If You Ask Me I Could Read a Book

For some reason, over the years, I had been reading less and less fiction for pleasure. I don't know why.  I guess I'd been busy, and there never seemed to be enough time to read much more than the occasional Good Housekeeping.

Well, I missed reading and decided that I needed to do something about this.  I was going to make the time to read more often, just like I make the time to go to the gym.

I thought it would be a simple proposition, but I didn't anticipate the Brave New World of Reading that awaited me.

I originally fell in love with the written word in the first grade when they taught me to read.  Oh, I did have Fun with Dick and Jane, seeing them run and enjoying other escapades with their dog Spot.

One day my first grade teacher rocked my world when she marched our class down to our local library, which was just a block away from the school.   When the librarian handed me my very own library card, she explained to me that with this card I could borrow any book in the library, read it and return it. I couldn't believe my good fortune - it was like I hit the lottery.

Back then, and for many years thereafter, there were just books.  But now books come in so many different forms and there are many different ways to obtain and read them.  Now there are audio books on CD and e-books and downloadable books.  It was like I had woken up in The Future.

Now I listen to audio books while driving and read e-books on a lightweight device that fits into my purse. I can purchase books in any form online or I can borrow them from the library, which has adapted quickly to The New World.  I can use an online searchable database to look throughout the Allegheny County library system for a title that interests me, and then request that book to be picked up at the  library of my choice.  I can download an e-book in a matter of seconds.  I am just as excited about the literary possibilities as I was back in first grade.

Some folks are lamenting the popularity of e-books and how they are supplanting "real" books.  Honestly, sometimes I think that some people just like to hear themselves complain.

There is no "down" side to e-books.  It is the same book that you would read in hard copy.  You can adjust the brightness and tint of the screen and the size and type of the font so that reading is easier on your eyes, and bookmark pages to keep your place. You can store multiple books on your device simultaneously, so you can carry a library of books with you without straining your back.  Not to mention that it is an especially "green" way to read - when you use an e-reader you are saving forests full of trees.

Of course, my unread copies of Good Housekeeping are stacking up. Guess I might have to change to an e-subscription.