CNN has the skinny on a poll of reading habits in the U.S.

Some interesting take-aways:

• One in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year.
• Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.
• The typical person claimed to have read four books in the last year -- half read more and half read fewer. Excluding those who hadn't read any, the usual number read was seven.
• Analysts attribute the listlessness of book sales to competition from the Internet and other media, the unsteady economy and a well-established industry with limited opportunities for expansion.
• Among those who said they had read books, the median figure -- with half reading more, half fewer -- was nine books for women and five for men.
• People from the South read a bit more than those from other regions, mostly religious books and romance novels.
• Whites read more than blacks and Hispanics
• Democrats and liberals typically read more books than Republicans and conservatives.
• Men tend to prefer nonfiction.

Comments (3) | PermaLink | Category: Books
Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday August 22, 2007 at 12:22 AM
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