Readers Rule at the Box Office
D id you see Jimmy Kimmel’s Book Club/Fight Club skit with Oprah Winfrey? It aired after the Oscars on February 29. It was funny, I’ll admit. But when Jimmy said “reading is BORING,” I couldn’t help cringing. It feels like I hear this sentiment a lot, but it’s hard to quantify. How many people read for pleasure anymore? How many actually find it boring? I tried to find some relevant statistics, but the results were highly suspect. Some were incomplete, others were contradictory. It depends on how the question is asked. Some focused on books purchased, but not read -- or whether books were started, but not finished. Some focused on how many people visit book stores. Recent studies take in the growth of e-books and how that has influenced reading, but it’s too early for real analysis in that arena. I’ve included some of these statistics at the bottom of this post, if you are truly interested. But even if stat...