As I mentioned in July, there is a view among some experts that reading books is going out of fashion. Normally I would not return to the subject so soon, but I wanted to Guardian Column by journalist Gaby Hinsliff as a classic of its kind.
The article, headlined “I fear books are going the way of records – a choice hobby for amateur readers,” told us that “this year, by the pool, I saw a striking number of people surfing on their phones instead, some with an unopened paperback lying lonely beside the sun lounger,” before citing the same study by the National Literacy Trust and Reading Agency that I quoted from in my earlier article. The statistics certainly show a decline in the willingness to read and desire to read for pleasure among children and young adults, as such reports often do, but not in a way that feels fundamentally irremediable. What we’re seeing is a reversal of the trend, not a precipice. And one we can address.
Of course, the death of the book has long been an easy proposition for any writer who needs to write a summer column. But since we’re here, let’s get straight to the details. According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), 5.9 million vinyl records were sold in the UK in 2023, roughly equivalent to the number of print books sold to UK readers through bookshops every two weeks. When you factor in library lending and digital book sales, the gap between the two types of activity gets even wider. Books shouldn’t even occupy the same mental space as vinyl, and that they do reveals a larger failure either in our communication of what’s actually going on or in our basic journalistic due diligence.
Of course, the end of the book has long been an easy victory for any author who can write a summer column.
Since experts seem to trade in anecdotes these days, I’ll share one of my own. I was on holiday in a northern seaside town this year and ended up in the thriving independent bookshop. As I browsed with my small brood of sullen teenagers, a customer began piling book after book onto the till until the total was around £150. This clever bookseller, of course, immediately offered a free shopping bag, which led to a conversation about the reward being paid for by a gas bill refund. “I’ll probably come back tomorrow for more,” the customer said cheerfully as he left the shop.
The truth is that hope is eternal in the book business. This week alone we report on the winner of The booksellerthe ever-popular YA Book Prize, as well as the upcoming Super Thursday, which sees the number of new hardcover releases coming out on the same day (October 10th this year) increase again: from Cher to Boris, we’ve got everything you need.
Of course, doom-scrolling is also easy. A lot of things don’t work in this sector, not least because production exceeds demand to an extent that is probably not healthy. But if we want to get readers to buy more, and get young people to share our love of the written word, then comparing books to a niche format is not a winning strategy.
