Teen Readers in the UK

Also revealed is a gender divide. Among boys, 41% listed online computer game cheats as their favourite read, while online song lyrics came second. Nearly a third of boys said they loved reading because it helped them get better at hobbies. Girls took a different approach, with 39% saying they loved reading because it provided an escape, or quiet time to enjoy on their own.

The survey was compiled by using focus groups from which the 20 most loved and 20 most loathed reads were assembled. From this a “national conversation about reading” was launched, with teenagers logging on to the teen website Pizco to have their say. A total of 1,340 teenagers were also surveyed.

The above is from “Celebrity scandal and Anne Frank: the reading diary of British teenagers” a Guardian article about yet another survey about reading. Here are some of the results:

Most loved reads

1 Heat magazine

2 Bliss magazine; online song lyrics

3 Online computer game cheats

4 My own blog or fan fiction

5 The Harry Potter series

6 Anne Frank’s diary

7 Film scripts

8 Books by Anthony Horowitz

9 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by CS Lewis

10 BBC Online; the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson books by Louise Rennison

Most loathed reads

1 Homework

2 Shakespeare

3 Books of over 100 pages

4 Magazine articles about skinny celebrities

5 Books assigned by school/teachers

6 Encyclopedias and dictionaries

7 The Beano

8 Music (scores); the Harry Potter series; maps/directions

9 Facebook

10 Financial Times; Anything in another language

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