do a lot of reading?

Earlier today I came upon this post on Nathan Bransford's blog that referenced this article. The article says that polls indicate that one in four adult Americans read no books last year. None. Not one.

Now granted, I am an avid reader and I have probably read four books within the past month, which was apparently how many books the average person says to have read. And I know people who are less than fanatical readers and maybe reading one book in a year would be a stretch. But I guess the sheer percentage of one in four not reading any books staggers me.

Because even with the success of the Harry Potter series or The DaVinci Code, I would have thought that these might make up for that. I probably couldn't estimate the amount of bookseller bags I saw with the seventh Harry Potter the day it came out. I also saw quite a few people with it on the streets. Normally you can't really pick out what a person is reading walking down the sidewalk. I found that intriguing.

Anyway. I understand that movies, TV and the apparent greatness that is YouTube makes up for reading, but still...how many people find themselves in waiting rooms? Or at restaurants with your friend running late? Or in urban settings, public transportation? I've always found it's good to carry a book with me for those very reasons. It makes five, ten minutes go by much quicker.

I've been curious as to how many books I read and even which ones and when. About a month ago my friend pointed me to the site goodreads and I'm using that to keep track. We're in the same book club and I should play copy cat and make a seperate list for my book club books. I may eventually have to do that.

Mainly I just wanted to share that article. It's pretty interesting and actually makes me want to read more and start recommending the great books I'm reading. If you happen to be on goodreads as well, let me know if you have any suggestions. Or let me know on here. I've got a stack of books I'm reading and in my 'to read' pile, but that's never stopped me from adding to them.

Read anything good lately?