Is reading in decline, again? Could this be the last generation of book lovers?

阅读习惯又一次在衰退吗？这会是最后一代爱书之人吗？

Rather than fret over this perceived loss of interest in reading, we could learn a lot more about how Gen Z are finding refuge from loneliness and the endless pings of social media in wildly diverse storytelling communities.

与其忧心于这种所谓的阅读兴趣衰退，我们不如多去了解 Z 世代的其他面，他们正在极其多元的阅读群体中，找到从孤独以及社媒无休止的轰炸里脱身的避难所。

Last year, Kathi Inman Berens and Rachel Noorda, scholars from Portland State University, published a paper on the reading habits of Gen Z and millennials in the US.

去年，凯西·英曼·贝伦斯和雷切尔·努尔达，两位来自波特兰州立大学的学者，发表了一篇关于美国 Z 世代和千禧一代阅读习惯的论文。

Although 43 per cent of the more than 2, 000 people they surveyed did not self-identify as a reader, it turned out that this "not a reader" group actually read a higher number of print books per month than those who tagged themselves as readers. The study also found that "the younger the person, the more likely they are to buy printed books".

尽管在 2000 多名受访者中，有 43% 的人并不认为自己是读者，但情况是“不是读者”的群体其实每月阅读的纸质书数量比那些自我标记为读者的群体要更多。这份研究也发现“越年轻的群体越可能会购买纸质书”。

Gen Z are changing what it means to be a reader as they surf between print, digital and audio.

Z 世代正徜徉在纸质书、电子书和有声书之间，改变着读者的定义。

At the more youthful end of the Gen Z spectrum, they read printed books — but, partly thanks to the devices they grew up with, they also pivot easily to audio books, to reading communities such as Wattpad or Movellas, to book-pirating sites , or to fan-fiction sites, or Viz Manga, Hoopla and Libby. BookTok and YouTube review channels drive up the sales of genres such as romantasy.

Z 世代中更年轻的那一批人，会阅读纸质书——但是，一定程度上多亏了伴随他们长大的那些电子设备，Z 世代也可以轻易地转向有声书，加入像是 Wattpad 或者 Movellas 之类的阅读社群，使用一些盗版书籍的网站，或者浏览同人文网站又或者 Viz Manga、Hoopla 以及 Libby 等。BookTok 和 YouTube 上的一些书评频道可以拉高一些类型的销量，比如浪漫奇幻小说。

Instead of ringing the death knell for reading, perhaps educators, parents and critics could meet Gen Z on their own turf. They love escapism, take fan fiction as seriously as the Booker shortlist, revive classics from Jane Austen to Dostoevsky — and can't stop talking about books.

与其为阅读敲响丧钟，或许教育者、家长还有评论家可以到 Z 世代的世界中去看看。他们喜欢通过阅读来从现实中解脱，对待同人文的态度认真得跟评选布克奖入围名单一样，同时也在复兴着从简·奥斯汀到托尔妥耶夫斯基的经典——一刻也不能停地谈论着书籍。