"Reading at Risk"

I guess I was a little bit premature with my post about January coming to an end, since then I've added two more novels to my book count. Twelve books in 31 days. That is about a book every 2.5 days. It got me thinking about how many books the average American reads in a year. So I did what I always do when I want answers, I googled it. I found a Washington Post Article written in 2007 titled 'One in Four Read No Books Last year'. None, Nada, Zip, Zero, not a single book. I realized before I did my google search that I probably read more than average, what I didn't realize is that I read a trillion times more than an average person. Maybe that is an exaggeration, but my google results were startling. You could read a page a day to finish just one book in a year. What this tells me is that a lot people don't find any value in reading.

When I was in school, I never wanted to read the assigned books. Silent reading time was basically hell. You are surrounded by all your peers and forced to be quiet for half an hour. I have always enjoyed reading, but I never enjoyed being forced to read. Instead of reading the literary classics that I was assigned, I used cliff notes to pass the chapter tests. Now I'm kicking myself, what I wouldn't give to be go back in time and do it all over again. I guess my point is that the system teachers use to get kids to read sometimes puts them off of reading altogether. I don't know if there is a solution, what I do know is that we are a society that finds time to watch TV, play video games and surf the internet, but can't find time to pick up a book. A wise teacher once told me that it didn't matter what you read, as long as you read something. It could be a magazine, newspaper, car manual, it doesn't matter as long as you were opening your mind and learning new things. So I guess my hope is that the one in four people who didn't crack open a book in 2007 didn't just get their entertainment and information from television.

I didn't realize how lucky I have been to have so many people in my life who are avid readers! I guess we will have to make up for all of those people who don't read!

If you want to read the article that inspired this rant here it is: Washington Post

Update Book 12 and Book 12 1/2: Duets by Nora Roberts

I was tempted to count this as two books. Since it is comprised of two stories that were originally published separately. But since it is a Nora Roberts romance novel I decided against it. After reading the intense book "My Enemy's Cradle," (did I mention I think you should read it?!) I needed something light to read. "Duets" is just about as light of a read as you can get. This is early Roberts, and it is obvious she has become a better writer since. Even though I knew how they were going to end, I was still entertained by them.

This is a picture I stole from one of my avid reader friends that I wanted to pass along, enjoy!