Unscientific Survey: How and What You Read

On the heels of publishing our annual summer reading list, we sent out a survey, because we thought it would be interesting to learn how you prefer to read during your leisure time: specifically, where you like to read, and what genres and reading formats you prefer.

Not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of you (96 percent) prefer to read at home. Not one person responded that they prefer to read while commuting (we wonder if that number would be different in a year not impacted by a pandemic).

As far as what you like to read, biographies/autobiographies and historical fiction were in a dead heat for the top genre, followed closely by literary fiction and mystery/detective/true crime.

And about three quarters of you prefer the tactical bliss of a good ol’ fashioned print book.

For good measure, we also asked you what your “desert island book” would be — your favorite book of all time (as daunting a task as that might be). Here are a few of the responses we received:

In This House of Brede, by Rumer Godden. “Only book I’ve ever read that when I finished it the first time, I turned back to page one and read it again.” - Susan

The Snow Goose: A Story of Dunkirk by Paul Gallico. “It is a short story with history, love, sacrifice, heroism, loyalty, and an animal story.” - Elizabeth Garnett

Her Majesty’s Yankees, by Thomas H. Raddall. “Excellent historical fiction about Nova Scotia during our revolutionary war.” - Dan Snyder

The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks. “Why? Because of the gems of wisdom that are thrown at you like curve balls that knock you in the head.” - Rob Dreyfus

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë. “It opened my eyes to the depth a book can take, to the world of publishing (there were three editions, I did a three-way compare/contrast), and to the gothic novel in general.” - Tina Hogan