From Zero to Sixty in Three Years
or
How I Became a Born-Again Reader
| Up until three years ago I was one of the 49.8% of the people in the U.S. who, according to a 2008 National Endowment for the Arts survey, read less than one book a year.
Newspapers yes, magazines occasionally, books no. Most weekends I would peruse The New York Times Book Review and save reviews of the books I planned to read.
But I hardly ever followed through. Finding time to read books was one reason; during the day I was too busy and at night I usually dozed off after reading a few pages and lost interest. Locating easy-to-carry books with easy-to-read type was another reason. The idea of reading on a PDA was appealing because a small device would be quickly accessible, it could hold many books imported at my convenience, and I could adjust the type size to my comfort level. So in December, 2005, I purchased a Palm TX, downloaded the eReader Pro application, and became an ebook addict. During the last three years I’ve read more than sixty ebooks, including Tolstoy’s War and Peace and Anna Karenina (both downloaded free from manybooks.net), works I would never have considered reading as print books. And I read them all without setting aside dedicated book reading time because wherever I am I can read an ebook when my eyes don't have something better to do. In September, 2008, I purchased Apple’s iPod Touch (the iPhone minus the phone) and downloaded Fictionwise’s Secure eReader application. The Touch is thinner and lighter than the Palm so it slides easily in and out of my pocket and is always reading ready. Whenever I have a few idle moments I take it out, click it on, and in seconds I’m right where I left off. No fumbling with bookmarks or scanning pages for the sentence I read before last putting it away. Standing on lines, waiting for appointments, during intermissions, commuting by bus or subway are a few of many opportunities to read a few pages. Ereading replaces anxious waiting time with enriching, pleasurable, productive time. I’m often asked how I can read on such a small screen. Small is actually better because it's easier to locate the sentence where I left off, more frequent page turns convey the satisfying feeling of rapid progress, and I can skim pages with a single glance. The battery-saving automatic turn-off feature forces me to stay focused and read faster so the screen won’t dim before I'm ready to turn the page. Other benefits of ereading include: accessing the dictionary definition of a word by just touching it; finding prior mentions of a person, place, or event; bookmarking multiple pages; adding notes; sharing ebooks with my spouse so that we can read and discuss them at the same time. As a born-again book reader, my only complaint is the lack of ebook availability. When I enjoy a book I usually want to read more of the author’s work. It’s time for publishers to make both their new and backlist titles available as ebooks. While sixty percent of the people in the U.S. may enjoy holding and turning the pages of a print book, there are thousands of people, like me, who will spend money to fill their PDAs and smartphones with ebooks. Move over photos, videos, music, games — make room for ebooks. The Reading Renaissance has begun. Dorlene Kaplan Publisher, ShawGuides, Inc. dk@shawguides.com Links |