You know what's the saddest thing in the world? People don't seem to read for pleasure anymore.

I see it all the time. Smart and cool people who don't read outside of materials needed for work, class or some other function. I've actually had people tell me that they are proud of the fact they never read. :puke:

I can't imagine my life without books. I love TV, movies and the internet but my first love has always been reading. I have hundreds of books in my apt, books in my car, books for reading at the plasma center, work reading, books by the bed and of course a stack by the john.

My love of reading led to my career as a freelance writer. I loving reading and writing so much. I have my mom to thank for it. She encouraged my reading from day one. She would take me to the local library and have to limit me to ten books. I owe so much to her, she enriched my life in so many ways by giving me her love of reading. (A habit that continues to this day. I had lunch with her this week and passed along a few books to me.)

No movie, web-page or TV show has ever equaled the pictures in my head that books helped create. Books have always been the fuel for our minds. One of the best things you can do for a person is give them a book. I often take my nephew to the movies and I always take him to the book store beforehand. I try to get him to read outside of school but who knows if it will take.

And I love the smell of books, the scent of libraries, bookstores and shelves. It makes me happy and I would bottle it if I could.

In conclusion, keep reading and encourage it in others.

"A room without books is like a body without a soul." -Cicero

'To Kill a Mockingbird' and 'The Grapes of Wrath' has been replaced by 'Transformers 2' and 'Batman 27'

give a glimmer of hope that things are starting to change.
http://www.nea.gov/news/news09/ReadingonRise.html

Literary reading on the rise for first time in history of Arts Endowment survey
January 12, 2009

Washington, D.C. -- For the first time in more than 25 years, American adults are reading more literature, according to a new study by the National Endowment for the Arts....This new growth reverses two decades of downward trends cited previously in NEA reports such as Reading at Risk and To Read or Not To Read....


Among the key findings:

Literary reading increases

•For the first time in the history of the survey - conducted five times since 1982 - the overall rate at which adults read literature (novels and short stories, plays, or poems) rose by seven percent.

•The absolute number of literary readers has grown significantly. There were 16.6 million more adult readers of literature in 2008. The growth in new readers reflects higher adult reading rates combined with overall population growth.

•The 2008 increases followed significant declines in reading rates for the two most recent ten-year survey periods (1982-1992 and 1992-2002).


Demographics of literature readers

•Young adults show the most rapid increases in literary reading. Since 2002, 18-24 year olds have seen the biggest increase (nine percent) in literary reading, and the most rapid rate of increase (21 percent). This jump reversed a 20 percent rate of decline in the 2002 survey, the steepest rate of decline since the NEA survey began.

•Since 2002, reading has increased at the sharpest rate (+20 percent) among Hispanic Americans, Reading rates have increased among African Americans by 15 percent, and among Whites at an eight percent rate of increase.

•For the first time in the survey's history, literary reading has increased among both men and women. Literary reading rates have grown or held steady for adults of all education levels.
Trends in media and literary preferences

•Fiction (novels and short stories) accounts for the new growth in adult literary readers.

•Reading poetry and drama continues to decline, especially poetry-reading among women.

•Online readers also report reading books. Eighty-four percent of adults who read literature (fiction, poetry, or drama) on or downloaded from the Internet also read books, whether print or online.

•Nearly 15 percent of all U.S. adults read literature online in 2008.


A tale of two Americas

•The U.S. population now breaks into two almost equally sized groups – readers and non-readers.

•A slight majority of American adults now read literature (113 million) or books (119 million) in any format.

•Reading is an important indicator of positive individual and social behavior patterns. Previous NEA research has shown that literary readers volunteer, attend arts and sports events, do outdoor activities, and exercise at higher rates than non-readers.

.

People do read. I know no basis for assuming they don't.

That makes it sound as if the reading of literature has been in decline for at least 25 years. What I suspect is happening is the greater availability and usability of literature in digital format has sparked the recent increase.

However, I seem to understand things a little better when I listen to the book.

I read for pleasure, every day. Could I be overdoing it?

Mostly because I'm trying to write the same ;)
Granted, it won't be "literature" like To Kill A Mockingbird, but I hope it will be enjoyable :)

So, I really don't have the time to read for pleasure. Most of my reading is for research, so I can make an enjoyable story and believable characters.

because I could not afford to read otherwise. The number of readable fiction books I find has decreased over recent years to the point that I sometimes leave the store emptyhanded.

