Friday, December 31, 2021

Reading and Writing in 2021 and '22

Friday, December 31, 2021.
It's time to say goodbye to '21 and usher in a new year.

This is my 217th post at Out of My Hat this year. That's the most I've ever posted in a single year. I guess that's what isolating from a pandemic will get you. I think the majority were just posting memes for Monday Motivation or Wednesday Wisdom. The rest were mostly meaningless drivel that runs through my head from time to time.

I read a lot more in 2021. My Kindle app says I've read for 130 consecutive days, 55 consecutive weeks. I finished 50 books on the app plus a number of actual books from the library or other sources -- around 70 total for the year. 
I'm going to try to keep better track of the off-app books I'm reading this year and will try to post more in the way of reviews and recommendations. I don't typically do book club or small group book reads, but I'm beginning 2022 with a group read of Profit and Punishment: How America Criminalizes the Poor in the Name of Justice by Tony Messenger.

One of the things that has been on my mind is to be more involved in righting social injustices. So far, I've only been involved in volunteering as a way of response to social needs, but haven't done anything to address what is causing the need. The quote that has been shared often recently from Desmond Tutu is a favorite of mine and speaks to this need -- " There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they're falling in."
The timing of this read by a local book club is perfect for getting me started on this track for 2022.

I have quite a lineup of books to read on the Kindle app and have stopped adding free reads and cheap reads to the already formidable stack. Most of them are fiction and I usually have at least one non-fiction book that I am reading along with whatever fiction book I'm cruising through.
I'd be interested to hear your non-fiction recommendations. 

The US falls pretty low on the list of countries in the average time reading per capita. This reading includes news stories and online reading as well as books and magazines. India tops the list at 10 hours and 42 minutes per week. The US is 22nd at nearly half that -- 5 hours, 42 minutes per week.
A 2016 study showed that Americans read on average (mean) 12 books per year, while the typical American (median) reads just 4 books in a year.

I'm guessing that Americans get more of their stories from movies and TV series than they do from reading. I've never been a big movie goer and I don't watch much TV. I do tend to read much more than I used to.

Where do you fall on the reading scale?
Do you prefer to read news or watch news?
Do you prefer to read stories (books) or watch stories (TV shows and movies)?
Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction? Or a mixture of both?
What are your 2022 reading plans?

John

2 comments:

Mike said...

" There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they're falling in."
So, you're planning on getting into politics?

John A Hill said...

No, Mike.
Definitely, NO!