I had already decided on the topic for todays post, when another, related, topic came to my attention. Watch in amazement as I combine the two topics into a single post. (Maybe in a long single post…)
Last week I read an article in The Atlantic that floored me. It was called, “The Decline of the American Book Lover,” by Jordan Weissman. (Link)
Here is the salient point: 23% of Americans did not read a book last year. Not a single book! Almost 1 in 4 people did not read a book. “Is that bad?” you may ask. Well, for some perspective, when I started my Senior year of High School in 1978, only 8% of Americans went bookless for the entire year. This is triple the percentage of non-readers since I was a kid.
You are probably thinking that Kindles, Nooks, and iPads are what is causing the difference. Nope. Electronic media is included – even audiobooks!. At the end of the day, 25% off us didn’t read, or listen to a book last year.
Being curious, I looked at the actual research, and you can too. Here is the link. There is a lot of cool stuff in there – but you’ll have to read it yourself.
Who cares? I care. I am concerned for your well-being. I love books. My EC consumes them like most of us consume Doritos. FOML1 is an English teacher for heaven’s sake – she read something crazy like 45 books last year. We are a reading family. I blogged about this before in “Caught Reading. Yippee!” So, I think everyone should read books. There you have it.
What? Some of you think my opinion is not enough? Well, I am not the only one who thinks we should read books. Someone who you might respect more agrees with me. Who would that be?
God.
Yes, God said that we need to read books. Not once. Not twice. FOUR times. Four different times, the Lord instructed the saints to “seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom.” (D&C 88:118, D&C 90:15, D&C 109:7, D&C 109:14)
Now I will leave it for personal discretion as to what “Best Books” may mean to you, but the point is pretty clear: The Lord felt it important enough to inspire the prophet Joseph to say it four times, in important circumstances, including the dedication of the Kirtland Temple.
He only told us not to use tobacco once.
Want something more current? How about President Hinckley. Here are two quotes on the topic from him:
“It is both relaxing and invigorating to occasionally set aside the worries of life, seek the company of a friendly book…from the reading of ‘good books’ there comes a richness of life that can be obtained in no other way.”
“If we could follow the slogan that says,”Turn off the TV and open a good book” we would do something of substance for a future generation.”
And if President Hinckley is still not current enough for you, here is President Monson:
“Reading is one of the true pleasures of life. In our age of mass culture, when so much that we encounter is abridged,adapted, adulterated, shredded, and boiled down, it is mind-easing and mind-inspiring to sit down privately with a congenial book.”
Why do suppose it is important? A couple of “earthly” reasons could be that people who read are statistically more likely to be better educated and earn more money that those who don’t read. The Lord could use an educated people, and the extra tithing and donations could come in handy, too.
Maybe it is because it is good for our brains. Recent studies are showing that brain function is increased after reading a novel, even up to five days after you read it. (link here.)
Or maybe it is because God loves us, and wants us to attain as much intelligence with us in this life as possible. He did mention that in scripture too:
“Whatever principle off intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” (D&C 130: 18-19)
I have a stack of books that I am either in the process of reading, or want to read. My younger brother has a much more efficient “system” for book reading that I quite admire. He reads a church book, then a non-fiction, (history, work-related, etc.) then a novel for fun. He just keeps the rotation going. It is remarkable to me, because as a kid he hated reading.
What should frighten a parent? A child that says, “I hate reading.”
—-
As I was collecting my thoughts to write about the importance of reading, my friend Viki posted a link to and article in the February Ensign. This article takes this conversation to the next level.
The article is called “Get Informed, Get Involved.” The main point is that we need to get involved in our communities, and governments, etc. The secondary point that belongs in this discussion is that in order to make a difference, we need to actually know what is going on. (Granted, there are many in politics who seem to forge ahead anyway.)
God would have an informed people. Or, as I like to say it: Thou shalt not be clueless.
Without naming anyone, there are some clueless people out there. They have no idea what is going on in the world, in their country, or in their community – often by choice.
From the article:
“Our Church leaders are good examples of staying current on local, national, and world events. In addition to traveling extensively and being constantly in touch with local area leaders, the General Authorities and general officers of the Church stay informed by reading widely. One need only peruse some of the most recent general conference talks to notice the variety of sources, both printed and online, that the speakers have consulted.
