Wednesday, June 6, 2007

There is a reading revolution...

Some sad readng stats from Eileen's blog:
~58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.
~42% of college graduates never read another book.
~80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
~70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.

And I'm throwing in a sad tidbit of my own: To become a US citizen, you have to take a written dictation test. Consisting of two first grade level sentences. Make sure you watch out for the tricky parts. Which are to begin each sentence with a capital letter and end with punctuation. Obviously the bar is not too high.

To be part of the reading revolution, you must buy at least ONE book this summer. I charge you to add to this: email a writer whose book you liked.

Also, I promise to keep the "I'm currently reading..." section of this blog updated. I left Tyrell by Coe Booth up there for days after I'd finished the book. Which, by the way, is great. I totally felt like a black, homeless, high school drop-out, male teen when reading it. Excellent book.

Watch for details about the revolution.

I'm off to email Coe Booth.

9 comments:

  1. I read Eileen's blog as well and agree a reading revolution must happen! I am going for a beer and picking up Jane Austen's 'Emma' as soon as I post this.

    I will make it a coffee. It is 8:00am.

    Keep spreading the word. I shall do the same on my sight.

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  2. Melissa: So glad you have jumped on board. Especially as you seem to be a very reasonable type--choosing coffee ove beer as it's 8 a.m. :)
    ~Barrie

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  3. Welcome aboard the revolution train!!! This could really take off.

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  4. Oooh I love the idea of emailing the writer- nice addition.

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  5. Sara: I bought FOUR books yesterday. Which shows I'm really committed. :)
    ~Barrie

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  6. Eileen: I'm glad you like it. :)
    ~Barrie

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  7. What's sad to me is that a British author, while published in the U.S., sold more books in Britain even though the population is so much smaller. But they're just more interested in reading than Americans are.

    A Reading Revolution sounds like an excellent idea!

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  8. Yay, Barrie. I've bought two this week. I'm stocking up for my visit to the UK in a couple of weeks (30 hour journey...omg).

    And once I'm there I'll be filling my suitcase. Books in NZ are twice the price you pay in US or in the UK!

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  9. Wow - I didn't realize I was in such a minority. We get a box from Amazon almost every week. Why didn't we buy stock in Amazon?

    My latest reads have been books on yoga. Oh no - another box from Amazon came today - travel books for our upcoming trip to Sequoia and Kings Canyon. Quick - we need another book shelf!

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Comments are always welcome!