42% of people who graduate from college never read another book.
1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
(Source: Jenkins Group) more stats here.
I find these statistics horrible.
“But high-school and college ruined the enjoyment of reading books for me!” is a phrase I’ve often heard.
Perhaps there is some truth to this as a lot of my friends do view reading as a chore, and they end up buying books that they think they *should* read… self help books, relationship books, career advancement books, etc. The end result is a pile of half-read books that they never finish, further supporting their view that “reading is a chore.”
Actually, reading is one of the most enjoyable past-times there is. After I’ve read a book, I oftentimes think that I have seen the movie due to the vivid imagination that I have. But those vivid images only come about if the book I just read was truly engrossing.
What makes a truly enjoyable and engrossing book for me? A mystery? A love story? Science fiction? A spy novel? All of them do! Any book that allows me to escape from my world and immerse myself into a another world, very different from my own, is an enjoyable book for me! Sometimes a book is so good, I end up reading it in every spare minute I have over 2 or 3 days. Then, when the book is done, I am bummed that it’s over! When’s the last time you read a book like that?
Other times I’ll pick up a book and immediately I have trouble getting through the first chapter. Do you know what I do then? I put the book away in my bookshelf and find myself another book that is more fun to read. I may go through 3 or 4 books at a time to find that enjoyable book, but it’s worth it. Because reading is so much fun for me, I will not allow it to become a chore… and if a book starts feeling like a chore for me to get through… it’s “bye-bye” to that book.
You should do the same. Get rid of all of those half read books and go curl up with a fun book! Let’s reverse these horrible statistics at the beginning of this post and let’s reverse this horrible feeling that reading is a chore. Some of the greatest discoveries in history happened due to an active imagination, and I feel that an active imagination is developed through reading, so do your part to further advance mankind – READ A (FUN) BOOK!
When’s the last time you’ve read a whole book just for fun and enjoyed it? What was it about?
Oh, one other thing. For those of you who think reading is not sexy, here are some fun pics I found of a familiar face who also loved to read :-)






