Following the example of our leaders, we can become informed by seeking out a variety of trustworthy, reputable, and responsible news sources whose stories prove to be consistently reliable.”
So it isn’t enough to read books. We need to read the news as well. We need to be informed. We can’t put our heads in the sand and say, “I would rather not know what is going on – I’ll just focus on my family, and not what is going on out there.”
The problem with that line of thinking is that our kids are going to be “out there” – in the world. We need to know what is going on. We have been instructed to be “in the world.” Not hide away from it.
As the Savior told his disciples, “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
We aren’t going to be wise as serpents – or understand what THE serpent is up to – unless we are aware, and trying to comprehend what is happening around us.
President Uchtdorf said quoted D&C when he said, “For members of the Church, education is not merely a good idea—it’s a commandment.” (link)
And finally, if we want to really be useful to the Lord in building up His kingdom, we need to be aware, “Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms— That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you.” (D&C 88:79-80)
It is never too late to begin to love to read and to learn. We can be much more useful to the Lord if we aren’t clueless.
I used to read a lot maybe a book a week less if it was a thought provoking book, but life changes and I’m sometimes lucky to read one once a month. I went from a SAHM to working full time and having two family members with lots of medical appointments. I am able to listen to audiobooks even though it’s not the same it does keep my sanity. We have over 1000 books in our home at this time which does not include electronic books but does include books I have more than one edition of. My 7 year old daughter loves to read too and can go through a chapter book every week sometimes more. My husband hates going to D.I. with us because we head to the book section and spend sometimes more money and time then we should.
My EC had a hard time learning to read. She loves to read, but does not do it quickly. I have one FoML, who optomitrists did not discover that she could not focus her eyes at 14-24 inches (the range that most people hold a book) until she was in 4th grade. She hates reading, but knows the necessity of reading to the Fo(Her)L.
My poor EC has had to learn to endure my insatiable propensity to read everything. She no longer places the cereal box on the table, because I will inadvertantly read the whole thing instead of conversing. She laughs that there are 5-6 books on my night stand by the bed at any one time. She asks if I would rather get a Kindle in order to keep it more orderly, but there is something about holding a book with paper pages. She used to get frustrated because if I found a really interesting fiction book, I would read the whole thing at one sitting (She never let me pick up a Robert Jordan or David Eddings book unless she didn’t want to see me for 24 hours) She does wonder how I keep it all straight when I have a mix of history, historical fiction, non-fiction, etc. and I am reading them all at the same time.
I think that I agree with Rhonda above. I know that I read like many people watch TV. I read the words but I “see” what is happening. The youngest two FoML have inheritted the same love for books that I have. When my daughter went away to college, the first thing she packed was 5 boxes of books to take with her, every book she had ever had. She didn’t want to leave them behind. My son frustrates his mother because every time she buys him a book, or 2 or 3, he reads them before dinner!
I love all good books. My EC has accepted that we have a library in our home, Best of all, when Christmas rolls around the FoML all get together to make sure that they don’t all get me the same thing.
No danger of books becoming obsolete in my home.
Oh, and by the way, my EC became a part time librarian at one of our last duty stations, and fell in love with it. She cringes every time she sees me marking up my books. But she can’t think of anything else she would rather do.
Books are my friends when I’m alone & the gift of reading and the LOVE of learning is one of the most important things I want for my children. If one can read, one can “travel” anywhere. One can live above and below his means to see into other lifestyles & cultures, if only for a while until the book is finished. I tell my kids they can learn *anything* they’ve ever wanted to know from books. They are a tremendous gift to be treasured and cared for. Kids today mostly don’t value them because, well, they have Siri & the internet and they are available to anyone at anytime via the public library. I remind my kids how sought after books used to be and that we are very blessed to have so many at our fingertips.
For Christmas I asked grandma not to buy them a toy but instead to get each kid a small set of books and they loved them! Little else brings me as much happiness as seeing them snuggled in their beds with a book! Sometimes in the middle of the day!
I guess our obsession with literature may be a bit over the top to some but I literally see them as an education, an adventure, and a very big blessing!
My husband and I learned to read easily and enjoy reading still today.
