I posed the questions to my family during our family reunion one weekend. Here is what I came up with when I started with the question "Read any good books lately?"
The Ten People I polled:
Dad: Recently read Biography of John Adams, The Autobiography of Moss Heart, and a Durk Cussler book. He's read 6 books in the last 6 months. He likes to read non-fiction, biographies, and some fiction.
Kenzie: hadn't read any good books lately. She read 3 books in the last 6 months, and she usually likes fiction, and non-fiction.
Chase: recently read The Book of Mormon, Meek and Lowly, and Psalms of Ancient Israel. Ge;s read 3 books in the last 6 months and he usually likes religion and biographical books.
Grandma: Recently read The Lottery, Life on the Refrigerator Door, and Death in Vienna. She's read 12-15 books in the last 6 months and she likes scripture, fiction, and current non-fiction books.
Amber: recently read The Shack, Breaking Dawn, and Stolen Innocence. She's read 6 books in the last 6 months and she usually reads non-fiction.
Kristin: recently read Escape. She's only read 1 book in the last 6 months and she usually likes non-fiction.
Mom: recently read Star Girl. She's read 3 books in the last 6 months and usually goes for biographies and non-fiction books.
Cam: recently finished the Eragon Trilogy and Artemus Fowl. He's read 4 books in the last 6 months, and usually goes for fantasy, mystery, adventure, and books on tape.
Jason: finished Good to Great and Playing for Pizza. He's read 3 books in the last 6 months and usually goes for religious or fantasy books.
Maria: recently read These is My Words, Sarah's Quilt, and Unconditioned Parenting. She's read 10 books in the last 6 months and usually likes to read fiction and parenting books.
The sample I chose was not very diverse. Mostly my family focuses on religious books, or non-fiction, but the fact is - we all read books. We are all literate, and we are a big book reading family. But books are a big part of today's society. There are few people in the U.S. today that can not read, or that don't read any books at all. In public schools we are required to read certain books, in college we are supposed to read our textbooks, and other literature for classes. I believe nothing will take the place of an actual paper book. But reading has become a past time. By looking at my sample, you can see who values books, or who may have more time than others to read. For instance, my Grandma has read almost 15 books in the last 6 months, and my sister in law has only read 1. Well Grandma lives alone, doesn't work, and no longer has a family to take care of. She has all the time in the world to read, where on the other hand, my sister-in-law is a mother and she works at the same time. Reading books has become a leisurely activity. (unless of course, you are in college or any kind of school.) We have so much other forms of entertainment, that reading isn't as popular is was back 100 years ago. Other media has taken it's place, but it still survives. Books and authors adapt, and they will continue to be a good source of learning, entertainment, or escape.
2. Which would you prefer to use in your college classes, regular textbooks or electronic textbooks? Which would you prefer for your leisure reading? Why?
I would much rather use regular textbooks in class than electronic textbooks. My reasoning for this is because I have a photographic memory, which means when I read something important, I can memorize which side of the page it is on, and where it is located on the page. This makes things easier for me, because if I need to look something up, or go back and study something in particular, I can usually remember where it is in the book and on the page. If I were to use electronic textbooks, I wouldn't be able to do that. Using actual books is much better for my eyes too. If I were to read an electronic textbook, after reading for so long, it would hurt my eyes and actually give me a headache.
The same goes for my leisure reading. When I read a book I want to be able to turn the pages, mark up the page if I want, and just even smell the book. (weird, I know, but I love books.) Electronic books would never really fly with me.
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