October is National Book Month.
The month-long celebration focuses on the importance of reading, writing and literature. National Book Month is also a time to honor the country’s best books and authors.
National Today
I’m surprised that I don’t recall ever hearing of National Book Month before, even though it’s been around since 2003. As a passionate booklover, I’m always ready to celebrate books, reading, and writing.
The best way to celebrate National Book Month is to read books. I can give lots of good recommendations, starting with books I’ve edited or written. You’ll find 50 books listed and described here on my website, ranging from Christian devotionals to historical fiction to how-to guides to memoirs to narrative nonfiction to Christian living books. I’ve worked with some wonderful writers, and I’m confident you’ll find several books you’ll love.
Since I don’t watch TV or play sports or go to movies or concerts, I spend a lot of time reading. I read more than 350 books last year and am on track to read about the same this year, and I review every book I finish. Although I am currently behind on posting reviews, all the books I’ve read are listed and rated on Goodreads. Feel free to look over my book lists to find great books to read.
I read mostly ebooks and have since 1999 when the first e-reader became available. Through the years, I’ve used a variety of e-readers and am now on my third Kindle. The one I have now is an Oasis, though not the newest version, which is the
All-new Kindle Oasis - Now with adjustable warm light - 8 GB, Graphite (International Version).
.There are many reasons I love reading ebooks. Here are a few of the major ones:
- My vision is so poor that it’s difficult for me to read print, and I often have to use a magnifier if the book isn’t large print. With ebooks, I can adjust the font on my Kindle for comfortable reading regardless of what the original font was.
- It’s easier for me to hold my Kindle without pain than to try to hold a print book open to read. People with arthritis, fibromyalgia, and other conditions causing chronic pain appreciate this.
- I enjoy being able to carry so many books at one time. Right now, there are more than 750 unread books on my Kindle, so I have lots of choices of what to read next whenever I finish a book.
- It’s easy to sort and find books. I assign books to collections, so I can scroll through a list of titles based on the genre I want to read. Also I can search for titles, and the search covers the books in my Kindle and on my bookshelf in my Amazon account.
- I can search, highlight, and bookmark text; makes notes; share my notes and highlights with other readers; and look up words in the dictionary or in Wikipedia as I’m reading.
- Ebooks cost less than print books, an important consideration for someone who reads almost a book a day. I get lots of my ebooks for free—some from authors and publishers requesting reviews but others from special promotions, so my entertainment costs me very little.
That’s not to say I don’t love print books. If I were wealthy, I would love to have a huge library with a collection of leather-bound first editions. I like the feel and smell of old and new books, but those are aesthetic considerations. For pure reading enjoyment, give me an ebook any day.
Regardless of what genre you like to read and whether you prefer print or electronic books, I hope you get half as much pleasure from reading as I do.
Happy National Book Month!