A few weeks ago, I was diligently making my way through an ebook version of The Interestings that I borrowed from the New York Public Library on my iPad. I read almost every day during my commute, but despite my best efforts I just couldn't finish the book before the 21 day borrowing period was over. I expressed my frustration to my fellow OOMers, and luckily Megan had a hardcover copy of the book that she offered to lend to me! I was thrilled until she pressed the weight of 560 pages into my hands. Not exactly a grab-and-go kind of book.
Unlike my lightweight iPad that carries not only the books that I'm reading but also digital copies of magazines, apps that allow me to work on writing projects, and my email, the book was heavy and served only one purpose: to be read. Not that that's a bad purpose, but in a world of multi-taskers, I'm more likely to choose the iPad.
It had been a while since I read a long book in hardcover, and I was surprised to find that reading this copy of the book seemed to take more effort. Instead of being hastily shoved into my bag each morning like my iPad, it sat on my nightstand waiting for me to come home. Between the weight of the book and a desire to return it to its owner without wrinkled pages or rips on the jacket, I thought it was best to leave this one out of my commute. While I normally sprint through a few pages of an ebook on a short subway ride or during a (rarely short) wait in a doctor's office, I had forgotten how nice it can be to consciously set aside a weekend afternoon to sit somewhere and read chapters at a time.
It probably took me a little longer to finish the book than if I'd carried it with me every day, but the quality time that I spent reading far outweighed the convenience of being able to catch a few sentences in between subway stops. I think I'll try to work more hardcover books into my reading repertoire so that I never forget just how delightfully time-consuming and enjoyable it can be!
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