Comments on: NEA Study Shows Reading on the Rise, No Idea Why http://booksquare.com/nea-study-shows-reading-on-the-rise-no-idea-why/ Dissecting the publishing industry with love and skepticism Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:52:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: CLCM Monthly Reader: January « Changing Lives, Changing Minds: A Changing Lives Through Literature Blog http://booksquare.com/nea-study-shows-reading-on-the-rise-no-idea-why/comment-page-1/#comment-168921 CLCM Monthly Reader: January « Changing Lives, Changing Minds: A Changing Lives Through Literature Blog Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:15:07 +0000 579599058#comment-168921 [...] the NEA’s report mean and take issue with the study’s design. Kassia Krozser over at Booksquare says of the report, “It defines reading very narrowly. Not only does it refuse to acknowledge [...] [...] the NEA’s report mean and take issue with the study’s design. Kassia Krozser over at Booksquare says of the report, “It defines reading very narrowly. Not only does it refuse to acknowledge [...]

]]> By: Friday Finds: January 30 | BOOK CLUB CLASSICS! http://booksquare.com/nea-study-shows-reading-on-the-rise-no-idea-why/comment-page-1/#comment-168914 Friday Finds: January 30 | BOOK CLUB CLASSICS! Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:40:41 +0000 579599058#comment-168914 [...] Reading is on the rise — but are we reading the right titles? [...] [...] Reading is on the rise — but are we reading the right titles? [...]

]]> By: RCB Bookmarks, Mid-January, 2009 http://booksquare.com/nea-study-shows-reading-on-the-rise-no-idea-why/comment-page-1/#comment-168880 RCB Bookmarks, Mid-January, 2009 Sun, 18 Jan 2009 23:26:37 +0000 579599058#comment-168880 [...] NEA Study Shows Reading on the Rise, No Idea Why » Booksquare - Hallelujah and pass the ammunition! Cultural decline is not inevitable. Romans, we are not…If you’ve been hanging around [Booksquare] long enough, you’re not surprised that I’m not surprised that adding online reading to the mix increases the percentage of adults who engage in literary reading, though the range of who, what, when, where, why remain wide open for studying. [...] [...] NEA Study Shows Reading on the Rise, No Idea Why » Booksquare – Hallelujah and pass the ammunition! Cultural decline is not inevitable. Romans, we are not…If you’ve been hanging around [Booksquare] long enough, you’re not surprised that I’m not surprised that adding online reading to the mix increases the percentage of adults who engage in literary reading, though the range of who, what, when, where, why remain wide open for studying. [...]

]]> By: David Thayer http://booksquare.com/nea-study-shows-reading-on-the-rise-no-idea-why/comment-page-1/#comment-168879 David Thayer Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:30:20 +0000 579599058#comment-168879 Readers return. Publishers bite the dust. Readers return. Publishers bite the dust.

]]> By: rhbee1 http://booksquare.com/nea-study-shows-reading-on-the-rise-no-idea-why/comment-page-1/#comment-168877 rhbee1 Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:38:41 +0000 579599058#comment-168877 Blogging, and commenting on Youtube, Facebook, etc., and Twittering, and emailing/texting/andwhatever the hell else you do with your thumbs to play gameboys - it is all reading, deciphering the mix, engaging your brain and should be counted. Understanding this kind of reading, this way of reading, is crucial if we are to really develop our education systems for the new century. Great post by the way, and the links from the commenters are great too. Thanks. Blogging, and commenting on Youtube, Facebook, etc., and Twittering, and emailing/texting/andwhatever the hell else you do with your thumbs to play gameboys – it is all reading, deciphering the mix, engaging your brain and should be counted. Understanding this kind of reading, this way of reading, is crucial if we are to really develop our education systems for the new century. Great post by the way, and the links from the commenters are great too. Thanks.

]]> By: Pen http://booksquare.com/nea-study-shows-reading-on-the-rise-no-idea-why/comment-page-1/#comment-168875 Pen Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:47:21 +0000 579599058#comment-168875 Bob Gillham: My grandpa read the Harry Potter series! U might be on to something with the kids book audience thing! Bob Gillham:
My grandpa read the Harry Potter series! U might be on to something with the kids book audience thing!

