I have always loved books, especially fond of collecting them. I would purchase from local book thrift stores. I used to even trade books with some of my college mates.
By the time I completed my graduation, I had managed to build a mini-library of my own. It was going great until my placements happened and I had to move to Chennai. In November 2015, I had to head back home to Vizag because of the massive floods that had hit the state.
The nasty surprise
No sooner did I step into my home, the first thing I did was to check out my library. But I was in for a shock, as the cupboard of books had now been swapped with clothes. I almost gasped out loud, ran downstairs to my mom to ask her about it.
The disappearance of the books didnโt leave my mind even for a moment. The suspense finally broke as soon as my mom showed the spot where my books had been kept, rather dumped. They were placed in a rice sack on our balcony.
What was heart-shattering was that nearly half these books had been destroyed by the sun and the rains. And the other half had definitely lost their mint condition. I was furious but couldnโt have expressed it.
After a while, I asked my sister why she hadnโt stopped my mother.
She said, now that I had completed my education, she couldnโt see the point of keeping these books inside the house. To which I was like, but they arenโt academic books.
The Revelation
She also said something which may have been casual for her, but they stung me like a bee. She said that she had never seen me read any of these books, so it was pointless to keep them at home.
I was appalled by that revelation and thatโs when I kind of realized that I hadnโt read most of these books. I started questioning myself, โWhen was the last time I read a book for fun?โ or โIs fun reading still a thing?โ
The usual suspects
We have tried to identify the root causes of such fall in the number of readers indulging in leisure reading.
Elephant in the Room: Academic Pressure Vs. Leisure Reading
According to the Lambda Literary Award Nominee American writer Caleb Crain, children from middle-class households and those who want to enter the middle-class are under extreme social pressure to excel at school.
As a result, they are the ones who are least likely to change their reading habits with their own volition (Crain).
He continues that even the amount of pleasure reading they do might be a reflection of the social pressure theyโre under but not out of interest (Crain).
These facts show that reading for fun for young adults in America isn’t fun anymore, which might be one of the potential reasons for the declining leisure reading trends.
Reasons might vary for developing nations and developed nations, but the underlying fact of declining reading trends amongst young adults remains the same.
Social Media: A Potential Rival to Leisure Reading
In the 2010s, less than 20% of U.S. teens spend time reading a book or magazine as a leisure activity, and above 80% of them spend their leisure time on social media (โTeensโ).
American psychologist Jean M Twenge says that teens spend more time online and prefer digital media over traditional media; from 2006-2016, digital media consumption had increased substantially amongst young adults (โTeensโ).
Twenge and her associates’ analysis justifies that social media could be one of the potential reasons for the declining reading trends.
Another possible reason for the declining trends, which is binge-watching on streaming websites or apps.
But streaming apps are now synonymous with connected televisions (the technical name for smart T.V.).
So, to discuss streaming apps and binge-watching, analyzing the impact of traditional T.V. on reading habits would be more apt.
Television: The Greatest Rival of Leisure Reading
In his Washington Post article, Reporter Christopher Ingraham quotes that it is tempting to blame the advent of high-tech computers, gaming, and digital media for the declining reading trends.
However, considering N.E.A. data, he points out the declining leisure reading trends had begun at least in the 1980s when personal computers were not widely available as they were today (Ingraham).
Using American Time Use Survey data for the period 2004-2017, he estimates that as average reading time has fallen, the average amount of time spent watching T.V. increased (Ingraham), claiming that television is the main culprit.
Final thoughts
Television is one of the primary reasons fewer and fewer people choose reading as a hobby over the years.
Streaming, video games, blogging, vlogging are other formidable foes. Societal pressure to excel at academics, competitive leisure reading are limiting teens and young adults to enjoy hobby reading (Crain).
Smart T.V.s, smartphones, personal computers, and gaming consoles are comfortably replacing books and magazines, shelving the reading habit.
These activities are typical day-to-day activities of the majority of millennials. Social media, video games, and streaming websites are some of the greatest innovations of the digital age, transcending our hobbies and becoming rivals of traditional hobby reading.
These conclusions made me rethink if my mini-library wasnโt destroyed, would I use it the way I use my mobile?
I might start reading one of the books but may not finish it. “Is reading for fun still a thing?”
Yes, it is, but it may or may not last. One question left unanswered is, “when was the last time I read something for fun?”
The true answer is: I do not remember, but the incident with my mini library influenced me to read fiction and non-fiction more than ever.
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“๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ข๐๐๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ, ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ
I tried my best to get my kids , in there 20s now, to read but they never had a taste for it, they read only what they have to in school, vocabulary and spelling have suffered…
Sad Reality of 21st century but we can always resolve the issue. Comic books are the best starters for the reading habit. try to explore from there.
The truth is a good book can take you to a parallel universe, teach you different perspectives and leaves in tranquillity. It’s only when we experience these things, we adopt leisure reading more.
That’s a great article btw. Now I’ve to recollect โwhen was the last time I read something for fun?โโบ๏ธ
It’s a good blog. Never thought reading could be a hobby. I will try to inculcate it into my hobby list very soon