Annathepiper: Skewing the national reading average since 1972!

[annathepiper]

When he wasn't claiming that my first words were "play more Elvis, Daddy!" or that before I was talking I was making duck noises, Dad liked to tell the story of how, when I was four or so, I won a bet for him by reading straight out of a newspaper article.

I do not remember this. But I've certainly been reading ever since--and it's been kind of underscored for me with the article that's been on the news sites in the last day or two about how 1 in 4 Americans haven't read a book this year. Among those who had, the average number read was seven--and the vast majority of books read were romance novels or religious books, e.g., the Bible. And I was vaguely sad that only this one lonely little paragraph hinted at the presence of my Tribe (i.e., SF/F fandom) among those surveyed:

"At the same time, book enthusiasts abound. Many in the survey reported reading dozens of books and said they couldn't do without them."

I really must wonder what the results would be if a thousand SF/F fans were surveyed about their reading habits. I know I'm quite typical among fen of my generation, who, if left to their own devices, will cheerfully buy way more books than can fit upon their shelves. I have nearly 100 books of various shapes and sizes and vintages waiting for my attention on my To Read shelf, and while I don't think I'll make my nanoreamo goal of 24 books this month, I'm going to coast right to my larger goal of 100 books by year's end! I have lofty aspirations of trying to hold back on my purchasing of new books while I make serious inroads on the backlog, though I am doubtful I'll hold out on that. (Hell, there's a new Temeraire book coming out next month!)

Long story short, folks? Don't feel bad if you're one of the one in four. I'll take one for the team and read an extra book for you! ^_^

Comments

[wildshadowstar.livejournal.com]

I usually read at least a book a week, sometimes two. I've gotten into the habit of keeping a book in my locker at work so that I can read on my breaks, especially since I get an hour lunch and it doesn't take that long for me to eat. I don't usually read nonfiction because I use reading as a means of escape. If I wanted to read something about real life, I'd read the newspaper.

I feel like the oddball with most of the people I see on a daily basis because most of them don't like to read more than a newspaper.

[annathepiper]

Yeah, you and I have always been the reading nerds of the family, I think. And I hear you: I pretty much always have a book in my bag, since I never know when I might get held up somewhere by something (e.g., waiting for the bus, or maybe the traffic sucks while I'm on the bus, etc., etc.). Today, I have two!

I've had fellow book geeks as coworkers before--one of the good things about working in Seattle, which is Geek City--but even here, I often find myself feeling a little weird if my usual coworkers don't give me a sign that they're readers too.