Are we reading ebooks faster than print books?

A website recently conducted a poll among readers to gauge just what kinds of books they are reading, what format they prefer books in, and how many books are read each month between the formats. For example, they compared how many books were read on e-readers compared to print. I was shocked to see that a majority of the respondents reported that they read more ebooks each month compared to print. I was surprised by that result because my situation is the opposite: I take forever to read an ebook but I can finish reading a print book in a week (sometimes even in a day).

Taking note of that survey result, I started to wonder if it’s true that more people read more books faster if it’s on an e-reader. Myself, I don’t have an e-reader, so if I read an ebook, it’s usually a PDF on the computer. This usually explains why I don’t read them very fast: I don’t like sitting at the computer for too long. As it is, these days, I only use the computer once a day.

What is it about ebooks that allows readers to read them faster? I was puzzling over this. Are ebooks shorter? I have seen some ebooks longer that 300 pages. Do we just happen to read faster if words are on a screen? Or is there some mode of convenience which allows people to read them so fast?

Yesterday, as I was waiting for my son to finish his class, I noticed another mom sitting nearby and reading on her Kindle. Her other child was sitting in a chair next to her, reading a print book. The mom’s thumb moved the text along on the screen as she read her ebook while the child took his time reading the pages of his print book. Maybe the mom just happens to read faster but I was still curious if this is how people read ebooks on their e-readers. Are they just scrolling along and taking in the words faster?

I did some research about this on the Internet. With one article I read, it stated that compared to reading ebooks and reading print books, a lot of people don't easily recall what they read in the digital book whereas more people remembered things better when reading a print book. Then I came across this article and have to wonder if reading ebooks faster than print even has anything to do with being able to remember what was just read. 

All this time, I have refused to have an e-reader. I prefer print books because I can read them anywhere and I don’t need them to be charged to read them. I don’t need electricity to read a print book – unless it’s dark, but even then, I can read by candlelight. Or with a flashlight. But if e-readers are indeed still something we can just pull out and read anywhere, I think I would be more open to that. I am not a social person and I would happily take advantage of any free time to just read. So I’m thinking that maybe an e-reader can still work just as much as a print if I want something to read while my kids are watching a TV show or outside playing.

And if using an e-reader means I’ll read ebooks faster, then I’m all the more willing to give it a try. I have a ton of ebooks waiting to be read and it would be nice to finally read them without having to stay chained to a computer to do so.

Dem bones

Last weekend, I started reading the book Forensic Detective by Robert Mann, Ph.D. Before that, I had reread the book Dead Men Do Tell Tales by William R. Maples, Ph.D. Both books are about forensic anthropology. I know this is not exactly a field I myself would ever pursue, but the subject really is quite fascinating. It’s really interesting to learn what happens to the human body after death, as well as matters of decomposition, disposal and how crimes have been solved just from the study of bones. I usually don’t watch the show CSI – though I have seen a few episodes – but this subject really does hold my interest. Because I have been in so many hospitals and been around so many doctors and nurses, I guess I should not be surprised this is something I am interested in. I have seen several patients in several different kinds of situations according to whatever they were going through and I’ve always been fascinated with human anatomy, diseases, sickness and treatment of injuries. Just today I saw the movie Lucy and it made me think about the whole “superhuman” issue.

While I was reading this book, I learned that there is a “bone bible” of sorts out there. A book detailing everything about every single bone in the human body. This book is called Human Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual by Dr. Bill Bass. I made a mental note to get my hands on this book. I have been interested in human anatomy for some time but I don’t have a copy of the Gray’s book. My daughter has a book about anatomy. And my son has always been curious about human anatomy.

As I have read this book, I have had moments where I would coil in disgust over what was shared, but I am really interested in this subject and continue reading the book. As I said, it’s really fascinating what happens to the human body after we die.

I have a cardboard skeleton hanging on the door for Halloween, and after I finished reading a chapter in the book today, I just stood there staring at the skeleton. I was thinking, No matter what we look like on the outside, this is what we ALL look like on the inside. I want to try to get a skeleton with all the bones labeled but, failing that, at least a book about them. I am interested in human anatomy, the names of all the bones, so I think coming across that info in the book has really piqued my interest and compels me to want to continue with that study and learn even more.

Routines

I usually have a set of routines for myself. There are the routines during the school week and the routines during the weekend. I have a list of specific routines that I complete every Sunday. Part of them are just for something to enjoy doing once a week and part of them are to get ready for another busy school week.

