I Can’t Read
Why reading has become hard and how I plan to find my way back to it
It’s not that I can’t understand words on the page (or screen). I’m struggling to read anything longer than an article. I used to be an avid reader — not voracious, but I was always reading at least one book and often multiple. I averaged about a book a week. I have two books I’ve been reading for months, and I can’t seem to get through them. I pick them up, read for maybe twenty minutes, and then I’m done. Days or weeks will go by before I pick one up again.
I’m not alone. As I began writing this, I read Citizen Reader’s piece about the same thing. Like many of us, her challenge is the lure of the Internet, specifically YouTube. I, too, get sucked into the Internet, ironically, reading. I read news online, I read Reddit posts, and, of course, I read a lot on Medium. So, I’m reading, but not always long pieces. I find myself even struggling through a longer news article at times.
According to a 2022 Gallup poll, Americans read about 2–3 fewer books per year than they did 10 years ago. According to this study, time spent reading is also down. In 2022, Americans read about 16 minutes a day, down from nearly 20 minutes in 2012. My age group, in particular, is reading less than they did in 2012, averaging 17 minutes a day compared to 25 minutes in 2012.
