Reading during a Pandemic — Education, Entertainment, Escape

I’ve written about my passion for reading many, many times. This passion was instilled in me by osmosis — living in a home that was filled with books and parents that were avid readers. It has continued through the years including my dear wife and her own passion for reading.

What prompted my writing on this topic yet again was the article “The Therapeutic Value of Reading” by Elizabeth Bernstein in today’s Wall Street Journal. She begins with this quote:

There is no frigate like a book.

Emily Dickinson

Her point is that with all the grief today, from pandemic to politics, what’s needed is a quiet escape from the overwhelming noise and anxiety of our lives. It can also be a way to battle the sheer boredom of looking at the walls of isolation that surround a lockdown.

The 2020 Reading Stats

Since I’m a measuring kinda guy, I found the stats on 2020 reading fascinating.

• Print Books — 80% of the market, sales up 8.2%.
• eBooks — sales up 17%.

I’ve been reading eBooks for quite some time. I found Scribd as a result of publishing my own eBooks. They offered the first year subscription free and I took them up on it. It’s a monthly subscription allowing you to read all their eBooks and audio books.

In July 2020 I moved to Kindle Unlimited. The monthly subscription price is roughly the same. I moved because I’d generally run out of authors I wanted to read on Scribd. The Kindle selection is much, much greater. The downside is that the unlimited subscription doesn’t include all the books on Kindle.

While I love the printed book, I’ve actually come to find it discomforting to hold one. Plus, the lighting needs to be just right. I’ve become so used to my iPad along with its adjustable type size, font, and lighting, that printed books are quite a departure.

Mindful Reading Habits

In her article Ms. Bernstein offered advice on overcoming the “always busy” nature of our lives in order to carve out time for reading. Here’s a summary.

• Clear Your Mind. Take a few minutes to meditate and get into the quiet. Put your phone away.
• Start Short. Successfully completing a book can be motivating. Start with a short book or even a short story.
• Find a Relevant Topic. Find the topic that holds your interest. If the book you choose doesn’t work, find another one. I find authors I like and then read everything they’ve done.
• Read an Old Favorite. Don’t feel like you have to read the latest stuff. Find an old favorite.
• Make it a Habit. Read at the same time of day and develop a routine. I generally read each evening in our guest bedroom. Away from distractions. In a good easy chair with a table to hold my whiskey.
• Go Inward. She notes that readers are finding more introspective books this year. I’ve found some good thrillers but have found them too disturbing to read at night. So I’ve found more gentle tales to read.
• Try Audio Books. Some prefer that a narrator take them through the book. I prefer to read at my own pace. I particularly appreciate going back over certain well written lines, just savoring them. Tough to do with an audio book.
• Start a New Book at Once. She recommends finding the next book as soon as you finish. That’s exactly what I do even if I don’t start it until the next evening.

Reading has many, many benefits in today’s noisy world that tries, usually successfully, to pull you in many different directions. Picking up a good book and getting lost in the story can help calm your mind and bring you great joy. Try it!