Reading: People Still Do It!!

So, like many others, I worry about the future of reading as technology advances at such a rapid rate.  I have always been a reader and regularly share books with my mom and friends, but I realized that today’s youth just doesn’t really do it.  Imagine how delighted I was to learn that my fourteen year old niece loved to read.  Over the last year or so I have been sharing books with her and she in turn is sharing new ones right back, and she has slowly moved out of her manga safety zone.

But what about the rest of the world?  I know how crazy life can be, but I somehow still managed to find time to read for fun.  I have/had to fight against work, grad school, internship, meetings, and family time but I read a little everyday.  Sometimes it is only for five minutes fighting to keep my eyes open before crashing for the night.  But it is still five minutes and are many people willing to do the same?

I have spent the last week in Barnes and Noble doing edits on my thesis (once again), and I always wander through the bookshelves during my multiple breaks.  And guess what I saw!?  I saw people reading!  People of all ages perused the shelves.  Teenagers hefted armfuls of books back to their waiting parents.  College age kids curled up against the shelves with a book cradled in their laps.  Retired couples read over a shared scone.  People, it was perfect beach weather outside and the bookstore with packed with readers searching for a new adventure.  I was almost reduced to happy tears as I roamed through the shelves basking in the faint scents of sweet coffee and paper.  People were reading!  It was just nice to know that it still happens.

Lindsay