There was an article on today’s ABC News site about books and reading which in itself was interesting reading. It suggests that most books given away at Christmas are never read and that books and reading are dying.
According to it, 29% of teenagers had not read a book, god only knows where that statistic came from (67.4% of statistics are made up on the spur of the moment). A third of all book sales occur at Christmas
My Christmas Secret Santa present is three books and a bar of chocolate to eat as you read.
I suppose charity shops are an indicator as far as cast off books are concerned to some extent.
One years contribution from a faddish Christmas chef goes for a pittance a few months later.
Mind you , there always seem to be a Jilly Cooper or two on the shelves, well thumbed by the ladies!
Not that I’ve ever read such things myself…
I loved & still do love Jilly Cooper books. I get lots of books from charity shops.
It’s true that a lot of young people don’t read books. You can tell by the very new looking children’s books in most charity shops. Pristine white pages, smooth unmarked spines & maybe only a message from Auntie to the child on the first leaf. I do buy some, if they are books I’d like to read myself. Even a lot of adults don’t read books, my Daughter included. I think it’s very sad, all those non readers miss out on so much.
If I were given a book for Christmas I would read it. I’d assume it was one I liked, my friends/family know my taste.
Forgotten Library
There, on shelves lie never read,
Novelists and children’s books,
Forgotten poets now long dead,
In this room where no one looks.
Comfy chairs, an open fire,
Peaceful quietness, cold within,
The place they once went to retire,
Has only lonely ghosts of kin.
Adults have no time to read,
Children, have the net, you see,
It’s sad they haven’t got the need,
This room, it craves their company.
One type of book I will never ever read … romance.
I love reading. It was fantasy and science fiction in the 1970’s and 80’s … now it’s detectives. Oh, for serious stuff I enjoy history and British monarchs.
Kids today haven’t the time to read., social media comes first.
I suspect they lack the patience or the attention span.
As an avid reader since I was a little girl, worked in our library as an adult for 10 years, now on our Library Board of Trustees for a five-year term…Folks that haven’t held a book and lost themselves for an hour or more letting someone tell them a tale they could only imagine…
Well, they have missed an important part of life, relaxing, experiencing another view of circumstances…I could go on, but then, I’d be giving the entire plot away.
My reading has gone through many phases too, romance was not one of them though I have read several Jane Austen which is romance I guess.
Many years ago I went through a period when I would only read “serious” novels, Franz Kafka, Solzenitsin, Gunter Grass, Kurt Vonnegut etc
I do have this habit of reading everything an author has written, for example when I was at school I read every Dickens novel, then every Conan Doyle, Alastair Mclean, Terry Pratchett, Jane Harper and so forth. I am just coming to the end of Harlan Coben but have ordered 20 Michael Connelly books to replace him.
OMG! I have this DVD! One of my most favorite films ever! When I came to England, I made it a point to get to stand on Charing Cross Road…call me sentimental.
I highly recommend everyone to experience this one. @Chilliboot, I could be Helene Hanff reincarnated.
Added: I also had the book, read it, but it wasn’t as touching as the movie.
