

Terie

Writer is as Writer does
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 18, 2008
Messages
4,151
Reaction score
951
Location
Manchester, UK
Website
www.teriegarrison.com
It seems to me that most young adults (18-30) are watching TV several hours a day, but have not picked up a book in years.

To clarify something: In the world of publishing, the term 'young adult' has a very explicit meaning that is not '18-30'. 'Young adult' in publishing means 'teenagers'. That's why several of your responses have been about teenagers.

There are people who read for pleasure and people who don't read for pleasure in every age category. There is a smaller percentage of people who read for pleasure today than fifty years ago. For the reasons you mention.

And yet more books are sold now than ever before.

So....(shrug). Sorry, but I don't get the point of the question.
 

meowzbark

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 22, 2012
Messages
1,188
Reaction score
142
Location
Arizona
I know quite a few teenagers that read.

But, many of them only read "popular" books. They're not devoted readers like I was as a teenager.
 

Alitriona

Attends The School of AW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 1, 2009
Messages
958
Reaction score
96
Location
Ireland
Website
www.caroloates.com
I surrounded by avid readers of all ages in my virtual life and my real life. Lots of them are in the age bracket you mention. I also know many people who haven't picked up a book to read for pleasure in years. It's possible to have a social life, watch TV, and enjoy books.
 

EMaree

a demon for tea
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 7, 2009
Messages
4,655
Reaction score
839
Location
Scotland
Website
www.emmamaree.com
Er, hey, 20-year-old here who reads a ridiculous amount each year.

While the non-writers around me read a lot less, very few of them read nothing at all. I work in an office environment where maybe 90% of the staff have books with them to read, and a lot of my friends have been reading sci fi and fantasy since they were young. Some of my older friends tend to get spurred into reading decisions by TV, picking up the books after watching Game of Thrones or True Blood.

As for actual teenagers... from accounts on here they seem to be picking up popular series, attending book signings, asking great questions when authors visit their schoold and interacting with authors on Twitter.

Young people are reading. Don't believe the pessimising that surrounds everyone under 30 and labels us as having short attention spans and whittling our hours away watching TV. Looking around, they're actually reading a look more than anyone seems to think.
 

Eddyz Aquila

Noob Writers United
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 27, 2009
Messages
2,034
Reaction score
241
Location
Bucharest, Romania
I'm 21, I love the FIFA video games series, I'm an avid dancer, watch movies once in a while and do every bit that young adults do. (apart from drinking, I'm not into alcohol)

Oh, yes, forgot to mention, I love to read. I read a lot. :D
 

Anninyn

Stealing your twiglets.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Messages
2,236
Reaction score
374
Location
Rain-swept dystopia.
Website
www.fivesquids.co.uk
well, I'm 18-30 and I read. As do most of my friends - same age range. Some don;t read much, or don;t read fiction (I am currently bombarding my friend who doesn;t read fiction with books) but they all read.

I also go out drinking and play computer games.

It's not a one-or-the-other thing. Just because you enjoy one thing doesn't mean you won't do another. Reading is very passive, and a lot of people, especially my age, only do it in bed or on the bus/train. 18-30 is kind of the wild years. You're young, attractive and you have the ability to earn money, so it's not surprising that someone might prefer to do something more actively entertaining.

But jsut cause they do that doesn't mean they also read. I see lots of people my age in bookstores and I've had talks about favourite books with wild club kids. But if you see them out on the piss, they're unlikely to have a book in hand.

TL; DR

Just cause you don't see people reading doesn't mean they aren't.
 

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 15, 2008
Messages
18,615
Reaction score
4,029
Location
Brillig in the slithy toves...
A book that sells 100,000 copies can have far more than 100,000 readers. Between half-price book stores that resell books, libraries that loan them, shared copies, people who pass along books to friends or lend out their own books to those who can't buy them, you can have 3, 5 or more people reading for every copy sold - especially with libraries. They can get nearly 30 lends on one copy before the wear and tear on the book means they need to buy a new one.
 

lastlittlebird

avem narrans
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 7, 2009
Messages
1,316
Reaction score
161
Location
Australia
Website
lastlittlebird.blogspot.com
Bookstores are getting tougher to find, but there is no shortage of places to buy the latest Call of Duty for your PS3.

