Let's Read

I used to say I was a book lover...a bookworm...a bookish...anything that would describe me as a person who likes books. That was during my student days wherein I preferred buying books to borrowing. I was also a fan of bookstores back then. Every week, I used to spend hours inside bookstores looking for books to buy, from the aisle of novels to academic-related to self-help books. I'd buy then read them at home. I had collections of Sweet Valley High pocketbooks during my teenage years as well as local romance stories in series. These were included in my collections of textbooks or resources for the school. Well, being a public school student, our textbooks were actually free, provided that we take care of them in a span of 10 months and give them back to school to be used by other students next school year. Some teachers, though, would share additional references that can be purchased in bookstores, which we may buy or check on libraries. I prefer buying as I'd rather read at home.

I don't sell these books no matter how old they are because they're precious for me. I do believe they'll be useful in the future. I used to share some of the textbooks in high school and college and whenever one was not returned, I would buy another one though I already graduated. They were still very helpful in my job and other family members got to use them, too. I also wished on putting up my own library at home or in the community.

Aside from books, I love buying and collecting magazines, too. There, I get new info about anything that interests me. I started with fashion magazines when I got my 1st job. Then, I shifted to home and décor magazine when I got interested in interior decorating. I even dreamed of being an interior decorator, unfortunately, I hadn't finished my course. I also bought wedding magazines when I got fascinated with wedding gowns. When I got pregnant and until now, I usually get information in parenting and baby magazines. Though I have my mom and some oldies with me who share their knowledge in parenting, sometimes I find them too traditional which is not applicable nowadays. The magazines somehow help me with the latest information about parenting, which I share with them also. I also buy other magazines alternately with parenting such as health magazine, good housekeeping, food magazine, and the discovery mag which is more on the environment and the planet. My mom used to subscribe to readers digest for 2 years. Our latest subscription was the Discovery magazine.

After reading, I share the magazines or books with friends then stack them all on my shelf for future references. I believe my son will be able to use them in the future. Probably during that time, I've set up our home library. How about you? What book do you read and how do you take care of them?

I know that e-books started a long time ago. Maybe that was even before I was born. When I was in college, I became interested in buying novels in e-book format, however, the novels didn't reach me. When I came to know Kindle, i got fascinated that I found ways to download some of the free books it offers. As technology upgraded, E-books became popular (that even kids can have access to it), when the iPads and tablets or even high end phones became capable of storing many files for such thing. Thus, some students no longer bring books or notebooks, instead, they use their phones or laptop, or iPads in taking notes and/or reading books. In this regard, the sale of books or magazines in paper format had been affected. Hence publishing companies were affected. Even though there are still libraries and bookstores around, publishers needed to find a way to survive from the techie world. They hired professionals that could work with them for their books or magazines to be available in any gadget. For them, this is another opportunity to earn aside from giving readers easy access to read the contents and getting more subscribers around the world.

In my own opinion, the publishers of either books or magazines are competitive so aside from taking the opportunity to earn through electronic platforms, they also want to reach their subscribers in a fast and easy way (as I have mentioned above). So the availability of online articles, novels, and e-books arises. Some say it's better to avoid much clutter at home and/or dust that accumulates on a stack of books. Hence, they prefer online subscriptions. On the other hand, some people still prefer the paperbound type. They say that reading using gadgets (phone, tablet, iPad, laptop, or pc) would result in poor eyesight because of the radiation. Maybe, true enough. I, myself, noticed that when I started using the computer for researches (rather than going to libraries), I started having a problem with my vision. Now I am nearsighted. But I don't blame technology for that. I guess that still depends on the person. Some people with poor eyesight say they got it for reading pocketbooks even in the dark. My reaction was: hey!! How could you read in the dark? Oh well... maybe it wasn't really dark. Maybe there was a dim light.

I am not pro or anti-books in technology platforms. I am not a techie person by the way, though I have accounts in Wattpad, Kindle, and other online sources for books and magazines. I agree that technology is a fast way to find something (in this case, a story or article) that you are looking for. Okay! Maybe I am quite a techie, I only use a smartphone and a not so high-end laptop, they are helpful. Nevertheless, I still love reading on paperbound. As I've said, I've been dreaming of having my own library at home. A computer or other gadget may come in handy but maybe after a few months or years, I would be afraid of losing contents because of the virus. Paperbound books or magazines are safe from viruses. Although, maybe not on termites.

So, whichever you choose, extra care is needed to have your reading materials last for a lifetime.