Jenna Bacon, Campus Carrier asst. arts and living editor
Reading is something that every person takes part in throughout their day. Whether someone is reading a news article, a textbook, or a text from a friend, reading is a part of daily life. It’s not so often that one takes the time to read an actual book outside of academic requirements. According to the Time Use Survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American read 23 minutes a day reading in 2004. In 2019, that number declined to just 16 minutes of reading each day. However, pleasure reading might be making a comeback.
With more students wanting to find a screen-free way to unwind and the rise of things like booktok, it seems leisure reading has become a bit more common in the past few years. Booktok is a niche side of the social media platform TikTok where people who enjoy reading will recommend, discuss, and review books. The trend of sharing one’s favorite books has made its way to other social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube as well. According to Scribd, books that received attention on booktok saw an average 75% spike in sales following an 18% decline in reading before booktok started trending. Junior Thea Dupree shared that she rediscovered her love of reading thanks to booktok.
“I was actually on TikTok when I saw that one of my favorite influencers, Haley Pham, had posted she was reading a book called We Were Liars,” Dupree said. “She said that she was reading this book, and it was really good. That’s when I got back into reading.”
Reading can be beneficial in more ways than just providing a source of entertainment. According to a medically reviewed article from Real Simple magazine, reading has been known to lead to a broader vocabulary, higher test scores, and a higher level of intelligence later in life. When a book is written from a character’s point of view it can allow the reader to understand the mindset and ambitions of that character. Professor of English, Rhetoric & Writing Jim Watkins shared that reading fictional novels has enabled him to be more empathetic and how a good writer can impact the level of empathy a reader feels.
“Good readers know that good writers empathize well. They understand human nature,” Watkins said. “So, they give us language that helps us empathize with their characters and try to step in someone else’s shoes and see what it’s like. A good writer can give us the opportunity to do that.”
While some people find reading in their free time easy, not everyone has that same experience. Audiobooks are a good option for people who find reading boring or just don’t have time to sit down and read. People can listen to audiobooks while they drive to class or while they cook dinner. Audiobooks provide attention-grabbing narrations, and some even include sound effects. However, sometimes people who find reading boring just haven’t found the right book yet. (Insert year here) Ava Jarrell suggested some ways for people to get into reading as a hobby.
“Start with something small because it’s difficult to find out what clicks when you’re reading because you really have to just figure out the story that you like and the writing style that you like,” said Jarrell. “Just sort of, read a lot of different books until something does stick or start a lot of different books until something sticks and find topics that you enjoy and kind of run with that.”
Leisure reading shouldn’t have to be an expensive hobby. Local libraries offer books from many different genres and authors. Most libraries even have eBooks available for check out now. Memorial library is an easily accessible place for Berry students to find lots of different types of reading material.