Glass half empty, glass half full--

The good news...

67% of high school grads do read another book. And that's a hopeful thing.

58% of college grads do read at least one more book. Some read lots!

43% of books are finished. (Confession: I don't think that's so bad. The older I get, the more demanding I am. At 35, I threw away my first hardcover. In the garbage. Didn't want it to pollute another mind. I very frequently quit novels and books of poetry. Life is short. My wish for a good book is long. And no book is right for every reader, it seems.)

30% of U. S. adults have been inside a bookstore in the last five years. And that's a lot of people.

20% of families bought or read at least one book last year. Some bought many more than one!

And the last two lines stand blessedly unchanged.

When has it ever been that more than a minority of people wanted a life of books? Go back far enough and our ancestors didn't even have any, though no doubt they told stories. Everybody does, even now. Books seem to be an acquired passion. (We may do our best to pass on a love of them, but often it doesn't take, or we do it the wrong way, as when a school prevents boys from moving around and having recess and then plunks a book in their hands and drones on about it.)

Hat tip to Flyleaf Books of Chapel Hill, now on tumblr. Me too.