A Slice of Life

While doing some research for the book group that meets monthly in Thompson Falls, I stumbled across results I found unbelievable. According to the Pew Research Center (2021), less than 25 percent of adults read a complete book per year, including audio books and plays. I had to do a double take. Less than 25 percent of adults read a full book per year? Of course, I thought, this is only one survey, so I began to dig deeper, believing that as much as I love a good book, most other people do too. Maybe not so much.

I found the Pew Research Center Survey was spot on. The Washington Post (2018) also surveyed adults in America and found that less than 19 percent of Americans read for pleasure on any given day. And Gallup Polls? Same outcomes. From 1978 to 2014 they found that the number of adults who no longer read for pleasure had tripled. And this was well before the intrusion of Facebook and other social media had entered our lives. While the Pew Research Center Survey broke the reading habits of people down by cultural backgrounds, education, income, etc., it also demonstrated that those who read more, tend to accomplish more. The average millionaire, for example, reads 57 books per year. Hmmm. Interesting.

Being part of an active book group has always been important to me. I love to read and discuss the books I read with other people. I especially enjoy hearing from people of differing backgrounds, which opens my experience to diverse reactions to the characters, story lines and authors. Belonging to a group has exposed me to other readers and expanded the genre of books I read. Talking with other readers has allowed me to create a reading list I may never get through. So many books, so little time. Perhaps that’s why I was surprised by the decline of reading that is tracking in America.

Speaking about this reading trend at the next book group meeting opened conversations about readers. I mentioned my husband and I are going to start listing the books we read this year in a notebook, to track how many books we read (since January he is at 11 and I am at 10, and I remind him it is not a competition!). Another group member said her neighbor has kept a list since 1996. I was intrigued, so I went to meet her. Margie Rohwer is a longtime Thompson Falls resident and avid reader. She reads on average 35 books a year and since 1996 has logged over 1,000 titles in her book journal. Reading through her journal, with her beautiful script, was like saying hi to many old friends. I recall reading many of the titles she had listed. I appreciated her notes, such as “enjoyed” written in 2018 beside Montana Woman by F. Roseann Bittner and “another odd one” written beside Lila by Marilyn Robinson. What a wonderful treasure to look back over in years to come. And a great motivator to me to continue my reading journal.

Margie was saddened to hear of the reading decline in America. As we visited, she shared that like the Washington Post survey pointed out, she believes reading is important to maintain a lifelong development of vocabulary, comprehension, and knowledge. While YouTube is an excellent resource for learning new skills, reading has traditionally been the skill utilized to research and learn. A friend once said he was going to build a dining table for his wife. I asked if he knew how. His response? “No, but we have a library, and they have a book that will teach me.” He read several books, borrowed tools and made a gorgeous table for his wife. Any knowledge we desire to have is at our fingertips. We only need to open a book.

Reading is not just to gain knowledge. I love the journeys good books have taken me on, the stories read, the history that has come alive for me through the adventures of ordinary people in extraordinary times. A good book is an adventure. Who else as a child read in bed by flashlight under the covers past “lights out” because you needed to know what happens next?

As a child I loved the library summer reading program. Each child had a “bookworm” on the library wall. A circle of construction paper with their name and a worm face on it, followed by another circle with the title and author of the book they had read. I loved to watch my bookworm grow every few days as I added more circles, developing my love of reading. And so, I plan to do the same with my booklist journal. I hope one day to see pages of titles and authors with short notes alongside, as Margie Rohwer has done. And I hope to reach a goal of enjoying 57 titles or more in 2022. If you see me out and about, let me know what your favorite titles are. I’d love to add them to my reading list. You never know when you are going to read a new favorite. Like Shark Dialogues by Kiana Davenport or Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund or… well, you get it. Enjoy the read!

Chelle is a recovering social worker who currently works as a licensed massage therapist at Cherry Creek Myotherapy. She moved to Montana with her husband David and two pups, Lucas and Turner, where they seek “the quiet life” amid new adventures.