The Wait of a Book

I Love to Read

Take the most avid reader you know and multiply them by ten and you have someone like me - except they don't read much.

I read more than anyone I have ever known. However, I don't want you to get confused thinking I read anything good for me. I seldom pick up a book to learn something new, to study history, art, or physiology. I'm not into the New York best sellers list. I read to relax, to escape, to occupy myself ... I read junk. (Or, according to Steve, I read porn.)

I've been an avid reader since elementary school. By sixth grade, the local library made me an honorary librarian - complete with certificate. In Junior High, the school gave me a pin and made me the first student librarian because I had read over 75% of the books. When the girls were small and I could only make it to the library once a week, I'd check out fifty to a hundred paper backs each time I went in.

I can actually remember reading three entire separate books in one day, on more than one occasion.

eReaders

When eReaders first began to come out I was not interested in owning one at all. They'd be bad for your eyes, have to be constantly recharged, could easily get broken, and they cost to much. It took several years before I begin to think I might enjoy one.

Then I got one for Christmas.

I am still amazed at how quickly I adapted to reading books on an eReader. I did lick my finger and try to turn the page a few times - but that's expected. And not going to the book store or the library was an adjustment too.

Overall, it's been great. My reader is lighter than a book, so it doesn't hurt my wrists. The font is adjustable in size and the contrast is adjustable for daytime or nighttime reading. It opens directly onto the last page of book I was reading before I turned it off - no more lost places or bookmarks.

The Heavy Book

When Tori blogged about a good book she had recently read, I asked her to lend it to me and she did. It's been sitting on my dining room table for six weeks collecting dust.

I'm interested in the book, but every time I walk by and see it I'm reminded that it's a book. It's heavy - it's a thick book. (I bet it hurts my wrists.) I'll have to flip pages. If I don't finish it soon, I'll have to stuff it in my purse or carry it around with me for days. So, I keep waiting, putting it off.

I stumble across it every two to three days and have a moment of guilt over not reading it yet. But feel no compulsion, what so ever, to pick it up and start.

At this point, I'm considering buying the electronic version of the story. Then I wouldn't have to wait to read it any longer.