There are tons of obsolete computer programming books, "religious" books of all types, and much outright junk, little of interest....

I also used to sell books on eBay, did well several years ago, and have thousands of books in my home to sell, but I have a hard time breaking even now - I have stopped selling till the market improves.
I had several sales that cost more to ship than I made for the book.

mark

I have been selling books on Amazon for the last six months or so. I can understand why you are taking a break, it is brutal out there. I was doing ok, not enough in sales to make a living, but enough to pay a few bills. July and August sales dropped down to almost nothing. It is depressing. I had a flurry of sales last week that I think were all school related which was nice and unexpected because I don't sell textbooks, but apparently some of what I have is required reading. Sadly, it has been over a week since I made a sale. Sigh.

What kind of books do you sell? My inventory is fairly specialized.... World War II era history, Cold War history, and espionage... and I am trying to learn more about Texana. I don't even bother with fiction. It is impossible to compete with books priced for a penny. I have other things, but I am sticking to what I know for now since it is so rough out there.

with regard to finding something worth reading. I listen carefully to the author interviews and discussions I hear on NPR, I listen to what friends are reading and enjoying, and I read what other DUers are reading in the book forums here. My list keeps growing and growing!

For instance, I was listening to the Diane Rehm show one morning and they were talking about one of her all time favorite books, Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig. I went on line with the library and requested it and, since it was part of a trilogy, I ordered one of the others, English Creek. I had never heard of the author and when looked at the books when I got them and decided that, based on the covers, I never would have picked them up had I just been browsing for them. They are two of the best books I've ever read and they are of a genre that I've never been drawn to. I have since read, and thoroughly enjoyed, two more of his books and plan to read them all.

Currently, I'm reading one recommended by a friend and enjoying it very much so far, too.

I don't buy books anymore because I haven't the space to keep them, else I might browse your collection.

:hi:

make me vvery nervous.

It's just not right somehow.....




mark

All electronic, e-Ink readers and any physical books as one would have antiques: you can look, but don't use ;)

as long as there are airplanes and distant places in the world where you have strange outlets or no electricity at all or that odd fourth world thing of "we'll put the lights on for 2 hours in the evening so you can take a shower before dinner" -- there will need to be physical books, not silly electronic readers

a paper book can go anywhere and then when it's done it can be left on the airplane or the metro or on the hostel book shelf for the next person

try that with kindle, um, don't think so!

:)

I'm also thinking in terms of energy used to make a physical book versus the energy needed to use an e-reader or generate the book into electronic form.

And, yes, I've traveled, and am comfortable not reading the whole time of getting there and back. Too many don't understand how to be present in their own thoughts and comfortable with that. Once there, I'd rather record my trip by camera and some writing, but mostly just remember it. Reading while I'm there kind of takes away from the experience of being there ;)

based on your comment i don't think you've traveled very far, a 48 hour layover caused by a snowstorm is a place to have some genuine books onhand, as is a two day series of flights to the indian ocean

any kind of device or electronics, esp. something gimmicky like a hand held crank, just don't work

the fewer gadgets you have in the "bush" the better

real travel involves chance and circumstance and things going in different directions than you had planned, all kinds of heavy baggage and complicated devices don't work all that well

you can exchange a book on the road, you're not going to be exchanging handheld devices, the device is just something else to get lost, stolen, or broken

when I went there this past April. Nor was it so bad to miss my connecting flight to Auckland due to a 6-hour rain delay here in Houston and end up having to travel to Sydney then Auckland, and have my bag sit at Auckland airport for four days because the private courier services they used to get lost bags to customers didn't have a high priority on such things to begin with. But I did have my electronics (camera, media player, AlphaSmart Dana) and a NZ girlfriend to keep me occupied ;)

Also, I do have plenty of books. But compared to ones and zeroes, they are heavy, especially when travelling. I tend to keep my books, too, only giving away those that I truly don't want and those where I've somehow come into possession of extras.

