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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.
No way I'm buying 74% of all Americans can read, that's impossible.
Reading is hard. Proofreading is even harder.
...my reading list, that is. Some nonfiction I read would include lefties like Chomsky, and factual stuff like books on motorcycles, guns, etc.
Most is in digital, for the convenience.
Treasured volumes, I go out of my way to get in hardback. Eventually. Let's see.. 20 years of Potter, and I still don't have a single dead-tree version of it, it's all in my phone and tablet.
I have just one audiobook, for some strange reason I can't quite get into audiobooks as deep as I get into the "printed" book (paper or screen, don't matter.) I hear the words but they don't stick as well, I don't see the "world" the author's painting as well as I do when it's in visible words.
The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
Right, right, right, if you don't have the money, you have to learn how to do the thing.
If that is so hard, why do you think you should do it?
Audio recording and editing is technical, but it isn't brain science or rocket surgery.
"I need spend moneys `cause I dunnu no how too install opens horse!"
Get you some library, fool.
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
Unless they're picture books, you can't get to 74% when half the population is illiterate.
From WaPo:
Approximately 32 million adults in the United States can't read, according to the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that 50 percent of U.S. adults can't read a book written at an eighth-grade level.
Just another day in Paradise
$2k isn't so bad, if people are actually buying your book, but it's firmly beyond authors who are just getting starting. I find this very annoying for a couple of new authors I like, but who similarly can't afford the step up to audiobooks. I have very little time for reading these days, but listen to books 2 hours a day, so I can only choose a few books that are print (well, e-book) only.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.