The Cozy Chicks | Cozy Up To Some Killer Books

Read it and Weep

I was reading an interesting article on NPR this morning about why — apparently — women read so much more than men.

There are all kinds of theories: everything from physiological differences to when girls are introduced to reading in relation to boys. Is there a cultural emphasis on reading for women that doesn’t exist for men? I have no idea. To my mom tell it, I was born with a book in my hand. Yet I remember my aunt reading to my male cousins at an early age. It just didn’t “take” with them. They were too busy trapping small animals — or slow siblings — and skinning them.

Okay, I am exaggerating slightly. No siblings were permanently damaged, though I personally think that was due to parental interference rather than anything else.

One thing is certain: Americans—of either gender—are reading fewer books today than in the past. A poll released last month by The Associated Press and Ipsos, a market-research firm, found that the typical American read only four books last year, and one in four adults read no books at all.

I can’t help but wonder what age group these polls hit, and whether they included ebooks or online fiction in their data.

A National Endowment for the Arts report found that only 57 percent of Americans had read a book in 2002 a four percentage-point drop in a decade. Book sales have been flat in recent years and are expected to stay that way for the foreseeable future.

I wonder what these people are doing for entertainment. They can’t be watching TV, can they? Am I the only one who fnds the Fall Schedule numbingly devoid of anything entertaining? Remember when the TV Fall Schedule was, like, A Big Deal? Now, I don’t even bother to pick up that special TV Guide issue. What’s the point? Most of the shows won’t last longer than three weeks anyway. No point getting attached to that puppy.

Among avid readers surveyed by the AP, the typical woman read nine books in a year, compared with only five for men. Women read more than men in all categories except for history and biography.

Interesting. I admit, with the exception of Mr. Thrilling, the men in my family do read a lot more non-fiction than the women. But we are a reading family. We are a skew-the-numbers grouping.

When it comes to fiction, the gender gap is at its widest. Men account for only 20 percent of the fiction market, according to surveys conducted in the U.S., Canada and Britain.

Book groups consist almost entirely of women, and the spate of new literary blogs are also populated mainly by women. The Associated Press study stirred a small buzz among some of those bloggers.

I do have male readers, but essentially my audience is female. A number of men do read cozy mysteries, but they are certainly a smaller (though no less valued, let’s get it on record) group. Is it because these books — and so much of fiction — is designed to appeal to women? Or is the lion’s share of fiction devoted to women and women’s interest because women do most of the reading?

Is it the chicken before the egg? And, speaking of which, isn’t it breakfast time…?

Another theory focuses on “mirror neurons.” Located behind the eyebrows, these neurons are activated both when we initiate actions and when we watch those same actions in others. Mirror neurons explain why we recoil when seeing others in pain, or salivate when we see other people eating a gourmet meal. Neuroscientists believe that mirror neurons hold the biological key to empathy.

Ah. I must remember to use that when Mr. Thrilling makes fun of me for spending too long in front of the mirror. I’ll just tell him I’m checking out my reading sensors.

So what do you think? Why do women read more than men? And why do we read so little as a nation? Are we too busy? Are the books not worth our time? Are there better things to spend our money on? Or, as I suspect, is everyone to busy writing their own book?

21 Responses to “Read it and Weep”

Hi Diana,

I think part of the reason why some people don’t read is because so many people nowadays seem to be so busy with a huge amount of activities. And that they may feel that if they spend time doing something that pretty much requires a person to be still and quiet, it seems like they are wasting time because they feel they are not getting anything done. Some kids nowadays have day-planners so they can keep track of all their activities. My sister’s kids for instance, are usually in at least 3 outside of school activities at one time….maybe two types of sports and then some other thing like girl scouts. They are so busy rushing from event to event (they have more than one kid in more than one activity), that the kids basically have no free time, and the parents don’t either, so no one has time to sit and read a book. By the time the day is over, everyone is exhausted, and the next day starts up the insanity all over again.

by Linda on September 12th, 2007 at 10:35 am
I would totally skew the ratings. Last night, I finished up a book I’d been reading, read an entire other one, and started a third.

by Tori Lennox on September 12th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Honestly, I think we’ve become lazy. We like to be spoonfed stuff (ala television), rather than have to “work at it” as in a book.

