Saturday, April 23, 2005

A DECLINE IN NOVEL READERSHIP

While visiting some online forums and writer's organizations, there seems to be a consensus that there has been a significant decline in people reading books lately. I can only speculate that this is due to the hectic lifestyles that more people are faced with these days. After all, who has time to sit down and read a good novel when they spend so much time in traffic trying to get to work. After a long day at work, one wants to just sit down and relax if they have a few minutes to do so. A lot of families have small children and those children have to be their first priority. As a result, they do not have time to pick up a good book to read. The state of the economy is another reason that may contribute to the decline in novel readership. When families are keeping watch over their finances to see if they are able to provide for their families leaves little time to read a novel. Busy schedules, family responsibilities, the state of the economy, etc. are all contributing factors to the decline in novel readership. But one must remember that we all need that break from today's life events and what better way to do so is to read a good novel and let our mind escape from life's realities.

4 comments:

Michael K. Willis said...

Great post. I love to read...and my stack of books to read is always growing...but finding time is the problem. But I never stop trying to find that time :-)

Anonymous said...

Reading is not really about escaping, if you think about it. For reading to hold one's attention, it must constantly resonate with one's experiences and pathways of associations. If it were just another escape we might as well just do drugs.

Irishcoda said...

I love to read. I never go anywhere without my book. How does one join the online club?

Amy said...

My husband and I spend at least a little time almost every evening reading, time that we once spent watching T.V. It's more engaging, and for me, less draining than television.