Kanye West says he’s never read one. The typical number is a bit higher.
The usually low-intensity conversation about how much a person reads was thrown into the molten core of social media recently, thanks to the reliably controversial Kanye West.
The rapper, who now goes by the name Ye, surprised us all during an episode of Alo Yoga’s Alo Mind Full podcast. There, he made a dramatic admission that was particularly shocking, considering it came from one of the most successful musicians and cultural figures of his generation: “I actually haven’t read any book,” he told Alyson Wilson, adding that he prefers “good conversation” with informed people as a way of learning.
It’s hard to know how serious this comment was — after all, Ye did attend some college and founded Donda Academy, a private K-12 school in California named in honor of his mother Donda West — but it did get us thinking about how reading factors into the lives of our peers.
How much does the average person read?
In general, definitely less than they used to. A Gallup poll published in January of this year found that reading is on the decline among Americans, and that’s been the case for a few years now.
In 2021, the average American read 12.6 books over the course of the year, down from the average of 15.6 books per year back in 2016. Last year’s rate of reading was the lowest in two decades, while the highest came in 1999, when Americans reported reading 18.5 different titles in one year’s time.
The number of Americans who didn’t read a single book in 2021 — which apparently includes Ye — was 17 percent. That’s pretty comparable to the 16 percent to 18 percent who said they hadn’t read at all at various points between 2002 and 2016. Gallup suggests that the decline in overall reading is more about people reading fewer books per year, as opposed to fewer people reading anything at all in a given year.
A few more interesting kernels from the data: Women read an average of 15.7 books in 2021, while men read only 9.5. And the number of books consumed dropped by age, with adults aged 18-34 reading 13 books for the year, compared to 12.5 books for those between 35-54, and 12 books for those older than 55.
How does reading benefit our health?
For one thing, it’s been shown to keep us around longer. One 2016 study, published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, delivered pretty dramatic results. Researchers examined the records of 5,635 people aged 50 or older and found that the regular readers in the group had a 20 percent lower risk of dying over the next 12 years than those who didn’t read, or who read periodicals like magazines instead of full-length books.
And when it comes to your brain, reading makes everything a lot sharper. In another study that compared the cognitive abilities of identical twins, scientists found a link between stronger reading skills earlier in life and greater intelligence later in life — and that increased IQ was observed not only in verbal skills like vocabulary, but also with reasoning and logic. Also, data published in Neurology found that “more frequent cognitive activity” (meaning exercises like reading, which engage the mind) translated to “slower late-life cognitive decline.”
But reading doesn’t just impact your academic intelligence: Reading fiction has also been proven to make people more empathetic and give them a greater appreciation for and understanding of cultures and experiences different from their own.
And those benefits are just a drop in the proverbial bucket. There are lots more studies that measured how reading can benefit our lives right here.
What should I read next?
We’re so glad you asked.
Although we’ve now left the sunniest season in the rearview for this year, our list of the best books team KCM read this summer is filled with titles you can enjoy in any weather, from mysteries to memoirs to nonfiction that’ll give you a whole lot to think about.
Another recommendation that literally never goes out of style: Going There by the one and only Katie Couric. It was recently released in paperback, and while we admit we may be a little bit biased, you’d have a hard time finding another read that so expertly weaves together the history of the media, the evolution of being a working mother, the painful realities of how cancer affects a family, and more juicy stories than you know what to do with.
Still craving more? Whether you love suspense, romance, or nonfiction, we’ve got so many picks that our bookshelves are starting to sag. And if you struggle to find time to truly dig into something longer (which we totally get), we also have suggestions for short story collections and anthologies that you can take at your own pace.
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