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Pew Research: Three-Quarters of Americans Have Read a Book in Last One Year -- 67% in Print Format; Use of Audiobooks Rising (pewresearch.org)
Americans are spreading their book consumption across several formats, and the use of audiobooks is rising, Pew Research said in a report published on Thursday. From the report: About three-quarters (74%) of Americans have read a book in the past 12 months in any format, a figure that has remained largely unchanged since 2012, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in January. Print books remain the most popular format for reading, with 67% of Americans having read a print book in the past year.
And while shares of print and e-book readers are similar to those from a survey conducted in 2016, there has been a modest but statistically significant increase in the share of Americans who read audiobooks, from 14% to 18%. Overall, Americans read an average (mean) of 12 books per year, while the typical (median) American has read four books in the past 12 months. Each of these figures is largely unchanged since 2011, when the Center first began conducting the surveys of Americans' book reading habits.
Despite some growth in certain digital formats, it remains the case that relatively few Americans consume digital books (which include audiobooks and e-books) to the exclusion of print. Some 39% of Americans say they read only print books, while 29% read in these digital formats and also read print books. Just 7% of Americans say they only read books in digital formats and have not read any print books in the past 12 months. Some demographic groups are more likely than others to be digital-only book readers, but in general this behavior is relatively rare across a wide range of demographics. For example, 10% of 18- to 29-year-olds only read books in digital formats, compared with 5% of those ages 50-64 and 4% of those 65 and older.
And while shares of print and e-book readers are similar to those from a survey conducted in 2016, there has been a modest but statistically significant increase in the share of Americans who read audiobooks, from 14% to 18%. Overall, Americans read an average (mean) of 12 books per year, while the typical (median) American has read four books in the past 12 months. Each of these figures is largely unchanged since 2011, when the Center first began conducting the surveys of Americans' book reading habits.
Despite some growth in certain digital formats, it remains the case that relatively few Americans consume digital books (which include audiobooks and e-books) to the exclusion of print. Some 39% of Americans say they read only print books, while 29% read in these digital formats and also read print books. Just 7% of Americans say they only read books in digital formats and have not read any print books in the past 12 months. Some demographic groups are more likely than others to be digital-only book readers, but in general this behavior is relatively rare across a wide range of demographics. For example, 10% of 18- to 29-year-olds only read books in digital formats, compared with 5% of those ages 50-64 and 4% of those 65 and older.
26% HAVEN'T read a single book in the last year.
I know this doesn't represent all reading - my wife, for example, isn't really into books, but reads substantial, magazine-format articles like Science News or The Economist voraciously, pretty much every evening.
But the idea of not reading a book in a year, my delightful spouse notwithstanding, is crazy for me. It's nuts if I haven't finished a book in the past 2-3 days.
-Styopa
The problem with the anti-intellectualism, isn't that they can't read, it is more that they fail to open their minds to understand.
Also to a point, usually these people who are anti-science, are not anti-science on all things. for example we have the Anti-GMO people, where there is no science showing it is harmful, there are Climate change deniers.... However they may be Pro-Vaxx or strongly believe in Evolution.
Normally if someone has a view on something they don't read about something they disagree with to see if they can change their mind, they will only read material that will convince them more.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.