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It’s been half a year, but my sleep hygiene investment is still paying dividends. I have been reading more books than ever. Last year I read seventeen books. This year, though it is only July, my reading list has already hit fourteen. I could be well on my way to almost doubling last year’s number.
Much of that reading has come in the form of physical books and audiobooks. Although audiobooks allow me to read during times that I’ve never been able to read before (on my daily walks, while I do chores, on long car rides), I’ve written about how some books just don’t work well with audiobooks (nonfiction books with a lot of endnotes and figures, fiction books with a lot of characters, experimental fiction books with nontraditional formats). So, I’ve been splitting my reading between the two formats.
I did have a Kindle reader on my phone, but I found that I would easily get distracted from reading by the siren call of app notifications. The bright blue light bathing my face at night from the screen was also not helpful for my sleep hygiene routine.
For my birthday this year, my husband bought me a Kindle eReader. It has been a marvelous addition to my reading format roulette. I am thoroughly enjoying being able to load it up with mounds of books without any added packing weight when I go on trips. Although my Kindle is Wi-Fi-enabled, the interface is very clunky, so I’m never tempted to abandon my book and browse online.
I’m loving the ability to highlight pages and look up unknown words at the touch of the screen. I also love the ability to magnify the font size (oh, these sad, aging eyes) and read my digital book in the glare of the sun.
I do still love reading my physical books, and I try to do that as much as I can. But it is lovely to have my digital alternative to take with me when I’m traveling. If I’ve learned anything in my nearly fifty years on earth, it’s that I will wildly overestimate how many books I will actually read during any one vacation. In the past, I’ve had to choose between an extra pair of shoes or another book to bring, and now I don’t have to make that choice!
Happy reading, no matter the format you pick.
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