Summer Reads

I have developed a small quiz for my friends and family. Just who reads what? I am an author who writes in the Mystery/Murder: Police Procedural Genre. Many of the younger friends in their teens and twenties interviewed loved sci-fi and romance novels. Some in all age groups read for knowledge and information only leaving fiction out. Older men seem to appreciate history and autobiographies of famous leaders, while older women's choices were quite varied and focused on gardening, culinary, romance, travel, science, psychology and sociology. Notice I have not mentioned my genre. Mystery ran the gamut in all the above generation and gender profiles. LGBT genre as a reading choice was under represented in this group with teens and early twenties showing some interest. As to mystery, most read some mystery, but their interest ran the gamut from cozy to real life crime, police procedural to action to involved plots where the reader must work to find the perpetrator(s). Many summertime readers enjoyed audio books when taking long drives. All but a few professed to reading when they are at leisure which means during vacations. Most professed disappointment in the limited number of bookstores in our area and also where seating was not set aside for reading. All had looked for local authors at bookstores and were required to order the books. Only a few did not read for pleasure. Clearly in my conversations, a preference for a good movie or tv show developed from books exists.
I interviewed one hundred individuals, did not do a statistical analysis, but nevertheless concluded that reading is still a major pastime.
Author K. B. Pellegrino