== You are not reading enough = By Mark Morford

[madokie]

Has the Internet killed the joys of sitting down with a good book?

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/07/09/notes070908.DTL&nl=fix

It's a bit of a problem. More than that, it's a moral, ethical, personal issue, a deep indignity of the soul, a painful twist to the nipple of my id.

See, I love books. Admire and appreciate and adore. Was a lit major at Berkeley, read voraciously, still love to read, still like to consider myself a big consumer of books and deep thinker about bookish issues and ideas and authoralia.

And yet, if I'm painfully honest, I have to admit it: I barely read books anymore. Not nearly like I used to, anyway. Not for a long, long time. And chances are, if you're at all addicted to the new media vortex, neither do you.

It's become a social conundrum, a cultural sore spot, a morose sign of the times. The question has been posed by agents and writers and a confused, hyperconsolidating publishing industry: What happened to all the readers? What happened to the culture of books? And the hint of fatalism, just underneath: If few truly read anymore, what of the state of the American mind? How much more dumbing down can we possibly stand? ...

[zanne]

1. I thought it was just me.

I'm been feeling kind of "guilty" about not reading much anymore, but I've been justifying it by raionalizing that I read alot online. It is true that I've lost my reading buddy, who used to buy the books that I borrowed, but I'm not even motivated enough to get used books.

[Blue_Tires]

8. yeah, me too

[sagetea]

2. Nothing but death will tear a good book out of my hands.

Since I started working, I had to have internet at the office, but at home I read. Books are my escape, I read anything from trashy romances to World War 2 to Biographies. They become a world to me that nobody can penetrate.
I do read news papers on the net...and here but that's it. My 11 year old, like me, is a very avid reader, actually thanks to some wonderful YA writers, I am seeing more youngsters reading than I did while I was growing up.

[bryant69]

3. You have to set time to read, I guess.

I generally read when I am on the road, when I am home I am usually too distracted. And most of the reading I do is at work where reading online is more entertaining than working.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Captain Hilts]

4. Books have gotten really expensive. I go to the library. nt

[sagetea]

5. Have you tried used book stores?

There is one a about 15 miles from where I live.
Oh man, I could spend days there. I got all seven of Stephen Kings, "The Dark Tower" there for 34.00$ They were in great shape too.
They will keep me busy for a couple of weeks, lol!

[Captain Hilts]

6. I've had two in my neighborhood that were pushed out by 'progress'! nt

[H2O Man]

13. Library "book sales"

are one of my favorite events of the year. There are at least two that I always go to, to pick up a lot of good books for the winter time.

[LSK]

22. amazon sells used books also

[uppityperson]

23. Bookmooch also.

bookmooch.com You pay to ship books and people send you their books. I recycled some of mine, and a local used bookstore has a free box of stuff they can't sell but others may want.

I use the library a lot also since books have gotten very expensive.

[CrispyQ]

7. I prefer to read hard copy.

I hate to admit this, but if an article is long, I print it out. :blush: I do keep my old articles so I can print new ones on the other side before recycling.

I hadn't read sci fi in years. A few weeks ago I found a new book by an old fave author & realized I'd forgotten how much I missed reading something besides political books. ;)

[seabeyond]

9. if you are reading the net, you are still reading. i read 5,6 books a week and STILL

read the net.

i had said for about a decade i stopped reading. i had work (cant put a book down) and babies that didnt allow me to read. but i am beyond the "avid" reader. well, i didnt stop reading. i just stopped reading books that took huge chunks of time cause of frustrations of interuptions. i still read. all day long. one way or another. magazines where articles short enough i could stop. internet.

i picked up a book a couple years ago after a decade without reading. kids older, on vacation. i had such a blast i got hooked. for two years i have overread and family would love to see me at least slow down but not in me. at LEAST 5, 6, or more books a week

but, reading is simply reading, not necessarily book

[dawgman]

10. It is funny. I think I am an addict.

If I am not currently reading a book I am agitated and irritable. I can't sit still and am generally of a shorter temper with my family than I usually am.