No need to get so upset now, either. I like to use my imagination and reading other people's works, while helping in some ways, also is a major distraction to my thoughts for the things I like to write. If I ever stop writing, I'll go back to reading. For now, it's all nothing but research.

that's a lesson i had to learn too

you might not bother to carry more than one book to go to new zealand but might carry three to go to amsterdam because a look at the prices of english speaking books/magazines would beggar you and you don't want to go w/out eating a couple days to read

or to africa or to asia

or for that matter getting snowed in ffor 48 hrs a few years ago at PHL (philadelphia, america)

you need books and a hand held crank/a bunch of shitty gadgets to keep track of DON'T replace books in an emergency

and i have to admit, i'm more free handed than you, whilst traveling, once i finish a book, i freely give it away, if it's a book i know i will want to keep i just make a note of the name and buy another copy once i'm home, but whilst traveling there is more to gain by sharing it w. others -- it doesn't mean i disrespect the book or writer but just that i acknowledge thru experience that i need to lighten my load as i travel (i am tiny)

it is not an insult to the book that i'm willing to trade, it's just part of the road

"if i ever stop writing i'll go back to reading" no offense but that says it all -- you're not a reader -- a reader never gives up reading -- a reader may write to share but a reader NEVER gives up reading

NEVER ever not gonna happen

iif i was told tomorrow that all the books i've read would be struck from my brain or the money i've made over the years from writing would be struck from my brain -- no question -- the articles/books i've written can "go" -- i've simply rec'd too much from other writers infinitely more talented than i to give that up

That's great that you have not only the opportunity but the means to do such things. My nightmare-travel experience to and from NZ was the first time I'd been anywhere but on this continent. I did bring reading materials, just not in the form of a book; even so, I never looked at them. The experience of being so far away and in such a beautiful country did not compare to even my imagination, or anyone else's for that matter. A book would have been truly a major distraction to what I saw. However, I was quite glad I took my Dana with me and was able to spend a little bit of time recording my experience while the details were fresh. You're welcome to read it if you like.


Where did I say I was "giving up reading"? I do read, for research, and I read DU for pleasure in addition to many other online sources. I also read various "non-fiction" spiritual books for pleasure, though that could also be construed as "self-help" depending upon your perspective on such things. Additionally, I like to just pause and think. I love to imagine things; my mind never stops working that way. That's probably the main reason I don't read for pleasure as much these days.

I probably shouldn't have said anything because I'm perceiving an underlying (if not overt) condescension. I see how some here are able to read quite a lot in a short time. I can't. My mind doesn't work even nearly that fast. But I also am not judging people by how much they read. That seems to be one of the defining factors to being in the "reader" club. That and it being a "must" to have a physical object in your hands to do so. Would someone that reads just as much, yet only electronically, be judged to not be a "reader" because they don't have the physical versions in their possession? I'm getting the idea that is truly the case around here.

I hope by then I will be dead.


mark

and I don't have a problem changing my ways to the technological advances :D

I already have, really, especially when it comes to music.

but real books are my love.

It's the feel of the book, the smell of the ink and paper. The idea that it will take you a wonderful
and magic place. I made a slight fool of myself at the library one day. A little girl was getting her first card and I told her now had in her hand a ticket to the whole wide world. Felt kind of embarrased
later. But bookies, you know it's true.

You told her true. And I don't ever want an electronic reader, either. For all the reasons you mentioned above. :hi:

as I do like having a physical book to hold, too. However, I am also looking at this from an environmental perspective. Demand all the publishers out there to make their books from hemp and it won't be so bad. I've also got books that are too old to read, much as I would like to read them again. But that old sulfuric-acid drenched wood pulp is disintegrating. Hemp paper wouldn't do that since it would be "non acid" paper to begin with. Y'all probably aren't aware, either, that years ago MIT Media Labs came up with an electronic book that had pages! It looked like a book. You could hold it and indulge in all the reading your voracious appetites could handle. I guess there were problems or the electronic-book industry fell more in love with PDA-type "books" or you'd likely have seen that by now.

The other thing that I've pointed out, but I guess I wasn't detailed enough is that I have a very strong imagination. I don't "require" having a book in my hands every waking moment of the day, nor do I need one when I travel. I'd much rather just be in the moment wherever I find myself, content to enjoy the experience of being there. I'm also content in my thoughts when I have to wait long periods of time. Perhaps I'll write something where I can loan my imagination to you for a fee, since that's all fiction-writing is, basically ;)

and library books... with their solid binding, board covers, old smell, and plastic dust jackets..... *sigh* Don't feel like a fool; you just reminded me I have to go to the main branch and give the library my change of address so I can check out MORE than 3 books.

My favorite place in the world to hang out when I was a kid was the school library, and when I got to high school and was allowed to take the public bus, I'd ride to the muni library on Tuesday/Thursday nights when it was open late and just inhale books. It was my afterschool fun.

