Reading

31 December, 2018

I love to read. I always have. I’d still love to read if I didn’t write for a living. While most of my reading is for pleasure, I do read to learn and to get ideas for articles and blog posts.

Over the last six to eight months, the bulk of my reading has been long-form articles — ranging in length from 3,000 to 8,000 words. In case you’re interested, I find most of the articles that I read at Longreads, Nautilus, and Aeon (among others).

Lately, though, I’ve been wanting to get back to balancing out my reading with a few more books. I have a number of electronic books waiting for my eyes to be cast over them. It’s just that I haven’t found the motivation or the energy to do so.

Until last Saturday. I was searching for something when I stumbled upon my old Kobo eReader. I haven’t laid eyes on it for about a year, when I thought I had turned it into a brick with an update. Turns out that reader works perfectly. After charging it up and synchronizing it, I read two books.

Many would consider reading on a dedicated ebook reader to be archaic. Especially the model I have, which is four years old. People will ask Why use one of those when you have a tablet or a smartphone?

I disagree. An ebook reader, especially one with an E Ink screen, makes reading a bit easier. Most tablets and phones (as well as media players) I’ve read on are a bit harder on the eyes. They’re a bit too bright for my taste. My Kobo eReader, on the other hand, approximates reading a physical book. Not perfectly, but well enough.

But it doesn’t matter if I use a mobile device or a dedicated ereader. It doesn’t matter if I’m poring over a dead-trees tome. What matters is that I’m using the printed word to nourish my brain and enlighten myself.

Scott Nesbitt