have risk sounds like a dignified teenager on book, let me brag a little: I’ve read almost 100 books this year. Turns out it’s not difficult and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. My goal for 2023 is to read 200 books.
As a kid, I was obsessed with reading. I was always shoved between the pages, making my parents, teachers, and anyone else who tried to strike up a conversation with me at the dinner table annoyed. Like many of my peers, I no longer devoured reading as I grew up, gradually putting the hobby aside. Reading is too much work and not enough fun. In the summer of 2020, my partner gave me a Burnedand e-books have changed my life ever since. None of this is hardly new—Kindle alone has been around for more than 15 years, and digital books are even older—but they still seem underrated. Allow me to reintroduce their benefits.
Books but better
I like a good paper book as much as the next girl, but over the past few years I’ve found myself having less and less access to them. E-books do not take up any physical space. No need to stuff them in your pocket, no late fees if you forget to return them to the library, and no worries about spilled coffee disaster. There are thousands eBooks in your pocket is an advantage, but a small footprint is not in the best interests of e-books.
There’s a built-in dictionary in Kindle Rule. Reread the first 5 percent of gravity rainbow it would be a lot harder if I couldn’t look up a word quickly. That goes double for a built-in translation tool, and a quick Wikipedia lookup comes in handy when I’m trying to create a picture in my head. The main character’s favorite flower is gerbera—what do they look like again? Digital reading allows you to find the answer in a few taps. I also love that I can color code sections of the e-book that are particularly inspiring.
Kindles have Amazon X-Rays on supported titles, allowing me to double-check things like family trees in epic stories like Game of Thrones. This e-reader also comforts me when I break a new reading habit. Reading through the game was amazing and really encouraged me to keep going. Crucially, most of these tools are in the reading experience so I never have to swipe or pull out my phone and get distracted.
I also find e-books more accessible than paper books. Adjusting the font size or style, background color, brightness, and warmth of the screen helps to avoid eye strain. It’s easy to escape the clutches of bad kerning and you can zoom in on the details of the illustration. Take that, nearsighted!
Judge them by the cover
Reading is a lot less stressful if you stop caring what other people think. You don’t have to read the latest non-fiction biography or self-help book. You don’t have to read Dostoyevsky or Pynchon. Why do you force yourself to do something just because you think you should? This is not a high school English class. No one will give you a bad grade.
The process of picking out a paper book can be overwhelming and overwhelming. Will the librarian judge me for not remembering the Dewey Decimal System? What is the name of the series that my friend’s friend commented on on Reddit? Exploring and proofreading new books is better when you do it at your own pace in your pajamas.
