The Stories We Almost Forgot

Are We Really Reading Less?

The evidence deserves a more thoughtful answer than the familiar declaration that nobody reads anymore.

According to the National Endowment for the Arts, the share of American adults who read novels or short stories fell from 45.2% in 2012 to 37.6% in 2022. ^[3]

That is a meaningful decline in participation in literary fiction.

But other research reveals a more complicated picture.

In an April 2026 report, Pew Research Center found that 75% of American adults reported reading at least part of a book during the preceding twelve months.

Print remained the most widely used format, with 64% reporting reading a physical book. Meanwhile, 31% read e-books and 26% listened to audiobooks. Many readers use more than one format. ^[4]

These studies measure reading differently and should not be treated as directly comparable. Together, however, they challenge the idea that reading has simply vanished.

Young people's relationships with reading provide another important perspective.

In the United Kingdom, the National Literacy Trust reported that reading enjoyment among surveyed children and young people rose from 32.7% in 2025 to 36.1% in 2026, the first increase after several years of decline. ^[6]

That improvement is encouraging, although enjoyment remains below earlier levels and inequalities persist.

The lesson is not that everything is fine, nor that a generation has abandoned literature.

It is that reading habits are changing, and understanding those changes matters more than blaming the people experiencing them.