Reading: Going Digital

Being an avid reader, I more often than not have to make conscious decisions when I pick books to read. People often remark, that as and when they grow up they find less and less time to devote to their hobbies. I often thought how it could be so, but to my utter disappointment I found it to be true for some reason. My attention span has deteriorated and I find myself unable to sit for long marathon reading sessions like I once did.

Moreover, I had stopped buying books altogether because of lack of closet space to store them. I am very particular about how I keep my books, and when there isn't enough space, I won't compromise by stuffing them.

Buying books also acted as a deterrent, as it meant that I have only so much choice for experimenting. If a book isn't worth it, I feel cheated out of both money and storage space.

Last year, I finally decided to take the plunge and went digital. I really am the old school type- them people who love the smell of a new book, and the act of taking out the book and turning over its pages. But then, I really did consider the one aspect of buying a Amazon Kindle- the ease.

To put it frankly, I have never enjoyed reading so much as on my Kindle Paperwhite. As of now, I am reading a short stories collection, Hercule Poirot series by Agatha Christie and a couple of other books.

This is something, that I would never even consider doing before I had Kindle. I would serially go through the entire book before I would set my sights on a new one. But now literally I have the independence to try out several books at once and read them at my leisure.

I do miss the actual books, but I guess everything has it's perks. As a friend of mine put it once, if you are reading e-books, at worst they can be deleted. No more dodging people who beg you to lend them books! Believe me, when I say that I cringed every time I received a lent book back- I always ended up buying fresh copies which were untouched.

I have crossed several series/books of my reading list since last year. Some of them being:

1. The Inheritance Series by Christopher Paolini
2. Hercule Poirot by Agatha Christie (currently reading The Hollow)
3. The Seventh Tower Series by Garth Nix
4. The Wardstone Chronicles (currently @ I am Grimalkin)
5. Fifty Shades Series (I really am ashamed, but I had to read them before the movies!)
6. The Interpreter of Maladies and The Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

In all, a tally of 41 books. That is a lot of books. I really am surprised. I am reading on way in Delhi Metro which makes the commute surprisingly bearable.

I am happy because I distinctly remember that during the academic session of my senior high school examinations, I had foregone the Hercule Poirot series, I have always rued the fact that I never read the cult book series when it came to mystery and old school detective cases. Now, I am more than half way through the entire series.

I set myself a reading target of 50 books on Goodreads, hoping that I would shame myself to read at least 20 if not more. But surprises here, I am done with 41 books as of today. I guess I was wrong when I believed in people who said that there never was enough time. There always is!