WHO READS ANY MORE? Across all formats, the number of books Americans read has dipped from 2014 to 2015. According to a new report by the Pew Research Center, 72 percent of American adults reported having read a book in the past year, down from 76 percent in 2014. Print book readership dropped from 69 to 63 percent, whereas ebook consumption only dipped from 28 to 27 percent. Despite the fluctuation, the Pew Center said that the commonality of book reading has not shifted in one direction over the past few years.
Young adults (ages 18-29) were most likely to have read a book, with 80 percent of the demographic having read a book in the past 12 months. The average woman read twelve books in the last year, in contrast with the average man, who read nine—a statistically significant difference, according to the Pew Center.