My appt has more books than I have room for. Some are just because I'm a hoarder, others I've read a gazillion times and revisit frequently. I take public transit so I take a book with me EVERYWHERE... nothing worse than sitting on a bus stuck in snowstorm gridlock for 90 minutes twiddling your thumbs and trying to ignore that fact that you really should have hit the facilities before you got on the bus.;) Give me a good book and I can manage. When it's daylight out (not winter), I'll stand on the side of the road waiting and start reading there.

Here's a pic of the room in the main library where I like to curl up and read. I could spend forever in this room, just curl up and sink into another world.

in my little house but it really won't accommodate more. Plus borrowing from the library means less paper waste. In addition, I love the library more than I could ever love a bookstore. It provides equity for those who can't afford to purchase books. It allows anyone with the desire to read, to do so regardless of socio-economic standing.

it creeps me out to see no books or bookcases, although I suppose now, people's books are all on the computer or Kindle. But I like a book to hold.

My to-read list just keeps growing ...

books

Then you don't have to wait to find what you want. :hi:

edited to add "swap"

I ran out of space for more books so I only get them out of the library now. If they don't have what I want I request it, and eventually it comes in.

Because I have so many unread books at home. I almost feel like I'm cheating on them.

Then, Oprah's book club & Harry Potter changed things.

Except the TV and movies stuff. I can't get enough of books and I love the library and have since I was a child. I have no idea where that came from as my parents were always too busy to read, but I'm so very glad I did pick up the obsession.

You can tell when people don't read, too. I edit a newsletter at work and when one of my co-workers gives me her submission, I spend an inordinate amount of time re-working the text. By the time I'm through, I don't even want to see her, I'm so agitated. Same with another co-worker. I don't think either of them read, and the first one has admitted as much. It shows all over when they try to write something.

:hi:

Think about it.

I *must* read every day. I love books; reading brings me great pleasure and peace.

In the remake of Sabrina (the one with Harrison Ford) Sabrina asks her father why he was a chauffeur, or why he'd been one so long, or something like that, and he said because it gave him so much time to read. I understand that feeling!

I live in a car-centric area, and I envy people who get to take trains to work. I could squeeze in more reading that way!

One of my earliest memories is of a trip to the library with my mother; I was small enough that I reached up to hold the hem of her skirt. Half a century later I can still close my eyes and "smell" those books. There is a nagging suspicion that I came honestly to my love of books, as my great-grandfather had a wonderful library and some of his books now grace my bookshelves. He was especially fond of history and some of those books make for fascinating reading.

Anyway, I no longer get to read as much as I'd like to. The years have brought an inability to hold a book in readable position for more than a few minutes. I used to read at least one book a week; now, the last book I read took over a year. Most of the reading I do these days is on the internet, and that is limited by how long I can sit at my computer. Thankful as I am for that technology, I do miss curling up under an heirloom quilt and reading for hour and hours.

One time, before we were married, I was out with my future wife and had chest pains. She thought I should go to the emergency room, but I refused on the grounds that I had nothing to read while sitting in the waiting room.

So she indulgently let me go home to get a book.

It turned out that the hospital thought I was having a heart attack, based on my EKG. It wasn't a heart attack at all, but its what they thought. The whipped me into cardiac intensive care, where I was very happy to have the book, which I may have read two or three times, having nothing else to read.

There is nothing more boring than being hospitalized.

And isn't it funny that when two book-toters see each other in a waiting room, they smile?

We just relocated to FL a few months ago and got our new library cards. She checked out The Great Gatsby.

I'm currently re-reading "Transformer," the Lou Reed biography by Victor Bockris.

I left college after receiving my A.A. Degree, so achieving my BA in English...which would have taken 2 more years on the 4-year clock...took me about 10, when I enrolled in San Jose State and went to night classes while holding down full-time jobs.

After being force-fed so many books (an average of a 300 page book each week for each class, and some semesters I took two classes) I left with my degree in hand and a reluctance to read any more fiction.

I own Kerouac's "On The Road" and the complete works of Raymond Chandler, which I dip into regularly, but other than that, my personal library is mostly nonfiction.

:toast:

I recently read his biography of Andy Warhol (titled "Warhol") - it's very good. I must check out "Transformer".

that they know HOW to read in the first place.

