If you are reading this you are part of an elite group. 60% of American adults say they read nothing for leisure in a typical year. 40% don't pick up even 1 book in a year. And by reading a book that includes audio versions of books. 27% of Americans say they'll read between 1-4 books per year including audio.
13% read between five and nine books over the year.
Fortunately, 19% did the heavy lifting - or reading - finishing 10 or more books throughout 2025.
- While these stats may sound shocking, they’re actually pretty similar to findings from the last two years.
- It turns out, it’s the 65 and older set who are turning most of the pages, reading significantly more than any other age group. Seniors averaged about 12 books this year.
- As for what we’re reading, the most popular genre of 2025 was mystery and crime. More than a third (35%) of Americans who read at least one book read one of those novels.
- History is the second most popular genre (30%), followed by biography and memoir (27%), thrillers (23%), fantasy (23%) and romance (23%).
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