What book are you reading today?

The new AP-Ipsos poll about reading habits showed that, among those who read books last year, seven was the average number of books read. Not so good is the fact that 25 percent of adults surveyed said they didn't read any books last year. As pointed out in the Publishers Lunch e-mail newsletter, "It's not clear if the poll was limited to literate adults or not--an important factor since we only have a 70 to 75 percent literacy rate to begin with." Good point. How can the pollmeisters tell if there’s an illiterate person at the other end of the telephone line?

The Guardian in the UK reported this: "People from the West and Midwest are more likely to have read at least one book in the past year. Southerners who do read, however, tend to read more books -- mostly religious books and romance novels -- than people from other regions... The survey also found that fewer liberals and moderates are non-readers (22 percent) than conservatives (34 percent)."

This led to an in-print political tiff. Pat Schroeder, former Colorado congresswoman who’s now president of the American Association of Publishers, said this: "The Karl Roves of the world have built a generation that just wants a couple slogans: 'No, don't raise my taxes, no new taxes.' It's pretty hard to write a book saying, 'No new taxes, no new taxes, no new taxes' on every page."

Mary Matalin, conservative apologist and publisher, replied: "As head of a book publishing association, she probably shouldn't malign any readers."

Some might see this as a bad thing, a sure sign that nasty partisan politics can’t be avoided in any discussion. But I consider books and reading and literacy important topics. It’s a good thing if they can spark some political bickering and media attention. The competition is fierce, with new hot topics cropping up daily: Michael Vick’s dog-fighting charges; feckless Utah mine owners; more deaths on Iraq. If we can talk about reading for a day or two – all the better.

What am I reading? Glad you asked. My latest book is "Living to Tell the Tale," a memoir by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Before that it was another memoir, Nick Flynn’s "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City." I’ve read about a dozen books this year. I also dive into story collections, snatching up stories like fish from a stream. "The Touching that Lasts" by Colorado’s Kent Nelson and "All Things, All at Once" by New Mexico native Lee K. Abbott are two books I’ve gone a-fishing in lately. I’ve also been reading personal essays in Colorado’s Matter Magazine.

But I’m a writer and I work with writers at my day job. I tend not to read political tracts, left or right. I doubt if I’d ever pick up a book by Karl Rove, even if it contained more than the phrase "no new taxes."

What are you reading today?