Thursday, November 22, 2012

For the Love of Books

Reading is not just a cerebral activity, it is also a sensory pleasure. I love the feel of different papers on my fingers, and flipping the pages. I like to hear the crack of the spine of a new book. I like to see what people have scribbled in the sides. Different fonts send off different vibes and set different tones.

This is a nice piece from Slate: Reading on a Kindle is not the same as reading a book.

Before you say "duh", have a read. There are some lovely passages-just lovely.

"As I begin to read, the kids begin to lean into me. Our bodies assume positions of rest, the book our shared column of support. No matter what advertisers say, this could never be true of the acrobatic screen. As we gradually sink into the floor, and each other, our minds are freed to follow their own pathways, unlike the prescribed pathways of the Web. We read and we drift. “The words of my book nothing,” writes Walt Whitman, “the drift of it everything.”

So nice!

"New research continues to emphasize the importance of mind wandering for learning. It turns out that not paying attention is one of the best ways of discovering new ideas. Reading books, whether silently or aloud, remains one of the most efficient means of enabling such errant thinking. As our bodies rest, our minds begin to work in a different way. New connections, new pathways, and sharp turns are being made as we meander our way through the book, but also away from it."