E-books are easy to carry and make shopping for books an anytime, anywhere kind of experience. Which is why new research that says reading habits are speeding up among those using e-readers makes sense. In fact, they tend to read more often than those who read strictly print material, including books, magazines and news articles.

CNNMoney cites research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which also says that around one-fifth of American adults have read an e-book in the past year. Expanding the literature field to citizens over 16 who have used an e-reader device to take in any kind of readable content, and that number goes up to 43%.

It’s not just that e-reader users are catching up on online gossip, either. The research says they actually read more books than those who stay devoted to print. E-book users read around 24 books in the past year, whereas paper book fans reported reading around 15 books.

There are happy readers out there, reporting that now that they have e-content to turn to, they spend more time reading than they did before, especially if they own tablets and e-book readers.

Print books still rule the roost in the consumer market, for now. Pew says almost three-fourths of adults read a printed book in 2011 and 11% listened to an audiobook. Print may be holding sway because they’re popular for reading to children.

The downside to all this literary joy? Almost 20% of American adults said that hadn’t read a single book in the last year. Someone, get those people a Kindle/Nook/iPad/other e-reader, stat!

E-Books spur reading among Americans, survey shows [CNNMoney]

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