I see it in my own home. My 12 year old (who used to love books) has no desire to read which kills me. My 8 year old, on the other hand, has a book everywhere she goes. A trip to the bookstore is like heaven for her.

Very interesting blog, Diana.

by laura on September 12th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Every time I see results of a readers’ poll, I shudder. It’s scary to think that we’re becoming a nation of non-readers. I wonder if people are tired of reading after a day on the computer? Hmmmmm. W’ere all having to work on computers every day and that’s–like it or not–reading. Maybe a lot of people just don’t want to read any more “words” whether they’re on the screen or in a book. Hmmmmm.

Maybe that’s why they watch so much television. What do you think?

by Maggie on September 13th, 2007 at 10:29 am
We are library hounds . . . the librarians know us by name. We too would skew the numbers.

My darlin’ husband teaches first grade and doesn’t generally read novels, although he did read the fifth, sixth and seventh Harry Potter books over our two week vacation. He reads tons of magazines and educational related books, although he did read Freakonomics by Steven Levitt a couple of years ago (at my recommendation). He also is a fiend for all the Amelia Bedelia and other children’s books and has most of them memorized.

My oldest daughter hated reading as a child. Then I got her hooked on Debbie Macomber. She is now in college and plans her readings around her school schedule . . . ordering tons of books for winter, spring and summer breaks.

My youngest daughter, 13 and a high school freshman, reads everything. She has come to enjoy her 40 minutes commute (each way) to/from school. She started reading the newspaper when she was 5 (wanting to know the weather . . . go figure). Her school has a major focus on literacy and each four week period, the students must read a book, picked by the various departments. They were assigned a book last Friday in Spanish 2, she had it read by Sunday and was appalled that out of all the students in the class, she, the only freshman, had read the entire thing over the weekend. The teacher had only assigned them three chapters to read over the weekend and many of the students hadn’t even done that! For World History, they will be able to pick any historical book they want, fiction or non-fiction.

My son, and youngest, is 6 and in second grade. He too is a book-hound. Currently, he is into Amelia Bedelia and the “black lagoon” stories. His teacher requires all the students to spend 15 minutes per day reading in class and 15 minutes per day reading at home with their parents. But I doubt most do.

I just finished my MBA and was thrilled to be able to read anything that didn’t have anything to do with finance, statistics, marketing or hr! LOL. My 13 year old and I have decided to re-read the Anne of Green Gables books. It has been awhile. We started reading them out-loud in the car on vacation.

Both my husband and I were raised with a love and appreciation for books. Some of my husband’s students’ parents don’t even know where the local library is.

Sorry for the rambling response . . . you obviously touched a chord.

by Mary Lynn in Cleveland on September 13th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Linda, you make an interesting point, and one that I hadn’t heard before. And it’s true. Our lives our so frenetic — even our children’s lives — that reading time would have to be scheduled in. And that seems so contrary to the spirit of reading for pleasure.

by Diana on September 13th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Ah, Tori, but we are book nuts. We are not ordinary citizens. Ordinary citizens do not go on line to discuss books and literature. Even a lot of the writers I know don’t spend as much time on line (or anywhere else) discussing books and writing like I do — and like most of us on this blog do.

So what were the books? And did you enjoy them all?

by Diana on September 13th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
I’m afraid you’re right, Laura. Books do require more attention and thought than most of the other entertainment options we have as a society. And, sadly, most everyone opts for the fast and easy — the mental junkfood.

by Diana on September 13th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Maggie, one thing I do wonder is whether any of these polls take into account how many young people are online writing and interacting through fan fiction and the like. I admit, I was startled when I became aware of fandom and how vast — and active — it is. I wonder whether younger readers are simply opting for a different format? Of course fan fiction does indicate a huge amount of time spent on television and movies…

by Diana on September 13th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Mary Lynn, your post reminds me of how it was in our house growing up. We all read like fiends. Reading was our #1 source of entertainment, and it’s still my favorite, and yet my sisters — relating back to what Linda was saying — no longer “have time” to read. And the horrifying thing is, I don’t either. My reading time is severely reduced by my work schedule. Of course, that doesn’t stop me from BUYING books.

by Diana on September 13th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
I think technology has taken away from books, as sad as that may be. Escape used to be found solely in books, but now we have the Internet, TV, Ipods, etc. And not enough time for it all, it seems!

