The L.I.F.E. (a local organization for senior education) class "Reading Good Books" is an attempt to remind those interested that it can be a great pleasure to turn off the electronics, sit with a blank tv and enjoy a book. Of course, one of the problems is that older eyes can have a little trouble with print and that trouble can lead to falling asleep instead of reading. I like the idea that a good book is one that keeps my attention and that I enjoy reading. A book like that can be a classic, maybe a Charles Dickens or Robert Louis Stevenson, but it can also be the latest James Patterson or Louise Penny.
It is easy to pick up the idea that Shakespeare or The Canterbury Tales or Marcel Proust is nourishing food while Stephanie Bond or Douglas Richards will cause mental weight gain and flab. Personally, I don't buy it.
I say we all have to explore. Besides, when you are over 60, you have read quite a bit, watched lots of movies and tv, and you are a more sophisticated consumer of stories that a youngster. So, when you realize that the author is going on and on, in much the same manner as many others went on and on, when you feel you can see where the story is going and you have been there enough times already, it may be time to close the book and start another search. I have found that some readers, even those who don't have that many years left, feel duty-bound to finish everything they begin, even it is a drag. All readers of this message are hereby enjoined to pause as soon after page 50 as they can, and take an evaluative breath. Is this thing fun? Have I thought of it at all when I was not reading? When I think of reading it some more, do I feel a sag of disappointment? If the book isn't cutting it, close it.
Reading has usually been an important part of our lives since "Run, Spot, Run" or Green Eggs and Ham. That means that if you reflect on what you have read, those reflections may serve as a review of your life. Listing what you can remember and showing the list to a sibling or a longtime friend can bring to mind memories and experiences you have shoved to the back but that are fun to re-visit. Others may remind you of books that really meant a great deal but that you have managed to forget about.
There have been times when we cleaned out and gave away books we felt we no longer used or cared about. Generally, that seems to be a good practice but there are times when a volume serves as a souvenir. You might not look into your 11th grade geometry book but just the sight of it can remind you of that fabulous night with you-know-who.
In graduate school or other high-reading environments, you can get to be a fast book handler. You pick it up, look over the table of contents, glance at the foreword or intro, skim the summary and look at the suggested readings in the back. In five to ten minutes, you can pick up a general idea of what the book is about and whether it might be worth further attention. I make heavy use of Amazon's wish list feature for book references that I run across that I don't want to forget about.
I also make heavy use of Kindles, both a Touch (currently $69) and the Kindle app on a iPad mini. Since a new hardback these days can easily cost $25 or more and the Kindle version is often half of that, I buy nearly all my books in e-format. I originally got into ebooks simply because 300 of them weigh less than 6 oz. and fit into the space of a single paperback. Besides, they don't need organizing or dusting.
Another aspect of Kindle ebooks that I like is highlighting. Depending on the model being used, you can use a cursor or a fingertip to mark words that have special meaning or importance. The collection of one's highlights for a book can be retrieved from the Kindle or from a web site where such highlights are collected, again depending on the model.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
