There was a programme on TV a couple of weeks back called "The Human Footprint" or something like that, and was basically a roll call of statistics regarding what the average human gets up to over a lifetime.
The one that stuck in mind was "The average human reads 533 books in their life."*
This boggled me as it seemed an extraordinarily low number - I suspect I've read more books than that over my lifetime so far, and I very much hope that I outstrip it by a long way before my life is over (the thought that I could die and only having read, say, 1/7th of the books I own is terrifying).
I suspect it's all the non-readers dragging the average down.
Oh, and putting my professional hat on for a moment, as soon as a book wins the Booker Prize or the Orange Prize, reserverations for it will surge. And while not an technically an award in itself, Richard and Judy Book Club selections go like gangbusters.
*may not be that exact number they quoted, but it was certainly in the low 500s.
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The one that stuck in mind was "The average human reads 533 books in their life."*
This boggled me as it seemed an extraordinarily low number - I suspect I've read more books than that over my lifetime so far, and I very much hope that I outstrip it by a long way before my life is over (the thought that I could die and only having read, say, 1/7th of the books I own is terrifying).
I suspect it's all the non-readers dragging the average down.
Oh, and putting my professional hat on for a moment, as soon as a book wins the Booker Prize or the Orange Prize, reserverations for it will surge. And while not an technically an award in itself, Richard and Judy Book Club selections go like gangbusters.
*may not be that exact number they quoted, but it was certainly in the low 500s.