# Americans, on average, read how many books per year?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-on-average-read-how-many-books-per-year/223466>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 8, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-on-average-read-how-many-books-per-year/223466 "2004-01-08T18:05:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-on-average-read-how-many-books-per-year/223466/41 "2004-01-10T18:50:42Z")

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I read somewhere, recently, that the average was one book a year. I don’t know anyone who only read one book.

I read around 250 books in 2003 but admittedly I read fast. If I read a mystery or popular fiction I generally read it in one sitting. Exceptions: Annie Dillard, Diana Gabaldon, Tom Wolf, and the odd gigantic book like _A Suitable Boy_ which I did not read last year but, the year I read it, I had to recheck it. _The Lovely Bones_ took a little under two hours.

I don’t count as reading books on tape which I “read” in the car.

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**Author:** ![nisosbar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@nisosbar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nisosbar)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-on-average-read-how-many-books-per-year/223466/42 "2004-01-10T19:40:44Z")

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I think those who read a lot (IMO, over 100 books/year) should be commended.

OTOH, my parents knew a husband/wife couple with whom they socialized when they were younger. This pair read books, books, books all the time. They would go on a trip together somewhere, and these two would stay in their hotel room, reading books. When they went out, it was to go shopping at … you guessed it … a bookstore. They had read EVERYTHING (my brothers and I even _tested_ them about these really obscure - we thought - books, and they said they had read all of them).

Suffice it to say that eventually, my parents ended their relationship. Like any other activity, I suppose, reading can be an obsession which gets in the way of other pursuits.

But keep reading, y’all! 🙂

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