]]> By: Bob Gillham http://booksquare.com/nea-study-shows-reading-on-the-rise-no-idea-why/comment-page-1/#comment-168874 Bob Gillham Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:06:04 +0000 579599058#comment-168874 Might the increase in reading be specificaly down to the Immersive Qualities of a lot of "Kids Fiction" which is being read by adults too? I'm thinking particulary of Moonlight, Harry Potter & the Terry Pratchett books, Lemony Sickert too. NB I do my reading on my laptop as first choice. Print books are a poor second to me. I choose the Font and the size of it, Bliss! Might the increase in reading be specificaly down to the Immersive Qualities of a lot of “Kids Fiction” which is being read by adults too? I’m thinking particulary of Moonlight, Harry Potter & the Terry Pratchett books, Lemony Sickert too.
NB I do my reading on my laptop as first choice. Print books are a poor second to me. I choose the Font and the size of it, Bliss!

]]> By: Jan http://booksquare.com/nea-study-shows-reading-on-the-rise-no-idea-why/comment-page-1/#comment-168870 Jan Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:22:52 +0000 579599058#comment-168870 I know I am reading more today than I was ten years ago and it has nothing to do with the Big Read or any other programs. It is because I am near my computer a lot of the day and I read the daily news on the web, blog, respond in online forums, and I have used the library quite a bit for books which I want to entertain me. I laugh that they have not changed the questionnaire in years! How stupid is that??? I know I am reading more today than I was ten years ago and it has nothing to do with the Big Read or any other programs. It is because I am near my computer a lot of the day and I read the daily news on the web, blog, respond in online forums, and I have used the library quite a bit for books which I want to entertain me. I laugh that they have not changed the questionnaire in years! How stupid is that???

]]> By: Stan Scott http://booksquare.com/nea-study-shows-reading-on-the-rise-no-idea-why/comment-page-1/#comment-168866 Stan Scott Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:33:26 +0000 579599058#comment-168866 Dana Gioia's quote is wrong on so many levels: 1. As the title of your post says, the NEA does NOT know why reading is on the rise. Gioia does, though: according to his quote, it's because of all of those "programs", including Big Read. 2. Has anyone proved the CAUSATION of this change? We know reading is on the rise, and that there are a lot of programs out there, but are the programs really the cause? 3. The comment "Cultural decline is not inevitable" comes out of left field. First of all, as other people have noted, who said it WAS inevitable? Further, though, HOW is "Cultural decline" defined, and WHO gets to define it? 4. Is "Cultural decline" really the same thing as "media consumption", specifically print media? I'd suggest, at the very least, that there's an enormous amount of "culture" that does NOT have to do with print media, whether paper or electronic -- symphonies, opera, the plastic arts. Gioia's view seems very limited, in this context. If anyone's interested, there's a wonderful interview with Clay Shirky on the Columbia Journalism Review site, here: http://www.cjr.org/overload/interview_with_clay_shirky_par.php?page=all A lot of the topics he addresses are particularly relevant to this post. Dana Gioia’s quote is wrong on so many levels:

1. As the title of your post says, the NEA does NOT know why reading is on the rise. Gioia does, though: according to his quote, it’s because of all of those “programs”, including Big Read.

2. Has anyone proved the CAUSATION of this change? We know reading is on the rise, and that there are a lot of programs out there, but are the programs really the cause?

3. The comment “Cultural decline is not inevitable” comes out of left field. First of all, as other people have noted, who said it WAS inevitable? Further, though, HOW is “Cultural decline” defined, and WHO gets to define it?

4. Is “Cultural decline” really the same thing as “media consumption”, specifically print media? I’d suggest, at the very least, that there’s an enormous amount of “culture” that does NOT have to do with print media, whether paper or electronic — symphonies, opera, the plastic arts. Gioia’s view seems very limited, in this context.

If anyone’s interested, there’s a wonderful interview with Clay Shirky on the Columbia Journalism Review site, here: http://www.cjr.org/overload/interview_with_clay_shirky_par.php?page=all

A lot of the topics he addresses are particularly relevant to this post.

]]> By: Links for 2009-1-13 « Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog http://booksquare.com/nea-study-shows-reading-on-the-rise-no-idea-why/comment-page-1/#comment-168863 Links for 2009-1-13 « Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:27:32 +0000 579599058#comment-168863 [...] Booksquare | NEA Study Shows Reading on the Rise, No Idea Why “By the time this current report was compiled, as a society, we were well-entrenched, halfway through our second decade, in an online reading culture; I’m not sure how to define it, but it’s obvious that we have spent well over a decade increasing our daily consumption of text-based online information.” (tags: books) [...] [...] Booksquare | NEA Study Shows Reading on the Rise, No Idea Why “By the time this current report was compiled, as a society, we were well-entrenched, halfway through our second decade, in an online reading culture; I’m not sure how to define it, but it’s obvious that we have spent well over a decade increasing our daily consumption of text-based online information.” (tags: books) [...]

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