Every year, at least a few news articles come out lamenting the decline of reading for pleasure in America today. In August, the National Endowment for the Arts released a report stating that in 2015, only 43 percent of adults read at least one work of literature. This is down from 57 percent in 1982.
This is disheartening news, but based on personal experience, I don’t think the state of reading is all doom and gloom. On a recent cruise vacation, I was very pleasantly surprised at how many adults brought books with them to read during the trip.
As I walked through the Solarium — the ship’s adults-only pool/hot-tub/relaxation area — I saw reader after reader laying out with their noses buried in Kindles and books (many bearing barcodes of local public libraries). My librarian heart fluttered with joy!
Of course, I was curious to see what everyone brought to read. These cruisers were from all over the United States and their book choices could provide an inside look at what adults around the country are reading.
Over the course of the 10-day trip, I tried to record titles of as many books I saw adult cruisers reading (without looking too snoopy and creepy). I only got a small sampling of all the books onboard, but enough to get a taste of what folks are reading while resting and relaxing.
Most of the books wouldn’t be considered high literature (I mean, who really wants to read War and Peace on a cruise vacation),
but overall, I was impressed with the variety and quality of book choices. Lots of NY Times bestsellers, thrillers, and romance, as well as some pretty heavy literary fiction (see photo above!).
Take a look at the titles I collected*. Do your reading tastes match up with this sampling of American society? What books would you bring on a cruise. Share your answer in the comments below!
Fiction
Impossible, by Danielle Steele
The Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard
Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown
Inferno, by Dan Brown
Jurassic Park, by Michael Crighton
Room, by Emma Donoghue
American Assassin, by Vince Flynn
V is for Vengeance, by Sue Grafton
The Woman Next Door, by Cass Green
A Painted House, by John Grisham
The Whistler, by John Grisham
Distant Shores, by Kristin Hannah
The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah
The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins
A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane
Big Little Lies, by Lianne Moriarty (2)
The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien
Thug Passion, by Mz Lady P
Rather Be the Devil, by Ian Rankin
Assorted titles by Nora Roberts (I could never see the titles because Nora Roberts’ name always took up the majority of the cover)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, by J.K. Rowling and Jack Thorne
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling
The Art Forger, by B.A. Shapiro
The Light Between the Oceans, by M.L. Stedman
Radio Girls, by Sara-Jane Stratford
Modern Lovers, by Emma Straub
East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
Tipping the Velvet, by Sarah Waters
The Winds of War, by Herman Wouk
A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara
Non-Fiction
Nice Is a Just a Place in France: How To Win at Basically Everything, by The Betches
Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba, by Tom Djelton
Not That Kind of Girl, by Lena Dunham
Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust, by Diana B. Henriques
Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph, by Dennis Prager
Born To Run, by Bruce Springsteen
*A few notes:
I’ve only included English titles. There were a fair few international cruisers reading foreign-language books that are not on this list.
Tons of people were reading on Kindles, but I couldn’t see the titles of the books, so I couldn’t include those.
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