As I sat at the desk completing one of my Sunday routines, I started to ask myself if this is something I would want to do without if I ever had less time on my hands during my future Sundays to do the normal Sunday routines. Of course, if I had less free time on Sundays, that would mean some of the normal Sunday routines would get removed from my list. Then again, one of the reasons I do these things on a Sunday is because Sunday is less busy. Yes, it IS the day I get ready for the week. It’s the day we prepare for a whole ‘nother week! But it still is not as busy as most days. It just seems like the right day to do these things. But would I be okay with abandoning the newest Sunday routine if I had to?

After some thought, I decided, probably not.

Like I said, some of my Sunday routines are things I enjoy doing, and I enjoy checking in with people I know IRL on one particular site I’m connected with them at. I like seeing what new things they have put up on their pages. I don’t get anything out of this, of course, nor do I expect to. It’s just something that I like to do. These people are kinda important to me so I want to check in with them. (They usually don’t know I am checking in, though!)

I guess some routines are just harder to let go of than most. If I HAD to ditch doing laundry every Sunday, I would GLADLY give that one up! If I had to forego checking the finances Monday through Friday to make sure everything was A-OK, I would be happy to ditch that, too! But reading every day? Watching a show or movie while the kids are in school? Getting up super early on Monday morning so I can enjoy my coffee before the busy day starts? Nope, I don’t think so. Those kind of routines help me to reconnect with my own self, in a way. The reason why I have me-time is because I just need some time to myself to enjoy “me the person” before going back to being “me the mom” or “me the wife.” So I think they are important routines to keep.

So how could checking in with other people I know be important, too? I think it’s important because it’s a chance to remember them again. We don’t normally stay in touch during the week. This is my way of seeing if anything is new with them, even if they don’t know that I happened to pay a virtual visit at their site.

Done having children!

So this morning, as I sat at the kitchen table reading the news on my phone, I came across an article by a dad of one child. This father had often been asked if he and his wife were planning on having more kids. And you know what? He’s tired of that question! So tired of it, in fact, that he actually gives the world at large the finger through his article detailing how hard it was for Child #1 to even come along and, thanks, but one kid is enough for them.

On one hand, I could relate to what the guy was going through. It’s like it’s not enough to have one kid. When you finally DO have one kid, everybody's pressuring you to have another. And another and another. I mean, it’s like we have to keep the babies coming. I have been so sickened with the media’s fascination (obsession?) with pregnancy, babies and pregnant celebrities. I say, enough already! Seriously, we need to stop pushing this whole “have babies, have babies” mentality on the young generation. The world is overpopulated as it is (and despite the MANY killings going on in this world and how it seems like we humans are trying to kill each other everywhere we turn, I STILL think the world is overpopulated!). I have been there. When I was childless, I was encouraged to get pregnant. After my daughter was born, I was encouraged to have more children. And I DID want more children but ONLY when the time was right. And even after Kid #2, there were happy thoughts circulating about Kid #3. But because of a health issue, that idea got dashed.

On the other hand, I also agree with this dad’s stance on the whole issue that NOT everyone in the world is going to be SO unhappy if they only have one child. For some people, one child is enough. A lot of people are HAPPY with just one child. Why is it so hard for some people to accept this? If someone has one child, don’t pressure them to churn out more! Seriously, it’s their life. They make their own decisions. We don’t know their stories or their situations. So leave it alone. You know?

I have friends who have only one child and never in the time that I have known them have they ever shared with me their sadness or disappointment over not having more kids. They seem to be happy to have just one child. I am happy that THEY are happy with their decision to just have one child.

Me, I am happy with two. I know when I was younger I dreamed of having a house full of children but life did not turn out that way. And you know what? I’m fine with it. Really! I am happy, even VERY thankful, for the two beautiful and healthy children that I have. I was lucky to even have the first one! (It took a long time to conceive my first child.) So, yeah, two is enough for me. I’m done having children and I’m happy with the ones that I DO have.

Personally, I don’t think it’s anybody’s business over how many children a woman or even a couple choose to have. It is NOT anybody else’s business! They are not the ones who have to conceive the child, carry it for 9 months, give birth to it then pay for everything related to raising a kid. So I think people need to just mind their own beeswax and instead appreciate the child or children that are already there.

Even if that health issue I had did not turn up, I would not want to give birth to anymore children in my 40s or beyond. The health of the egg starts to decline when a woman turns 40 and that increases the baby’s chance of being born with a deformity or sickness. I would not want to do that to a child. I am not so selfish as to wish a disease or some kind of organ problem on a helpless infant just so I could have another baby. I realize some women in their 40s or 50s have given birth to a healthy baby but that is a very rare case. It is not the norm. So I’m better off not having anymore children anyway. That ship has sailed! And I’m totally fine with that, too.