Personally, I like a blend of them all, but it’s true I don’t read as much as I used to…

by Heather on September 13th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
I am informed by my mother that I was certainly reading at an exceedingly early age, and have not stopped since. Like Mary Lynn, my brother and I were brought up with a love of books - one of my ideal holiday pleasures is to be let loose in a bookstore for the day, or at least most of the day… Some friends marvelled at the thought that I was dropped off at a bookstore at 9.30am and was still going strong in the mid afternoon!
So I suppose it is my good fortune that my brother and I were given a love of books so early on. And then of course, television was something that we got to watch rarely as young children (in the 60s, children’s television was not all that extensive in England!)… One of the best holiday memories of my childhood was when I became a member of our local library…

by Rudolf on September 13th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
I don’t know, Diana, but it’s disturbing — and scary.

I don’t want to write for TV and movies. I want to write books.

by Karen on September 13th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
The three books I read parts or all of the other were The Haunted Wizard by Christopher Stasheff, Insanity, Illionois by Mark Sumner, and The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie.

by Tori Lennox on September 14th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Only nine books a year? I read more than that in a week! While still doing reviews and trying to write my own book. Of course, I don’t have any two-legged children around, but a four-legged lab is big on demanding attention. I’d like to know who the researchers polled, because I don’t think they got an even number for the groupings.

by Marissa on September 16th, 2007 at 12:01 am
I agree Heather. I like all the entertainment options open to us, but reading seems the richest and most rewarding. Of course, as others have pointed out, it requires the most effort too.

by Diana on September 17th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Oh, Rudolf, me too! I have such terrific memories of spending entire mornings in the library on weekends — in fact, I still have dreams where I find new sections of the library that I’ve never found before!

by Diana on September 17th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Karen, one of the best training exercises I ever did for myself was to try writing a script. Excellent discipline, but I realized how much I enjoy the wide canvas — and control — offered by writing novels.

by Diana on September 17th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
SECRET OF THE CHIMNEYS is one of my all-time favorite Christies’, Tori. I always loved the heroine in that one. Someone too tough to even consider paying blackmail — or at least that’s how I remember it.

by Diana on September 17th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Marissa, I have a feeling these polls are based on the kind of reader who only buys books in an airport gift store. Which…maybe is reflective of the majority of people, but certainly wouldn’t be true of any of us here at Cozy Chicks Central!

by Diana on September 17th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
I agree with Linda. Everyone is just so busy lately….even kids. Heck, my two nephews are busy all the time. They are 4 1/2 and 3. I try to get them to sit still so I can read a book to them and work with the oldest on his reading, and it is totally useless because they just won’t sit still. (And when they do sit still, all they want to do is cut paper) As for myself, I think most of my problem is I have a computer and TV. So I am either watching my shows, on the computer (which requires reading) or both. The other day, mom’s boyfriend’s son was here working on re-doing my room. That meant no computer…at least not mine. So I had a choice to make. Download music using mom’s computer, go through a bunch of stuff I have been saving for years to see what to get rid of, or read a book…I chose to read. I finished one book and started another. Now I have a renewed interest in reading.

I also think that part of my problem, personally is my mother. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I have one of those mothers who says “All you do all day is (insert action here)”. In my case it was “All you do all day is (write letters, read, etc.) So I stopped all my activities so she wouldn’t complain. Now she wonders why I don’ t do these things (including reading) anymore.

Diana–I find myself writing in script form more than any type of reading. I think mostly because it requires the least amount of detail on my part.

Traci

by Traci on September 18th, 2007 at 4:40 am

Read it and Weep

21 Responses to “Read it and Weep”

Leave a Reply