I would argue that the demise of local bookstores has more to do with the rise of Amazon and other book toting websites rather than a growing lack of interest in books...as a perpetually broke young person I was going to get my books from the cheapest place I could find and, apart from closing down sales, that was usually online.

In fact, a lot of brick and mortar game stores are going the same way and for the same reason...
 

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
29,138
Reaction score
8,563
Location
Toronto
Website
ktcraig.com
My YA doesn't read. He's an almost 17yo boy. But he has inside him the love of reading. Often, boys come back to reading as young men. I hope this happens with J. He read MY YA...in one sitting, too. But it really has to be something he loves before he will waste the valuable time. He hasn't even looked at my latest novel. (-: My son-in-law read about 2 books for pleasure all his life. This past month, he devoured all three Hunger Games books...and is starting to look around for something to read. He's one who is coming back to reading as a young man. He's 25...good to see people come back to writing. But even better when they don't leave it.

I think this is pretty typical...so, yes young adults read...but not all of them. Some put it aside for more glittery and flashy things and come back to it once the bam bam bam appeal wears off and they find themselves wanting to explore inwardly...put the skateboard aside and save their knees.
 

Anninyn

Stealing your twiglets.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Messages
2,236
Reaction score
374
Location
Rain-swept dystopia.
Website
www.fivesquids.co.uk
I would argue that the demise of local bookstores has more to do with the rise of Amazon and other book toting websites rather than a growing lack of interest in books...as a perpetually broke young person I was going to get my books from the cheapest place I could find and, apart from closing down sales, that was usually online.

In fact, a lot of brick and mortar game stores are going the same way and for the same reason...

yeah, we used to have three games stores in the city centre, now we have 1 - 2 if you count the second-hand tech place. Exactly the same number of bookstores - in fact, I think there are more bookstores than games shops in my city centre. 1 chain, 1 independent, 1 discount.

The idea that you can't both play games and read books is silly, really, of course you can. Many of the people playing games are also reading books. And games aren't inferior to books - while they're still a fairly new story-telling medium, some have deep and intriguing storylines. Bioshock is a great example, as are Portal and Portal 2. Those games were cleverer, more innovative and better written than some books I've read.

My love affair with games is shallower than my love affair with books - but it's been a long time since a book got in my head and ruled my thoughts in the same way that Portal 2 did when I first played it.
 

seun

Horror Man
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 3, 2006
Messages
9,709
Reaction score
2,053
Age
46
Location
uk
Website
www.lukewalkerwriter.com
My love affair with games is shallower than my love affair with books - but it's been a long time since a book got in my head and ruled my thoughts in the same way that Portal 2 did when I first played it.

Other than my book, of course.
 

WeaselFire

Benefactor Member
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 17, 2012
Messages
3,539
Reaction score
429
Location
Floral City, FL
Teen age girls read voraciously. Teen age boys are too tied up with trying to understand teen age girls. :)

Obviously, there are demographics involved as well. Upper middle class teens read a lot more, probably because their parents do as well. Locally there are quite a few YA with reading difficulties, mostly English as a second language, and their demographic is TV, not books.

Of course, no teenager would dare suggest reading during American Idol, Vampire Diaries or True Blood.

Jeff
 

Phaeal

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
9,232
Reaction score
1,897
Location
Providence, RI
The most cursory perusal of industry news will show the explosion in YA publishing. Not only do YAs read these books, so do OAs (old adults.)

YAs also read OA books, and always have. At least I did back in the days when books were bound in dinosaur hide.

Fifty Shades is not YA, btw, despite its fanfic roots in Twilight.

;)
 

Susan Coffin

Tell it like it Is
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 24, 2007
Messages
8,049
Reaction score
770
Location
Clearlake Park, CA
Website
www.strokingthepen.com
It depends upon the person. I agree that kids (to me, anyone under 30) are too absorbed in computers and video games, though, but when I was a kid (under 30) they were absorbed in other things.
 
