Jul 6 2009
Reader Habits
Jun 26 2009
Do you listen to music while reading?
[poll id="179"] Nearly all ereading devices have had mp3 players. I don’t know if this is for audiobooks or music playing. But I do know that writers often to listen to music to get them in the mood for certain scenes. Do readers listen to music while they read? I prefer perfect silence when reading.(…)Jun 22 2009
Percentage of books started but never finished
[poll id="178"] I start a lot of books during a month that I never, ever finish because I just can’t get past the first three chapters or so. I estimate that I finish approximately 60% of the books that I start. How about you? Given all the books you buy, rent, borrow, how many do(…)Jun 17 2009
2008 Romance Reader Stats
RWA has posted the results of its 2008 survey of readers along with industry busting numbers on the romance readership. In 2008, 74.8 million people read at least one romance. (I wonder if they are counting readers of Danielle Steele and Nicholas Sparks and Emily Giffen and the like since those books are denoted as(…)
Jun 17 2009
Survey of Book Clubs Reveal Social Networking Base
According to a survey of 7700 respondents, ReadingGroupGuides.com discoverd that at least half of the members are participating in online social book networks like Goodreads or Facebook and that only 15% read only paperbacks while 83% read both paperbacks and hardcovers. The Times, Oprah, talks shows are sources of information regarding books. 72% want a(…)
Mar 2 2009
Essay: Why I Read by Keishon
Last winter, I posted that I would love to hear from readers, writers, bloggers about why they read, write and blog. Keishon, avid book reader, is one of our favorite bloggers here at Dear Author. Three of us here are participating in her monthly TBR challenge. Keishon is the reader who introduced me to Julia(…)
Feb 24 2009
Essay: Why I Read by Bev Stephans
Last winter, I posted that I would love to hear from readers, writers, bloggers about why they read, write and blog. Bev Stephans was one of the first to come forth and share her story with our community about why she reads. *** I don’t have a blog and I don’t write books, but I(…)
Dec 30 2008
Romance and the Boundaries of the Self
Today’s guest opinion is brought to you by Jessica from Racy Romance Reviews. Jessica started blogging in 2008 and has provided some great reviews as well as thoughtful commentary. She first came to my attention by Janine linking to one of Jessica’s posts. (Word of Mouth, isn’t it grand?). Jessica started reading romances in 2007(…)
Dec 27 2008
Can you read in the car poll?
[poll id="134"] SB Sarah mentioned on her twitter feed that she reads in the car alot. I know that sometimes I can read in the car and sometimes I can’t. I think it depends on whether I am reading with my glasses and whether I’ve eaten decent food. I am generally able to read in(…)Dec 16 2008
Would you rather go without sex or books?
[poll id="130"] At the request of David Rothman from Teleread.org comes the weighty question of whether you would give up sex for two weeks or reading for two weeks. According to a survey conducted by the New York Times (via online polling which isn’t always accurate), more women would give up sex than access to(…)Dec 15 2008
Generational Divide Poll
[poll id="129"] I’m starting to wonder if there is a generational divide amongst readers of romance (and of writers too) wherein certain tropes appeal more to the older readers and certain tropes that appeal more to the younger readers. I don’t mean to say that all readers/writers of a certain age fall into the “old(…)Dec 2 2008
Reader Apologia Reflux, Or the Virtues of Discriminating Reading
more animals A continuation of our Romance Apologia posts*. . . Part One, in which the author argues for the rights of women to read whatever the hell we want One of the things that gets my back up is patent dismissals of whole genres of writing: literary fiction is pretentious and boring; Romance is(…)
Oct 9 2008
Men Don’t Read
Wired magazine has a report on what men between the ages of 18-34 do and do not do. They love the internet and short forms of non human communication (66%) and video games (60%) and do not like to read books (46%) or magazine (43%) or go to bars (33%) or see movies (20%). So(…)
Oct 6 2008
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