The End of Reading?

[BuffysBigSister]

Just been reading this interesting article in The Atlantic about declining numbers of readers (in the US but am sure it applies here too). Is reading now a niche hobby? Does it matter? I love reading and it makes me a bit sad to think its "falling out of fashion". The End of Reading Is Here - The Atlantic

I think it depends what circles you move in ~ I have been to two knitting/craft groups in the past two days and both have included interesting discussions about the books that people are currently reading.

All of my friends read and we swap books and discuss them.

My church has just started a reading group and it has been very well attended.

Several members of my family read a huge amount and their houses, like mine, are full of books. Sadly I also have family members who never read. This is nothing to do with age ~ we have young & old in both groups.

What makes me very sad is that I was in Waterstone's on Sunday, choosing some books for a younger member of my family. A boy, aged eight or nine, was looking through the bookshelves with great interest. His DM was looking very bored and said to him "How much longer are we going to be in this dreadful shop? There's nothing for me to look at!" That's dreadful and, if that attitude is prevalent, yes, we will have declining numbers of readers

I do think it depends on your milieu. I read, I even go to the local libraries and check out books! DDs have frequently seen me with a book in hand.
Post-phones, it is harder to concentrate so I think if you're not in the habit of reading, it's harder to build it. Also, I read an article (online) about how reading on screens is not the same as reading actual books in terms of (too much) brain action and that the closer one's phone is the harder it is to concentrate on anything. So if you really want to concentrate, you must leave your phone in another room.
During the pandemic, I read on my phone b/c the libraries were closed. We went to France and stayed at a small place with a pool. The adults all had paperbacks (ordered them online? bought in supermarkets?) and so did the kids. It was bliss. DH had brought no books but read and enjoyed the random ones in the cottage. One was about colonisation in Africa, one was about an editor in 1850s Paris ...
DD19 has never been much of a reader, even as a toddler - somehow the books just don't grip/transport her.
DD16 reads more and specific books so that she can talk about those books with her friends.

I think you mean the end of reading. Reading seemed to be ok the last time I passed through.

I read this article this morning. We are definitely losing something. The most depressing bit in there for me was how more people gamble recreationally than read now. Naomi Alderman is doing a couch to 5k for reading at the moment if anyone wants to work up their reading muscles.