The purpose of this thesis is to examine adults’ fictionreading habits. The focus is finding out what differencesexist between men and women to study the significance offiction to readers. The study is based on a questionnairesurvey with men and women coming in to a public library.We used Sten Furhammar’s reading dimensions andcategories to describe the importance of the respondentsreading experience and describe the ways that men andwomen read.Our result shows that the genres men and women prefer arenovels, detective stories/thrillers and biographies. Thereading experience can be either personal or impersonal andthey can read either for experience or for instrumental use.The respondents read in different ways depending on bookgenre, content elements and where the reading takes place.We identify several functions of reading fiction; the mainthree reasons are to read for relaxation, entertainment and topass the time. / Program: Bibliotekarie

This Master’s thesis provides insights into adult women’s fictional reading within the conceptual phrase “a good book”. Eight qualitative and semi-structured interviews were performed in order to examine the nature of response and perceived benefits. The collected data were analyzed by Louise M. Rosenblatt’s reception-oriented transactional theory of reading and the cognitive psychology-based model of reading developed within the joint Nordic project SKRIN. The thesis perspectives entail a substantive shift of focus from the comprehension of a “good book” to the understanding of a “good” reading experience. The evaluative response “good” is considered by the means of separate understandings in what ways evaluation occur in a mutual relationship between reader and text. Results show that a “good” read is characterized by interacting aesthetic and cognitive aspects partly shaped by personal circumstances but not grounded in any individual contextbound situation. The primary perceived benefit is the personal commitment based on a socially oriented reading. Communication created between reader and text is partly shaped by ethical standpoints. Although at times emotionally demanding reads, most women refer to them as entertaining and recreational. A “good” read provides knowledge within the understanding of objective and subjective dimensions of learning. The primary perceived benefit of knowledge is subjectively expressed as insights and understandings. Conclusions are that the women seem to appreciate leaving their immediate life for the sharing of other worlds and perspectives. Consequently a “good” read offers the opportunity to broaden personal horizons by participation in other social and cultural settings than the adjacent. / Program: Bibliotekarie

This thesis investigates adult readers’ experiences of pleasure reading. The view of reading taken in this thesis is derived from reader-response theory. The theoretical framework consists of the idea that reading is a transaction between the reader and the text. Through semi-structured interviews with five readers, the role of pleasure reading in the context of the reader's life is explored. The thesis examines both the contribution that pleasure reading makes to the reader's life and, on the other hand, how the reader's life context and personal experiences affects the reading experience. The interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The results confirm that the readers’ lives and personal experiences has a great impact on the reading experience and what the reader derive from reading. Interview responses show, in line with previous research, that the readers’ own preoccupations work as a filter so that the reader pays particular attention to parts of the text that address their lives. The results show that, when describing a good reading experience, readers highlight narrative or language in varying degrees. Also, the results show that through reading for pleasure a person's mindset and ideas can be transformed.