Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Week 16 Prompt:


I feel like the biggest thing that has changed for me in regards to books is that I have less time as an adult to indulge in reading. When I was younger, especially in my teens, I would spend hours curled under a blanket with a stack of books next to me. I could go through 5-10 books in a weekend. Now, unless something is assigned like in this class, I can hardly get through a book a month. I work full-time and have far too much to read for school, plus I need to make time for family and friends. I usually get to read before I go to bed at night. I loved that we got to read five books this semester of our choosing because I was able to finally pick up books that I had been wanting to read for years. I understand that I can listen to books while I'm driving or doing other things, but as I described in a previous post, I have done that and it's just not my cup of tea. Unless I'm holding a book in my hands (yes, a real physical book!) I have a hard time focusing on the story.

With that being said, I feel that books and how we read them has already changed dramatically and I believe it will continue to change. Even if I don't particularly like it, right now, we can read pretty much wherever we are with the use of electronic devices such as e-readers and even our phones. We can also carry around hundreds and thousands of books and it weighs less than a pound. For those that are already avid readers, this is wonderful. For those that aren't, that is where I believe we will start to have interactive books, perhaps something that takes you into that world, like a video game would. This would encourage reluctant readers to pick up a book. As far as publishing- that has already changed as well. People are downloading a lot of their books on e-readers and now people can self-publish in e-formats and hence, don't need to find a publisher. I'm not certain how much this will change the industry but I definitely feel there could be less publishing companies, less jobs, and possibly an inflated book market. I guess only time will tell.

7 comments:

  1. I can definitely relate to your time issue. I used to read constantly. People would comment on how they didn't have time and I just didn't understand. Reading was a priority for me. Now I have a full time job, I'm a full time student, I have a two year old, and I will have second baby within the next two weeks. I have to read in the early hours of the morning while my child is asleep or on my lunch break. That's about it. It has taken me so long to finish a book that I could have done in a couple of days before.

    But, we still read. I think that even as everything changes there will always be people who make it a priority and those that don't. The formats are changing. The availability is changing. The variety is expanding. If someone doesn't care to read, though, they won't.

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  2. Hi, I think a lot of people can relate to your comment about the lack of time to read because of other priorities. I usually keep two or more books by my night stand so I can read before I go to sleep and I always keep a book in my 'luggage' purse to read whenever I can get a moment to do so. It can be challenging but I don't think I would be me without the written word! It was my first love affair.

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  3. My wife and I like to read in bed before we go to sleep. We did a lot this before I started graduate school. However, grad school means lots of late hours doing homework, however now that I wrapping up my studies I am looking forward to out leisure reading time together.

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  4. I can absolutely relate to your mentioning how much of a joy it was to be able to have an "excuse" to read 5 books for this class. There are always so many roadblocks it seems to reading nowadays. Likewise, I know there are still many people in the world who value the print-based book as much as we all do, however, I also feel there isn't perhaps as much respect for it.

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  5. I think you have to make time to read. I totally understand the busy schedule! I have two kids, work full time, and I'm a full time student so the only "me" time I have is after both kids have ate dinner, bathed, and have fallen asleep. Instead of watching TV in the evening to relax, I read. You should set a few minutes aside a few nights a week and read before bed.

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  6. HI Melissa,
    I totally agree about being able to read 5 books this semester. Patrons have shared that the short chapters in James Patterson's books or reading short stories are ways that they can read before going to sleep without getting caught up in a novel only to discover it's 3 am and the alarm is going off at 6 am.

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  7. Wonderful final response! Full points!

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