Losing Yourself in Book Land

A Survey of 2,000 Americans Found...

Good books can be disorienting, in the best possible way. When the story ends, it may be hard to readjust to reality. We miss the places we went and the characters we met there. To learn more about this phenomenon, we enlisted OnePoll to survey 2,000 U.S. adults who read regularly to learn about the science (and magic) of getting lost in a book. And we got a pretty captivating read out of it too! Here are some of the riveting lessons we learned.

1. It doesn't take long to get immersed. 

We all love books that grab our attention from the very start and make it impossible for us to put them down. But most readers know that if we stick with a book, it will eventually pull us in. On average, it takes readers 36 minutes and 29 pages to get lost in a book they're reading. (So, not too long!) But if what you want is an unputdownable book, here's a handful of our recent favorites:

• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling—Like a gossip sesh with your funniest friend
• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz—A totally engrossing coming-of-age novel
• I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes—"A big, breathless tale of nonstop suspense." –NYT
• A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner—Two women living a century apart in NYC are connected by a beautiful scarf and parallel tragedies.
• Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister—A genre-bending time-travel thriller.
• Dark Matter by Blake Crouch—Sci-fi suspense at its best.

2. Genre and setting make a difference.

One of the things we love most about books is their ability to transport us to different places and times. For most of us the genre may have something to do with how effective this is. According to our poll, the easiest book genres to lose yourself in are fantasy (49%), romance (42%), history (39%) and sci-fi (36%).

Respondents also reported that time periods are important, saying that the easiest stories to lose oneself in take place during:

World War II (44%)

• All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
• The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre by Natasha Lester
• The Paper Girl of Paris by Jordyn Taylor

The present day (42%)—defined as the 1970s to today

• The Secret History by Donna Tartt
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
• Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

The Great Depression (42%)

• Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
• This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Nearly half (48%) have also purchased a book based on its setting alone. But it doesn’t matter whether the story takes place in a real place, as more than half of the respondents (53%) said both fictional and realistic literary locales provide an escape.

3. Comfort and privacy matter.

Even though books have the magical ability to transport us no matter where we might be, it turns out that the physical setting where we read does have an effect. Not surprisingly, 40 percent of those polled are more likely to be immersed in a book at home than elsewhere. While nearly 80 percent of respondents listed the bedroom as a good place to read, the living room nabbed a close second at 78 percent. And a surprising number cited an interesting choice of reading rooms. More than half of Gen-Zers (54%) and over a quarter of men (26%) said they usually read books in their bathroom. Hmmm. Less likely to be interrupted?

While most people usually read books at home (76%), many enjoy the peaceful environments of libraries as well (60%). Other popular choices included traveling spaces like planes and trains (58%). And 58 percent cop to reading while at work. (We approve!)

The weather outside can also play a role, with a snowy day found to be the optimal condition for reading for 46 percent of respondents. Rainy days were also popular at 40 percent.

4. We don't mind a repeat. 

While we never run out of new books to read, rereading an old favorite doesn’t lessen its magic. Nearly half of readers (48%) said both new and old favorites are easy to get immersed in. Some of our favorite rereads include:

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• The Harry Potter series by K. Rowling
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• Anne of Green Gables by M. Montgomery
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

5. Reading helps our imaginations run wild, even (especially?) as adults. 

Our results confirm that reading keeps our power of imagination strong and active. Overall, nearly three in four readers (74%) report the experience of being fully immersed in a book. In a somewhat surprising finding, seven in ten readers (72%) reported that book immersion gets easier with age and men were more likely to share this sentiment than women (78% vs. 68%).

Of those, 63 percent were able to imagine themselves as one of the characters or transport themselves to the book’s setting. And 58 percent could imagine the voices of the narrator or characters, with over 50 percent saying they experienced the same emotions as the characters.

Our take: “The beauty of storytelling lies in its power to captivate readers of all ages any time, anywhere. Not only does it never leave us, but according to our research, it becomes even more prominent as the years go by.”

6. A journey into the literary realm changes us. 

The experience of getting lost in a book can transform the mindset of the reader. Upon finishing a reading session, readers we polled reported feeling differently, describing their post-reading moods as inspiring (30%), cheerful (19%), and peaceful (19%).

Our take: “Books, like movies, often leave us feeling a certain way hours, days and even weeks later. Regardless of what else is going on in our lives, it’s a journey we’re willing to take.”

Listed below are some of the books we've most enjoyed getting lost in. This is, of course, highly subjective so please add your favorites in the comments. The more the better!

• The Book of Night Women by Marlon James
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• 11/22/63 by Stephen King
• The Fifth Season by K. Jemisin
• The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
• Dune by Frank Herbert
• Circe by Madeline Miller
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
• The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
• The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
• Legend by Marie Lu

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Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon