The Pleasure of Reading

I don't know about everyone else, but the popularity of e-books has given me far too many books to read and they've been piling up on my kindle while I slowly get through one at a time. And that's not to mention the shelves full of print books I'm working my way through. It gets slightly overwhelming sometimes and, if I'm honest, it began to spoil my pleasure of reading for its own sake. Of course, I want to read books by friends and colleagues (and I do enjoy them), and hope they might read mine one day, but the sheer number of writers I know means a wealth of books that accusingly call to me!

                                                                     My Victoria Holt Collection
At one time, I could hardly wait to reach the library for my stack of new books to read, by authors such as Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart, or I longed for a visit to the book shop to choose a new title to grace my shelf at home. These days, as much as I enjoy reading, sometimes it feels like a chore to get through as many books as possible. I must emphasise here, however, that I love my kindle and its 100 plus books, as that's the only way I read in bed before sleeping, and I also like having unread print books on my shelves. But...

As the dark nights are drawing in, I've been less inclined to stay online as long as before, so I started a huge print book, The Host by Stephenie Meyer, that my daughter bought me a while ago. We went to see the film before I read the book so I knew the storyline. But I quite enjoy reading a book after the film as (strangely) I like to know the outcome and then enjoy reading all the details. As usual, I began reading it for the half hour or so before going to bed, when I then switch to the latest kindle book I'm reading.

Then, as I got really into the story, the old magic of reading for pure pleasure took over, that escape into another world, and I started thinking of the book at other times. Eventually, I had to finish it over a couple of afternoons as it was keeping me up too late at night! It doesn't really matter which book it happened to be, I was just delighted to feel that same urge to get on with the story that I used to experience all the time when younger. Perhaps it's partly a question of allowing more time to enjoy a book, rather than reading it in short bursts? Or maybe some books appeal to me more than others now? During autumn and winter, I'm looking forward to reading a little more than usual, rather than staying online too long, and hope to rediscover my old joy of reading as a pastime rather than a chore!

Rosemary