Friday, January 7, 2011

5 Senses of Reading

A Musing for the day to end this first week of 2011.

Today, one of the high school English teachers stopped by the library with her daughter. She and I were discussing reading books versus e-readers.

And in that discussion, we talked about what reading holds for us. That started me thinking - literally: like, holding a book; the smell of a book (brand new? moldy? the smell one has after residing in a home with a ton of cinnamon potpourri!); the sound a page makes as it turns (or for me - being part verbal learner - the sound of my voice reading an intense passage out loud); and seeing the depth of pages that I had conquered - and those yet to be experienced.

When I think of that last sense - the sense of taste - I cannot help but go there. Where, you ask?

Though one should NEVER eat and read a library book ;), I can still taste the Dorito I would crunch slowly all around the edges while mesmerized by my favorite Trixie Belden book. (You know I was very careful to use the non spiced, uncheesy fingers to turn the page.)

But these five senses always seemed to come together to take me on the coolest adventures. It is my hope that as we segue into the next generation of reading materials (Kindles, Nooks, and various other e-readers), that we humans will learn to cherish the feel, the smell, the look, and the sounds of the e-reader in our hand - and be careful to keep the crumbs off the screen!

Have a great weekend and be careful out there!

Mel

2 comments:

  1. I love the feel of a book in my hand! However, my best times to read now seem to be when I'm rocking a baby. It's hard to turn the pages, juggle the book, and not stir the almost sleeping child. I think a Kindle would be so handy. It's on my wish list!

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  2. Definitely sounds like an e-reader would be a good choice for you, Shannon! Check out and compare different ones though to see if you will be able to download library books, Amazon, B&N books, etc.

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