Our oldest son…does. not. Poor kid is such a hard worker, but reading is just so hard for him. He works and works at it, LOVES to *listen* to a good story, understands the need to read, no matter how long it takes him to claw through a passage he understands what he just read, but we can see that there is just no love in it for him. It’s sad to see how much he hates it. He has his younger brother read stories to him now. :/ There has to be an underlying problem considering his ability to understand and learn via auditory input, but struggling to find somewhere that will test him. I’m pretty sure if we could identify the glitch we could address it much more succefully… I’m sad he’ll probably end up using reading as little as possible.
Big Mama,
I missed your comment before I wrote my own. Good luck on getting your son tested. The first thing I would check on is ensuring that he can see what he is reading. My daughter could see close up and far away, but couldn’t focus her eyes at the distance most people hold a book. She was about 11 when it was finally figured out. She hates reading to this day, and will not do it for the joy of reading. She, by default, became an auditory learner. She tested above 96% in every subject (except reading) when she finished school because the test was read to her. There was no lack of intelligence, just physical limitations. Don’t forget about Dyslexia also. That is the most common cause of difficulty in reading. All of them can be overcome.
Another problem may be the fact that schools have gotten away from teaching phonics. In this case, your son might have never learned how to read letters, he only knows words, but his brain is still trying to process the letters. I hope that you will someday soon find out what he needs.
Just to add some additional fodder to the discussion about the Church Leaders staying informed and leading by example in this regard, I’ve had several occasions to hear Dr. Erland Peterson speak regarding his experiences hosting foreign dignitaries in their visits to BYU as part of the Ambassadorial Visits Program. Dr. Peterson is Associate International Vice President @ BYU and has, since the inception of the program back in the 90’s, hosted over 200 dignitaries from over 100 countries in visiting BYU. Often, a part of these visits includes a meeting with the First Presidency and/or other Church leaders. There are many countries whose leaders cannot, for political reasons, directly visit the leadership of the LDS Church but who can certainly accept a hosted visit from the largest private university in the US. And since the First Presidency sit on the board of trustees of that university, well, there’s that whole “wise as serpents, harmless as doves” thing in action.
Dr. Peterson is often a party to the visits between the First Presidency and the dignitaries. He tells some remarkable stories but one that sticks in my mind was the comment made once by, I believe, the Malaysian ambassador at the time, which was back when President Hinckley was still alive. According to Dr. Peterson, Pres. Hinckley regularly amazed his visitors with his incredible depth of knowledge and understanding of even minute matters of concern in the lands of the visitors. He was a voracious reader and had an incredible ability to remember details and understand the underlying issues. Of course, those of us who sustained him as a Prophet, Seer and Revelator have no difficulty understanding where that particular gift was coming from but his deftness in discussing matters of concern in a far-off southeast Asian land where not many LDS members reside caught the Malaysian ambassador off guard. His comment to Dr. Peterson after leaving his visit with the First Presidency expressed his amazement by indicating that he wouldn’t want to get into a debate about political matters in his country with President Hinckley because President Hinckley obviously knew more about the issues than he did!
As a matter of course, Dr. Peterson would ask the visiting dignitaries what part of their visit to BYU and Utah they enjoyed most and almost without exception, Dr. Peterson told me, they indicate its their audience with the First Presidency. Wise but harmless.
Here’s a “Digital Universe” article about the Portuguese Ambassador’s visit to BYU last year, hosted by Dr. Peterson: http://universe.byu.edu/2013/03/01/portuguese-ambassador-visits-byu/. The reporter asked Dr. Peterson some questions about how these visits benefit BYU and the Church.
What an awesome comment – thanks Cary!
Ok, I have to be honest here. When you said FOML1 read 45 books last year, my first thought was “Only 45?”
I love reading and have given a lot of thought to what exactly my parents did to produce that quality in me. (As well as two of my three siblings.) Hopefully I figure it out by the time I have children of my own!
You must have a lot of time on your hands. 😉
I love and agree with your post. I do think it important to emphasize the “best books” concept. I would think that there are a lot of people out there who pat themselves on the back- so to speak- because they spend a lot of time reading, but fill their time reading things that may not meet the Article of Faith #13 standard. All of the quotes used in the post had a qualifier on what types of books to read. Reading is only a valuable activity if you are reading valuable literature.
On another note- I have met a few people who don’t read- by choice- because the last thing they read was something that they were forced to read in high school like “The Old Man and the Sea” or “Of Mice and Men” (those were actual examples). So they decided 20+ years ago that they don’t like reading because of being forced to read something that was uninteresting to them. How would this be best overcome?