When I was elected president of our HOA (115 units, downtown San Jose, Ca.) One of the first things I got done was to install a four foot wide, seven foot tall bookshelf in the lobby to establish a community book exchange. Read something you liked? Leave it here for others to enjoy. Need something to read? Help yourself. Within two months the shelves were full and we are in the process of buying more bookshelves and spreading them to the second and third floors. What I find delightful, aside from the fact that it is obvious that there are MANY readers here is the quality and variety of the books on the shelves. From Naomi Klien to Harry Potter and everything in between.

That said, I am also one of those people who simply can't not have a book to read.

It's as if the standard just dropped through the floor. Even my favorite authors are churning out clunkers now.

I'm slogging my way through the new Dan Brown (not a favorite) because my girlfriend read it and wants my opinion (this is the same trap that got me to read a few books I'd never open otherwise, which sounds good in theory but hasn't worked out well for me at all). I'm 260 pages in and see nothing that I didn't see in his previous four books - twists and turns that are so formulaic that I can actually call them in advance.

I'm with you, I think everyone should read more and put down the remote, but I've been really disappointed in the last 15 or 20 hardcovers I've bought. I'd like just one good new book, because to be honest I'm getting tired of re-reading the older good ones annually.

dan brown is kind of a formula guy, that's something to read drunk on the airplane not a real book -- we put the browns and the koontzs, the airplane guys -- in a different category i should think

the standard now to get fiction published is really SUPER high, there's some amazing stuff out there

what kind of thing do you like? maybe we can offer suggestions?

i'm just starting one i'm liking a lot so far "my sister, my love" by joyce carol oates, it's one of her gothic style stories, told by a 19 year old "hero" -- very loosely inspired by the benet ramsey case i think -- another one of hers, just terrific, from a few years back "the falls" -- loosely inspired by love canal -- she has a rather dim gothic view of human nature but oh well!

There are still plenty of those that I haven't read.

I recently finished David Brin's 6 "Uplift" series of books, amazing, thought-provoking stuff.

Bookclubs are being formed in record numbers. I personally read for pleasure, as do my close book club members.

Maybe I'm being a bit nostagic, but truly, I do think many read for pleasure.

I had to move three times this year. Hauling my books and magazines around was a major pain in the ass, but I did it gladly.

And I'm a proud re-reader. I've read some books and some serieses (is that a word?) a dozen times or more. Hell, I've read the covers off of more than one paperback!

I have books and series I've re-read a dozen times or more. If I love a book it never gets old. I have stacks of coverless paperbacks too! ;-)

I first felt that reading "The Mysterious Island", but I really got into it with "The Cross-Time Engineer" series.

Turns out I like the "misplaced in time" kind of stuff... modern people transported back to different worlds. "The Lost Regiment" series and the "The Misplaced Legion" series are ones that I enjoy reading.

considering what i earned during my most active years as a freelance writer i sure as hell wouldn't wish that career on any one

(plus is it reading for PLEASURE if you're hinting that through reading they can enjoy some kind of financial gain?)

i do encourage people to read good books, i do NOT encourage them to write, for most that's a dead end that is just going to make them unhappy -- if they're MEANT to write, they'll find it for themselves

there are more good books out there than i can keep up with, the amount of talent out there, i have to admit it's staggering sometimes!!! so many books, so little time...

i get many books from the library as i read too much to afford to buy them all, for travel i buy 25 cent books at the library or cheap books at the used book/thrift store so i can leave them as i go

It's by no means easy. I have a couple part-time jobs to help fill out the rest of my budget. But I get work and I'm making connections that I feel will lead to better things down the road. Plus I love meeting new people, learning about them and seeing other POVs.

I don't encourage people to write either and I wasn't hinting at financial gain, just expressing how my own path is progressing. Writing is at times the hardest part of my life. Many a time I've writing a article or essay, research and interviews done just waiting for the words to come. It can be very....frustating.

That's the best/worst part of books, you'll never be able to read them all! Library sales, garage sales, used bookstores. They can often be absolute treasure troves for the avid reader.

so "jobs" even part-time jobs are not gonna happen

i wish i could live forever to read all the good stuff out there! i'm totally getting that!

I'm reading: Crossan's Historical Jesus, Househoulder's Matrices in Numerical Analysis, Sekita's Two Zen Classics, and Cassels' Rational Quadratic Forms

my winter stock. Nothing better than reading a good book in the evening.

So why the hell am I reading?

I was stunned when a nicely dressed woman in her mid forties unloaded about 25 magazines on the counter.

As it happened, someone had given her a $100 gift certificate to the store. As I rang her up she bemoaned the fact that she'd received that as a gift because, "I don't read books."

