Posted on 08/21/2007 2:24:45 PM PDT by Nachum
My daughter (17) took “How to Talk to A Liberal” to her liberal, artsy high school just so she could read it and drive her lib teachers and classmates crazy at the same time. I’m so proud!
Had to write him off completely.
Hey Xena, long time!
It would be a MASSIVELY slow week for me. Especially now that I have found the wonders of eBooks and the instant gratification of downloading them..now. Right now. Now, now, now.
LOL
I love to read. I was on a sci-fi kick this last weekend. David Weber and his stuff.
Why should I read Herodotus when I can see the movie “300” instead?
Sarc /off
LOL!
Here’s the excuse needed to make even more Harry Potter books!
I only read one boom last year and I may not read one this year. Who has time to read? I get all the information I need from Free Republic :)
“One in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year”
I think that most people lie a lot. I’d be surprised if one in four average Americans read a book last year, if you exclude comic books.
I read about 100 books a year, but then, I’m a stay at home mom, a quick reader (100 pages+ an hour) and I don’t watch telly. My husband likes to read, but his brain gets so overworked at his job, he deserves the downtime he gets in front of the t.v. He reads on his vacation, or on the plane when he’s on business trips. This puts him firmly in the 4 books a year category, not counting the thousands of pages of documents he reads (and writes) for his work.
Literacy is not dead. It’s just exhausted.
I blame the parents. We sat down at the start of summer vacation with our 9 y/o daughter and 7 y/o son. She had a goal to read 25 books during summer vacation. His goal was 10 books. I'm not talking Cat-in-the-Hat either. I'm talking real books...Black Beauty, Swiss Family Robinson, etc. She hit her goal with two weeks to spare. He hit his goal with three days to spare. He doesn't particularly care to read...would rather play video games and watch TV, but that doesn't fly in this house. Our little girl is already a book worm.
Girls with blue hair? Do you read fantasy or science fiction?
The Dark is Rising series is a pretty good series (Susan Cooper)
My husband likes to read, but his brain gets so overworked at his job, he deserves the downtime he gets in front of the t.v.
There was a time in the not so distant past when books were considered “downtime.”
David Putty.
I much prefer real books for when I’m not at work...but gutenberg.org has gotten me through many, many slow days at work over the years...I can even hide behind my monitor and pretend I’m being productive, which doesn’t work with a real book. ;-)
Instant access to pretty much all the classics, and tons of other stuff besides is tres nifty.
Books aren’t a luxury item. Maybe new hardbacks are a luxury item but anybody that actually gets books to read knows how to get them cheap. Friends of the library, walk out with two full tote bags and change for your 20.
“It seems amazing, but I do sometimes cross paths with people who don’t read.”
So do I; and then there’s the people who express surprise that I actually walk for 25 minutes to work
I disagree. The pendulum swings both ways. The TV generation is aging rapidly and will soon enter our nursing homes.
The appreciation for books will return, once the novelty of technology wears off. (or, perhaps, in conjunction with new technology!)
One of the performers in my group - I think she’s 15 - lent me “Twilight” last weekend. Sounds as though I’ll like it!
I have a weakness for the library book sale dollar bag days. And Half Price Books is like a crack house. But if pulpy SF is your passion, you have to seek out the dingiest, out-of-the-way paperback exchange you can find. You will not be disappointed by the treasures found therein.
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