Is there a twelve step for this?

[MedleyMisty]

11. When I'm not reading a book

I am reading the internet, and learning as much as I could from a book - definitely learning a lot more about other humans and their viewpoints than I could from a book.

Why does it have to be either/or? If you're on the net you're reading.

[H2O Man]

12. I read a lot.

I usually am reading anywhere from two to six books at a time.

[azmouse]

14. I'd be lost without my books.

I buy books faster than I can read them. I must have at least 120 books piled up waiting to be read.
It often takes me a week or more to get through a book but I've usually got 2 or 3 going at one time.

[ensho]

15. since 2000 coup I've been wondering why I can't read a novel anymore

when I was reading 4 or 5 a wk. for a years and years long study of feminism in the novels by women writers.

the coup took away my passion.

[defendandprotect]

21. Try moving on to . . .

non-fiction . . . many new books every month to be check and see if of interest to you --

if you're interested in tracking feminism, start with some older books --

try "The First Sex" by Elizabeth Gould . . . your library should have it.

[Greyhound]

16. Ignore this place holder. n/t

:kick:

[Greyhound]

26. Kick

[Javaman]

17. I read 63 books last year and I'm out to top that this year!

ain't I great! LOL

[LWolf]

18. Certainly true for my students, anyway.

90% of my middle school students won't read on their own, won't read unless given class time to do so; then I have to patrol to make sure they are reading, and not passing notes or texting.

Happily, there are still 10% that keep a book under their desk or tucked into the textbook, and read, subversively, when they are supposed to be engaged in other tasks. ;)

[defendandprotect]

19. My library got screwed up this year so that's slowed me down . . .

but I generally read about 200 or more books a year -- NON FICTION --

-- but including the occasional biography --

at least to the extent of determining if it is interesting, useful, whatever.

Some just get quickly scanned --- many are fully read.

My libary was closed down for four months last year --- and they haven't gotten

back yet in swing with books they should have added so things are a bit slow.


I think the internet will do harm to book reading ---

those of us who love books will go on --- but we also have to keep track of internet info!

I find it tons harder to read something on the internet --- though I do it.

It's really slow --- and I'm a very rapid reader.


I also tend to prefer transcripts of TV and radio programs when there is something

important being covered ---

Also have to monitor C-span hearings as much as possible . . .

[mdmc]

20. I've been reading like a bat out of hell

What I do is find an author that I like, then read everything that has been written by that author.

I've been reading-
Jimmy Carter
David Sedaris
Hunter Thompson
Charles Bukowski
Jack Keroac
Bill Mahar (currently reading "new rules")
I also like certain subjects
The American Revolution
The Grateful Dead
Art and Counterculture.
Labor Unions
Celtic history and Ireland.

Of course I read Doonesbury, Dilbert, Calvin & Hobbes, the Far Side, the Boondocks, the Peanuts, Mad Magazine, Robert Crumb, and Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.

If anyone can turn me on to an author or subject, please do.
So I try to read.

[azmouse]

25. Try Dan Simmons.

I'd recommend 'The Summer of Night', 'The Terror', and any of his sci-fi series including 'Illium' and 'Olympos'... altho I've heard his 'Hyperion' series is even better. I just haven't gotten to that series yet.

[Greyhound]

24. Not sure of what this really means. We have not, in my lifetime anyway, been a literate culture.

In the 80s, long before the advent of the world wide web and the internet, a NYT best seller didn't sell enough copies to keep a television show on the air beyond 3 - 6 episodes. That has not changed.

Language - writing - printing - telephone/telegraph. Each of these innovations in communication has changed the world drastically. The "digital revolution" is the next innovation and has already changed the very fabric of society in less than 20 years and this is only the beginning. Where this will go is anybody's guess.

Two asides; I love reading actual books, don't like screens and being held in front of a monitor, and yes I know the internet is much older than 20 years, but it was the WWW that brought it to most people.