[vizeroth]

American adults read so little that this attitude only comes from a minority of the minority. For the most part, people see it as a waste of time because they may only read 1-4 books a year, so they might feel those books should have some meaningful purpose in their lives (or they only read a book because it is supposed to be great or have some use they can apply to their lives).

Read more, worry less about what others think. I read an average of a book a week (and I'm a slow reader), and most people find that to be argument enough to read whatever I want.

[braveo]

I don't read as much as I used to, and when I really think about it I get regretful. I definitely read more than 1-4 books/year, but I just don't have the time to devote to it anymore.

I strongly prefer actual books, but I've been doing a lot of reading on my iphone over the past few years due to being able to read when I have spots of downtime (waiting on oil change, for example).