A recent YouGov poll found that 46 percent of Americans did not read a book in 2023.
As an author, this number alarms me.
As a teacher, it deeply saddens me.
As a human being, it crushes my soul.
Not a single book read in an entire year? How is this possible?
Someone recently lamented about not having enough time to read. I allowed the conversation to proceed for a while before asking, “Are you watching any good TV shows right now?”
She had listed seven television shows before I stopped her and said, “I thought you didn’t have time to read?”
“That’s different,” she said.
I didn’t know her well enough to press the issue, but it’s a good reminder for all of us:
We have enough time. It’s how we choose to spend our time that defines our lives.
Author H. Jackson Brown said it this way:
“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”
According to the poll:
- 26 percent of respondents reported reading between one and five books
- 10 percent between six and ten books
- 8 percent between 11 and 20 books,
- 11 percent more than 20 books
- 6 percent over 40 books
I read 25 books in 2023 – an admittedly high number for me – which might make me feel good until I look over at my daughter, Clara, who is reading while I write these words.
She easily read more than 100 books in 2023. Big, thick books, too. Doorstops.
She gives me hope.
