Found a stat about 1850s book clubs that blew my mind

I was reading a history blog last Tuesday and found out that in the 1850s, the average book club member read 12 books a year. That number surprised me because today my club reads maybe 5 or 6. Back then they met every month without fail and argued about things like whether novels were ruining society. I guess they had a lot more time without TV and phones. Has anyone else run into old book club stats that make you question how we do things now?

2 comments

2 Comments

finleybutler3d ago

Oh, good point from @barnes.kai. It makes me wonder if people back then just argued about different things over the same books we still talk about. I see that pattern a lot in everyday life, where we think something is new when it's really just the same old arguments with different words.

barnes.kai4d ago

Gotta push back a little - people in the 1850s were arguing about novels ruining society way before that. That debate was already old news by the 1790s or earlier.