That was twenty years ago.

Our two "children" (34 and 29) read only for practical knowledge. There's so many wonderful books I'd love to share with the three of them. I'm very sorry I'll never have the chance.

My mom strongly encouraged me to read, starting with "Black Beauty" when I was 7. I was hooked from day 1.

and the variety of large-print books I can find in the library isn't the greatest.

magnifies the pages for ya :D

branches or systems? They do here and it's great.

i stopped reading (books) for pleasure when my eyesight started going south in my mid-forties. yes, i use prescription reading glasses now, but it's still a struggle. now, i get the majority of my reading from the net. i can make the font larger instantly - perfect!

I always try to read a couple of books over summer break.

Everyone I know reads. My boss has a huge archive on LibraryThing and hits all the used-book fairs like a religious pilgrimage. We have a sort of informal book club in the office - the same books make the rounds a lot, and they're everything from fantasy novels with dragons, to histories of the Silk Road and the Mongols, to a very popular one that explains all the dirty jokes in Shakespeare, to gay romance, to biographies of classical composers, to anything remotely connected to H.P. Lovecraft.

When I take the train or the bus (Chicago) I see lots of all kinds of people with all kinds of books.

You mentioned "a very popular one that explains all the dirty jokes in Shakespeare" -- sounds entertaining... do you recall the title and/or author?

Thanks!

'Filthy Shakespeare: Shakespeare's Most Outrageous Sexual Puns" by Pauline Kiernan.

Enjoy!

Great writer, but he sure used a lot of clichés. ;)

Or the title of the one about Shakespeare's dirty jokes?

I spend waaaay too much on books and have a pile a mile high just waiting to be read. I read whenever I get the chance but seem to only go through a book every week or so, and with the number that I buy.... well, let's just say I'll get to all of them eventually.

I'm a copy editor at a newspaper, so I also read for a living.

My parents, a journalist and a former teacher, read to me from the time I was born. I remember how I could hardly wait to learn how to read myself! My mother had to set a limit at the library, too.

And the smell of a library ... ahhh. I can close my eyes and still smell the branch I went to as a child.

I pretty much have books in every room, stacked up and piled high. And I can't imagine it any other way.

The woman who used to cut my hair hadn't voluntarily read a book since she graduated from high school. I usually have several going at a time. I read for enjoyment and to educate myself. Which is why my to-read shelf on Goodreads has about 500 books on it ... :P

Must be genetic or something. If there were no books to read, life would be a dull and joyless experience.

I am lucky to get at least three or four books a month passed on by my Dad to me after he's read them; we share a common interest in subjects, titles and authors. Mom reads murder mysteries and my other siblings that read the genre get them.

One of my favorite things to do on a day of inclement weather is to spend it at the library, just sitting and reading whatever strikes my fancy.

I get paid to do it, but I'd do it for free (my agent would strangle me for saying that). There is no more pleasurable activity that putting words, thoughts, conversations, observations, conclusions, and tricks onto paper. I love it.

I love reading even more. My blessed mother taught me to read by the time I was three years old, and everything in our home was available to me to read - nothing was off limits. I joined the library in our small town as soon as I could, and it was one of the first places I was allowed to walk to by myself - to get books. Books I remember to this day, their stories, their feel, their smell.

I get free books from my publisher. When I read or hear about something new that I'd like to read, I email my editor and she very often has the book FedExed to me, which is nice but kind of goofy. If it's from another publisher, it might take an extra day.

That doesn't stop me from browsing bookstores and never getting out without a heavy bag of books,new books of all kinds, to take home and enjoy.

Today, I finished reading a lovely novel that absorbed me - "The Senator's Wife," by Sue Miller - and picked up a biography of Jerry Garcia that I'd taken from the shelf. "Dark Star" is its title, and I remember being tickled about finding it in the store.

I settled in to read it, and, a few pages along, I realized the receipt was sticking out of the book's pages - I do that, to remind myself of when I got the book.

December, 1996.

I've had this brand-new book on the shelf for almost thirteen years.

And there are shelves and shelves and shelves of books here.

I better get cracking, but, in the meantime, do you know how unbelievably wealthy I feel?

