I have pretty good credentials as a nerd. Nerds are often accused of living in the head. That is they think of things and concentrate on their thoughts while not noticing where they parked the car. Living in the head means working with facts, figures, ideas and words but not so much with things, physical things. As a nerd with pretty good credentials, I also feel close to books since they are a good source of facts, figures, ideas and words.
But I am here to stress that a functioning head is part of a living thing. Reading, speaking, writing, hearing are physical processes and they involve complex neurological and physical processes. I have run into some books recently that emphasize the physicality of speaking, handwriting, typing and other ways of communicating. Come to think of it, if you are interested in the opposite state, of not speaking or writing or reading or listening, take a look at "Into the Grey Zone" by Adrian Owen. He worked with people who kept breathing and had heart beats but were in a state sometimes referred to as "locked in", unable to communicate.
The book "Reader, Come Home" by Maryanne Wolf and her book "Proust and the Squid" highlight some of the complex processes involved in translating marks on a page into ideas, insights, emotions and education. The book "Space Between Words" by Paul Saenger is about the invention of leaving a space between written words and how it led to what we do today when reading silently.
As you age, you too may find that things slip out of mind when you don't want them to. So, we older people make use of notes more and more. If I try to stay alert to cars around me, changing lanes, making turns, going at an appropriate speed, I can forget the four items I need at home. Generally, when I make a note, the act of making it makes some of the items stay in mind or return to mind easily. With a long list, or several phone numbers, I need the piece of paper. I haven't tried writing just what I want without using paper, just going thru the motion. I have been to the store to find that I forgot the durned note and need it.
