Ok. It was all a trick. The cool kids aren’t doin’ it. Unless you think I’m cool and then by default, the cool kids are doin’ it. What is it, you ask… No, it’s not Ebay- the evil brainsuckiness that is oh so addictive and so good… must resist the urges!

It. Is. Reading. MediaPostPublications reports that according to projections compiled by Lulu (web-based print on-demand service), the number of Americans who write and publish books is on track to exceed the number who actually read them. According to estimates the number of books published in America in 2004 hit a record 195,000 - a 14 percent increase on the previous high of nearly 175,000, recorded in 2003.

Those figures follow a survey published in 2004 by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which showed that the percentage of Americans who read books has steadily declined over the last 20 years. Only 57 percent - 164 million Americans - of the U.S. population now read even one book a year. That’s a decline of 4 percent in a decade.

Based on those trajectories, Lulu calculates that by the 2052, 148.4 million books will be published in the U.S., but only 129.4 million Americans will actually read one. In other words, 19 million new books in 2052 will not find a single reader, including, presumably, their own authors.

I don’t understand. Why are people not reading? Is it the books? Every time I walk into a bookstore there are alluring books with pretty cover art… I bet even those people who don’t want to exert their reading muscle can find a book or two with pictures. So why? I can’t be the only one still reading!

Since the ringing in of the New Year, I’ve already started reading book #4. I will admit they my reading selection is not always the most taxing of reads but are mostly for pure entertainment value. I did get Jane Austen’s Guide to Dating as a fun holiday gift as well as Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation. And $45 in Barnes and Noble gift cards even had me paying full price for books this weekend. So come on people! Wake up! Read a book! Even two! Buck the odds, read a little! Join me at the cool kids’ lunch table!

P.S. Speaking of Sarah Vowell, and all things related to This American Life, she will be in Austin on Friday, November 10th at the Paramount Theater. And in other This American Life news, Ira Glass will grace the Majestic Theater stage in Dallas on April 2nd and David Sedaris, as part of the DMA’s Arts & Letters Live, will perform at the Majestic on April 25th. Mark your calendars!