"Reclaiming my love for reading."

A MN friend, Gardenia, recently wrote a blog entry about "reclaiming my love for reading." It was a great piece where she shared her past and present, all based around books. Her faith and courage were strong and admirable.

I too have returned to reading. I never thought I had time for reading, especially an entire book. Daffodil gave me a book for Christmas. It took me until April to open it up. I started it on the way home from Aunt Sunflowers house one rainy afternoon. I finished the entire book that very same day. I was hooked. I still had birthday money that was a bust on treasures from the Walleye festival. I found myself at Target searching for more of the same inspirational authors books. In the end, I collected all five of her books. I have since passed along my collection to others. They too, did not think they had time to read. Daffodil has brought me large bags of books during my visits to MN. She's like my own personal library. Between her and her mother, I have read more books in the last year than I could have ever imagined! I also discovered goodread.com. It's a website where you can keep track of the books you've read. The beautiful thing about it is you can also see what your friends are reading. They post their ideas and comments about the book. It gives you an idea if you would maybe enjoy the book, with a personal twist due to receiving a direct opinion/guidance from your friend. You cal also read about the authors and see all their books which they have published. Some even have videos with the author discussing the book.

So many people are switching from reading books to reading pads or tablets. I am still unsure of this transition. While I am sure it is convenient and easy, I can't get past the price. Perhaps my views are different since I have Daffodil supplying me with reading material. Although, I have squired quite a collection of my own in the last year. I discovered how affordable books can be at Goodwill and Salvation Army. It's like a treasure hunt. I go and seek out authors I know or recognize. I most recently found a hard cover book I have been waiting for throughout the last year. There are three books to the series. I found the first two at SA for $.35. I just could not bring myself to pay full price for the third book brand new after finding the other two so cheaply. On Tuesday, I found the book. It was still more than I wanted to spend, but couldn't pass it up. I spend $3 on the hard cover version. I also have a large collection by another author whom I have enjoyed. Her books are very serious and dramatic. Sometimes I find it a little much. I discovered her books through Daffodil. I found 6 of them at the Walleye festival, all less than $1.

With the feel of searching for treasure, I fear it will be awhile before I switch over to a tablet to read. First you have the cost of the tablet, then to buy the books online seems high priced. It has to be compared to the way I am buying books. As long as I am able and continue to discover good finds, I think I'll stick with the paper copy.