58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.

42% of college graduates never read another book.

80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.

70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.

57% of new books are not read to completion.

This January 2005 survey of almost 2,000 Canadians 16 and older shows that a vast majority of Canadians - 87% - read a book for pleasure in the past year. Over half of Canadians read books for pleasure “every day” or “almost every day”. On average, Canadians indicated that they read 17 books for pleasure in 2004.

The Canadian Heritage survey indicates that 81% of Canadians bought a book for pleasure in the past year, while a recent report on book spending, based on a broad consumer spending survey, showed that 48% of Canadian households purchased a book in 2001 (see below). According to the Canadian Heritage survey, the strongest factors in books purchase decisions are topic or type of book, the author, and the price. On average, respondents spent $147 on books in 2004.