I would try and move them towards non-fiction in the areas that interest them, or point them to a novel that is based on/similar to a movie they love.
So pertinent because I just finished reading Fahrenheit 451… Love a good book in my hands!!!
We are a reading family and it’s a joy to me, but your topic encouraging us to get involved struck a chord. Somehow I would like to have a brief list on the ward bulletin board of what meetings are happening in the community – when, where, and what they’ll be discussing. I wonder if I made one and kept it up to date if the Bishop would let me post it. That little communication tool would help us all be more involved and aware. I worked for local government for five years, producing the board packet and the agenda, and writing staff reports. Almost nobody from the community came to our meetings. Sometimes the decisions made by the elected board had significant impact on the community. Right now I don’t have a clue what the special districts, city, county, and state leaders are up to, let alone my federal reps. I’ve let myself focus on my work/family life, expecting those I elect to take care of me politically. Probably a bad idea.
I love to read just about anything that’s true and clean, from cereal boxes to Jane Austen novels to non-fiction about traffic. I’m the type that reads at traffic lights and while cooking. I agree with the comment above about my degree of sanity and how much I’ve been able to read lately. Glad to say my kids are following in my footsteps. I remember a Reader’s Digest quote a few years ago about someone’s decorating style mostly consisting of having enough bookshelves- amen!
I am lacking when it comes to current events. I grew up without a TV and, through we have one, I do not watch it much (maybe a couple of Nova episodes a month). We don’t get the paper, although I usually read the Sunday at my parent’s house for Sunday dinners. I don’t listen to news/talk radio. I have chosen not to join Facebook/etc. for privacy and time-sucking reasons and usually regret it when I come upon a news story and click through other headlines.
I don’t see myself as burying my head in the sand so much as not caring to wade through the drek and not trusting any media source to tell me the truth. I guess I’m somewhat cynical: Politician (red or blue or green or what-have-you)? Likely bought off or stumping. Corporate sponsor? Selling something. Etc., etc. Remedy, anyone?
Lyness, I do not have a perfect solution for a news source. It is impossible for a human being to create a truly unbiased recitation of facts. In my opinion, the better sources for news are those that involve longer forms often the newspaper or public radio. Your local paper will be especially great for your more local issues, those which you may have enough power to actually effect, like city council elections or for another example, here, where I live in California the state government has untied some strings on some of the money that the state gives to k-12 schools. There will be community meetings for input on how to fairly distribute that money, now that we have more of a choice. I don’t have to be up to date on the latest in Obama-Care or other super complicated national issues, but I can still attend this local meeting to hear what they have to say about school funding.
Thank you for sharing this MMM. I had no idea about those statistics but they are frightening.
One thing that we do in our home is I buy books on CD, I will turn them on loud so everyone can hear while we are doing chores. My youngest has uncorrectable vision issues so reading is harder for her, she isn’t blind enough to make learning braille necessary, books on CD are a very happy medium for her at least. The really awesome thing is any book that is printed is available on CD, you can check them out of the library. We order them through a service and get them in the mail, point I am trying to make is this is an option that perhaps some aren’t aware of…maybe it could get more people to read.
I agree with everything that you said in this post, burying our heads in the sand or just taking someone we knows word on current events is not an intelligent way to discourse. Reading multiple sources and keeping ourselves up to date on current issues really is the only way for us to bridge the gaps and try to understand where people who don’t agree with us are coming from. I love everything about this post, thanks again for sharing it you are awesome!
I have to confess that I can read. In fact, I can not remember ever being unable to read or learning to read. My confession? Oh, that! Yes, I confess I am innumerate. I once surveyed a Stake Priesthood Leadership Meeting and ran the numbers. The results were disastrous. They implied that only about 6% of the stake’s leaders prayed and read the scriptures! The good that came from that futile exercise was that it gave the Stake President the opportunity to urge the brethren to do better.
So …. when I read your blog today [see above], I wondered whether someone with my facility for arithmetic had been at work. Then, I asked myself, as if I would know!, whether those that did not read a book in 2013 did not do so because they could not read. That question made sense, because expecting non-readers to read seems pointless, and perhaps it is wise to factor in those that factor themselves out by being unable to riddle the written word.
