My reading life became a little more normal this week. I found myself wanting to dive back into the world of story. That has been a welcome relief. It took so long after graduate school to really fall in love with reading again. I have always feared that the passion would leave if I did not nurture it on a regular basis. When I begin to see a prolonged drought in my reading life, I get nervous.
This week, I finished Jeffrey Archer’s The Sins of the Father, the second volume of the Clifton Chronicles. You can check out my thoughts on the book here as well as get some quick reviews of my two previous reads. In addition to reading the Archer novel, I also continued making my way through The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I have been surprised that this YA novel has not been a quicker read for me. As I have reflected on it, I think I have begun to understand why.
Don’t get me wrong, The Hate U Give is an outstanding book that should be read by every American interested in race relations from the perspective of our teens. I am mesmerized by the story and am determined to know what happens next in Thomas’ writing. So what’s the problem? I really think it is the fact that I am reading an ebook. I consider myself a modern reader and hated to come to this realization, so I took some time to see if I could unpack why reading electronically has never been a successful or highly pleasurable experience for me.
First things first. When I am at work, my tablet is always in my hand. It is how I check my email and send text messages throughout the day. All of my musical scores are housed there. There is an expectation that I constantly be plugged in and able to be contacted. Therein lies the first problem. When I read a novel, I want to be unplugged, detached from the stress of the day. Even though the content is very different, I think I feel a connection with work and the many easy interruptions that come with reading on my device.
I think there is another element that I had not noticed before that became evident this week. While reading both books, I found myself more engaged with Thomas’ YA novel. But I found myself consistently returning to Archer’s novel that I was reading in paperback. What was the difference? I was always able to see my physical progress through The Sins of the Father with each passing page. As I neared the end of the book, I felt the shifting weight of the plot in both my hands and my emotions. I am motivated to press on through every project — whether work or leisure — when I see visible signs of progress. Sure, I can go to the table of contents of my ebook and see how many chapters remain, but somehow that is not as satisfying for me. After working with a Nook reader when they first appeared on the market, I knew that I maintained my preference for physical books, but could not clearly state why. I enjoy the convenience of digital books. I love having a massive library available at my fingertips. But that convenience still does not trump the joy of feeling the pages against my skin and the tome’s heft in my hands. There’s just nothing that can replace that feeling…and it is not something I am willing to sacrifice at this time in my life.
So this week I plan to intentionally try to make my way through The Hate U Give. I’m also going to start the third book in the Clifton Chronicles. Even now as I look at both “books,” I am drawn to spending time with my paperback, but I feel the “need” to devote time to the work housed in my iPad. The struggle is real.
Reading for Me 
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