That sums it up for me. I should read tech manuals but I spend my time reading everything else. I love to be transported to other worlds. I love the feel of a book in my hand.

my dad limited TV viewing when I was a child but allowed us to read as many books as we wanted - it's a habit I've continued - I very often have three or four books going at the same time. I'm with you - I'm as happy as a clam in a bookstore. :D

Our library is always crowded. Our informal library at the apts is always busy. My granddaughter works at a bookstore. It's always crowded. My relatives and I exchange books all the time. All my friends are bookies. I read everything I can get my hands on. Got my first library card at 5 yrs old at the Cornell
Park library. Yes, I could read at 5. Books will never be obsolete. Btw, I'm not talking formula romance novels either.

I have a real hard time focusing when trying to read something longer than a paragraph or two. Usually I have to re-read the same page two or three times cause I keep drifting off. Its really annoying.

I don't know how often science fiction books are converted to audio, but maybe call one of those Reading for the Blind organizations and see if they can help :)

this person has a serious problem, don't know if it's chemo/fatique/menopause fog or another issue but it won't be addressed by someone talking at em, that just makes it worse

i wish i knew the answer, as a friend has a similar problem and at the end of the day just can't read fiction

nonfiction if it's work related is OK because he can go back time and again over the same thing w.out spoiling it until it finally sticks

but it would be great if there was a real answer (other than adderal or ritalin, which don't work for everyone)

I did not get the impression of a problem like what you have just suggested. I thought I made a legitimate suggestion to help. I guess not.

in many families reading is just a way of life. My family happens to be one of those.

One example is the library. When I was out of work and our computer went Kapoot I used the library for emailing resumes and checking jobs. It was always packed with people

Another example was at my wife's old neighborhood annual picnic (they get back together once a year-really cool thing) my mother was there to see our little girl so 5 women one of whom (my mom) was a loos wheel. After a moment of silence finally one of the women asked "So, what is everyone reading?" and the conversation for the next 2 hours was about books.

:shrug:

My mother isn't a fan of the books Oprah picks but her book club thing really did boost reading as did the Harry Potter books especially amongst kids and "tweeners".

Oh another example-I rode the bus to work for almost a year (from a commuter parking lot) and half the riders were reading books every morning and afternoon.

i dont do a lot fo house work, lol

Yuck! ;-)

It is no longer enough for English teachers to discuss an assigned novel. Now they have to put it on a surgical table and dissect it. Last year "Catcher in the Rye" was assigned. Students had to copy three passages of at least 200 words from each chapter, explain why they chose each passage, and further explain how each passage related to the theme of the novel. It was a grind that was repeated with "Lord of the Flies," "Night," "Hiroshima," and "Julius Caesar."

Unless schools promote some reading strictly for pleasure, students are going to get the idea that reading is a tedious chore, which for them it often is.

I read non-fiction too, but reading has always given me great pleasure.

I think I have to disagree. Our Books Million is always busy. I love to see all the children on the floor with parents looking over books, college& high schoolers doing research, and we senior citizens buying books. Manager said they are so lucky in this economy to be doing so well. There is nothing to watch on TV or for that matter good movies are few and far between, so much trash or nonsense. So grab a good book and relax!!

They have a great selection.

They just had a grand opening of a Half-Price Books (actually just a relocation) store, and I stopped by on the first day, and it was wall-to-wall people. I made it to one section, but got tired of the crowd, so I left. As I told the staffer at the door when I was leaving, "this will be a really nice store once you get some of these people out of the way."

We have the basic chains around here, and they look like they to do a pretty brisk business, except maybe the Borders seems to lag a bit.

Should last me for a while!!

I LOVE the smell of books, whether it's the amazing new book smell at bookstores or that musty old book smell at secondhand shops. I've got about 50 books in my room I haven't read yet, but I can't stop buying more. I am addicted to bookstores and to buying new books. It's almost a compulsion.

I admit I haven't read nearly as much as I should of late, but that's because I've always been a person who finds it hard to sit still. That, and I have so many books I can hardly decide which one to read next. But I LOVE books!

Book sales are actually expected to pick up this year. I don't know where you're getting your facts, but lots of people read for pleasure.

I know lots of folks read for pleasure but I have encountered a scary amount of people who don't, including a number of young people.

not as often as I would like, since I am a busy man! :)

I, too, have heard people brag that they never read. I ask them how they can live without reading. It adds an entire new dimension to life. They truly are missing out.

5 year old told me yesterday (she was so excited, couldn't wait to tell me) she got a certificate for a free ice cream cone from DQ because she read in class. She's in pre kindergarten because of a learning disability.

I hope she long, book-filled future ahead of her!