I did a little in-depth research [Google] and can now offer the following information that seems pertinent to your post:
Percent of U.S. adults who can’t read 14 %
Number of U.S. adults who can’t read 32 Million
Percent of U.S. adults who read below a 5th grade level 21 %
Percent of prison inmates who can’t read 63 %
Percent of high school graduates who can’t read 19 %
Source: Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Institute of Literacy, Research Date: 4.28.2013.
Although I can’t do the sums, I feel certain that if these negatives are factored into your equation, that the percentage of those that did not read a book in 2013 because they chose not to, but not because they were unable to do so, then the picture will be somewhat less devastating.
I have a friend, a former news editor. He predicted more than 10 years ago that printed newspapers would become things of the past, just one more thing for old men to remember with moist eyes, like horse-drawn trams, 1/2d. ice cream cornets, penny postage stamps, first-class railway carriages, black pudding, oh, drat, my tears have swamped my keyboard andh ouznll;g go]v o;oisd9 xs’lpf egings!
If the survey did not include audio books, I would agree with your assessment. But illiterate people can still listen.
An illiterate individual would need to go to a LOT of added effort to find an audio book without being able to read the titles and instructions for listening. 🙂 I do agree with your perspective though that Heavenly Father wants us to go to such lengths and effort because it is good for us here on earth and beyond. Thanks for your thoughts.
This makes me wonder what they considered “illiterate”. There are different levels of illiteracy ranging from can’t read or write in English (meaning literate in other languages” to can sign your name to reads at or below a 4th grade level (aka Functional Illiterate).
Also are the people reporting saying they ‘can’t read’ because of a learning disability and not clarifying that they actually can read, it’s just difficult. (Like me and math, I say I ‘can’t do math’, but in reality it’s that it’s extremely difficult and time consuming for me.)
I tried to find out what type of survey this was, because if it required the respondents to read the question, that would eliminate the issue. If it was a phone survey, everything is up for grabs.
True. I went into skeptical grad student mode there… I still am curious though…
I think it is sad that no one reads newspapers anymore. I subscribe to three and devour them every day, except the one that is weekly. Only one of my kids has picked up that habit. Could it be the reason our society is the way it is-non-readers and uninformed citizens?
Great post MMM, My husband and I are avid readers…his reading is one thing that first attracted me to him. Our home is filled with books. I can’t imagine having a home without them…something important would be missing. I love the rotation your brother has going with the kinds of books he reads. It is great to keep balance in all things. Thanks for this post.
The good news, it appears from the research, is that the numbers are improving thanks to e-readers and tablets. Lets hope the trend continues. I could draw a direct correlation between my sanity and the number of books I read in a month. More consistent reading improves sanity and happiness levels. The Lord knows what he’s talking about when he wants us to seek learning out of the best books. (The word BEST sure gets a beating sometimes…)
I was a little concerned when I first read the topic of your post as I am, unfortunately, completely clueless. Some people are just born that way – I’m one of them. Utterly gullible too. And I believe the last thing I heard/read. So basically, despite all my book larnin’, I’m a danger to myself and society at large. I’ve had over 40 years to come to terms with that fact, and I’m nearly there.
So imagine my delight when the first part of your post was all about reading! Now *That’s* an idea I can get behind. Nothing matches the giggly conspiratorial joy one feels when one’s child finally “gets’ reading and you find them looking at you with slight annoyance saying “Can you please stop talking to me? I’m reading.” and asking for bookmarks that say “GO AWAY! I’m reading!” =) Hehehehe. It’s awesome! =)
Then I got to the second part of your post. Well damn. To say I’m an introvert when not on a computer would be an understatement. This “get involved in your community” thing the brethren talk about fills me with dread and I break out in a cold sweat. I’m ok being aware of stuff, as long as I don’t have to actually..y’know…talk to people about it. Ack! Run away! Run away! I need a pillow to hide my head under!
Madiantin,
There are many ways to be ‘involved in the community.’ One way is to infuse all you do with the spirit of the Gospel. No word required, no confrontations, no disagreements, just walk the walk and let others talk the talk.
There are many kinds of spiritual gifts given to the Saints, and one of the most valuable is that of silent example.
🙂
Thank you, Ronnie! I really appreciate your kind encouragement. =)