Last edited:

buz

edits all posts at least four times
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 11, 2011
Messages
5,147
Reaction score
2,040
Plenty of people of all ages read and plenty don't.
This.

Whether or not people read has nothing to do with their age, except insofar as it has an effect on literacy.
 
Last edited:

angeluscado

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 2, 2012
Messages
289
Reaction score
19
Location
British Columbia, Canada
My sister falls into the publisher-defined "young adult" category and she reads about as much as I do (which is a lot). She's probably got a quarter of my library stacked around her room and my parent's house because of all of the books she's borrowed. She watches TV too, but isn't a huge video game fan. When I was her age, I was devouring books as quickly as I could get my hands on them.

By your definition of young adult, a lot of women at my office fall into that age range, and almost all of them are carrying around a book or two in their purses and they're reading during lunch or on the bus commute to work. They watch TV (some of it trashy reality TV), but we all need a little brain candy once in a while.

Like others have said, it's not one or the other. People can still enjoy books while still tuning into the boob tube.
 

Terie

Writer is as Writer does
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 18, 2008
Messages
4,151
Reaction score
951
Location
Manchester, UK
Website
www.teriegarrison.com
Hey, guys.

Those of you who are talking about teenagers....did you even read the OP's post? Or did you just read the title?

Because the question isn't about teenagers; it's about 18- to 30-year-olds. Even though the OP used the term 'young adult' incorrectly, reading the post makes it clear what age range the question is actually about.

I mean, gosh, one would think that writers would take the time to actually READ a post (ironically, one about READING) before posting an answer.
 

Lady Ice

Makes useful distinctions
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 11, 2009
Messages
4,776
Reaction score
417
I think that a lot of teenager may be casual readers, even if they aren't devoted ones.
 

JSSchley

Have Harp Will Travel
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 4, 2010
Messages
929
Reaction score
103
Location
in ur B&N...facin out AWers bookz...
Website
www.jessicaschley.com
If it hadn't been for Harry Potter, which started to boom in the US with the release of Book IV right when I turned 18, I would not have read a whole lot between 18-30. As it was, most of my reading consisted of reading and re-reading HP.

This is actually one reason I find the discussions of the New Adult non-category very interesting. I think there are very few contemporary books which speak to that age of reader, and I don't think that twenty-somethings' experiences are so diverse that there aren't universal themes like there are in YA (an argument I've heard from several agents). I know I can think of only a handful of books I've read about characters in that age range and dealing with things like finding their first job (or leaving their first job) deciding whether or not to marry and whom, separating from being the "kid" and becoming the "grown-up" etc. The ones I can think of are all chick lit (and I use that term not disparagingly but because it really does encapsulate that they are usually light romances--nothing wrong with that, but there's very little out there that speaks to that age range that is not in that genre).

I know as a bookseller I don't have much to offer as far as books with protagonists in that age range. So there's not much out there for the casual reader between 18-30...either you read book club fiction (usually the purview of the serious readers), FIFTY SHADES, or commercial genre fiction--but there's not much else.
 

French Maiden

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 29, 2011
Messages
1,368
Reaction score
122
Location
Western Australia
I'm 24 and am a major book worm. Having said that, I can and will only read what I'm interested in. I am usually very hesitant to try anything out of my particular genre.

I occasionally Beta read for a girl who writes but doesnt read, and boy oh boy does it show in her writing.

I think it depends on the people in regards to the reading. I know alot of people(young adults) who would sit down and watch a whole season of Greys Anaotmy but then go and read a whole series of books in a month without turning the Tele on once.

When I was a kid I read occasionally. It wasnt until Harry Potter came out that I found a love of reading. It was slow to start with but when I hit late teens I really delved into a world of reading. Dont get me wrong I'm a couch potato, I can sit in front of the Tele for days, but I love to read as well.

I know pleanty of middle aged folk who cant read a book to save themselves. It's the individual not the group as a whole I think.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.