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Surprising Facts About Reading

I came across the below image on Facebook and shared with a friend of mine who is a librarian because I wasn’t sure how accurate the numbers were.

She told me that she wasn’t surprised and she thinks that more people are getting into podcasts and audiobooks so although they might not be reading a physical book, it doesn’t mean they’re not getting info. They are just choosing to consume content in a different medium.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that many people don’t read for pleasure. I’ve spoken with quite a few of my university educated friends who told me that other than reading textbooks or required readings in school, they really don’t do any pleasure reading.

As a child, I devoured books. Books opened my eyes to new worlds and gave me the freedom to let my imagination run wild. As adults, we can experience the same benefits I believe. I know that when I was listening to “The Ice Limit” by Douglas Preston, my mind was on fire with images and scenes coming to life from the words spoken by the narrator.

With the availability of Netflix, Crave, Youtube and other video streaming services, more people than ever before are watching movies and television shows. This removes their imagination from the equation because they are watching someone else’s interpretation of the story or the book (in cases where the movie/show is based on a book). I think it’s important to get back to using our imagination and exploring our creative thoughts.

Who is with me?

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