My ever-growing collection: http://www.librarything.com/profile/sisaruus

My whole family reads. I learned to enjoy books because my parents always read for pleasure. I'm quite proud that I raised two readers (now age 33 and 38).

(And on my October 10-day vacation to Europe I will take both some hard copies and my Kindle.)

Can you imagine trying to get such a thing through Congress NOW?

Most authors are voracious readers.

I can't imagine my life without books. Reading is my first love.

in fact, one of the perks of riding the subway versus driving is that I can read while going places.

i remember really being into fiction and world classics when I was in high school and college...and at the time I could never understand my father who read nothing but biographies and histories...

now i look at myself in the internet age and see a huge pile of self-help and histories on my shelf (mostly unread)...

A. I just don't have the free time that I had 8 years ago, which leads to

B. I can only read at night, but

C. By that time, I'm too dead tired and reading any time of the day just makes me DROWSY. I mean, the act of reading BORES me. Even with stuff I'm interested in and WANT to read, I'm asleep after 2-3 pages. Then either the ADHD kicks in or housework, some stupid family activity or party demands attention, I put the book down, forget to pick it up again . . . the end.

It's like watching a black and white Kurosawa film. It's supposed to be this enriching experience, but with the glacial pacing and monochrome, forget it. It just feels like trying to drive on a highway after you haven't slept in 48 hours; I cannot stay awake. I'd need at least 2 Red Bulls to even try. I've tried to watch Seven Samurai at least 4 times. I cannot do it; I'm blacking out within the first half hour and I'm out like a light after 45 minutes. It's the same with a book, fiction or non fiction.

All I look at is how far I have to go - I just see the pages upon pages upon pages upon unread pages and view it as an endurance test that I just don't have time for. I cannot conceptualize reading over long periods of time; my concentration simply isn't there. If I don't read it all at once, it's not going to happen.

Yeah, I have a hard time staying focused for more than a few pages anymore without drifting off to sleep or mentally doing something else and finding myself re-reading the same page four times. And I do the math a lot in my head... "I'm on page 20, and let's see, 246 pages... so I'm not quite 10% through, but the first few pages don't really count because of prefaces and stuff, so I may be more like 5%, which means 1/20th and I've been reading for a half hour, so that means I might finish in ten hours if I can stick with it and did I set the alarm? and zzzzz..."

I do fine with audiobooks when I'm driving, so I limit myself to that, but only do fiction about half the time.

Funny you mention Kurasawa... I got "Ikiru" from the library after reading somewhere (here?) that it's a great film, although the premise sounds dry as dust. Haven't attempted it yet -- been a while since I concentrated on a movie enough to get through a foreign film with subtitles.

And you are correct . . . it's Sears Lumber Department DRY (I think that's the intent . . . look where he works). I had trouble with the nodding off in some parts. But once you watch it, you feel better and hopeful for humankind.

Lately, it seems like we're a hopeless excuse for a species.

When it's a book I'm enjoying I have no problem "seeing" the action in the book. I no longer see the page or words, nor am I aware of turning pages.
I wasn't aware that that could be a problem for others and make the act of reading for pleasure impossible. For others like myself who are and always have been avid readers it is often hard to understand how someone could not want to read whenever the opportunity arises. You explain why for some people it isn't possible.

If you can't stay awake when you're sitting still, you need more sleep.

sometimes forget my current book at home, and at work I need something to read, so I go into my drawer where I have several books stashed, and start reading another one. When I was little, I loved the library so much that I told myself I would read every book there before I died!

I look forward to the commute home at night on the metro because it means I can read for at least half an hour without the 7 year old needing mommy or my husband giving me disapproving glances because I've got my nose in a book. If I sit down to read, he gets upset because it means I will get absorbed in the book and not listen to him prattle on about World War I or trains. Sorry honey - I've got a degree in Military History and am so over WW I that it's not funny. I love the few weekends a year that he goes away to his Civil War group because it means I can read at the dinner table and only have to deal with the 7 year old.

I either find something really good and plow through it to the exclusion of everything else, or bounce around between several books that are interesting but not gripping.

Fantasy, sci-fi, historical fiction (especially mysteries), history (prefer primary sources, whenever possible, so I can draw my own conclusions), non-fiction about political issues, etc...

I have a hard time falling asleep without reading first, no matter how tired I am.

In addition, I always have a purse book, one that I carry around for those odd moments when I have to wait in line or eat alone in a restaurant, etc.