Sunday, February 20, 2011

I like reading and I am not ashamed to admit it!

I recently heard that Borders is closing a lot of its stores across the country and might even file for bankruptcy. The information made me wonder about the future of paper books and reading in general. I, of course, realize that the Borders situation was not born as a result of people not reading books anymore and is probably more a consequence of the increased number of different opportunities to obtain books without having to visit a bookstore. Not to mention, books in these bookstores could be quite expensive. 

Aside from the bookstore closures, however, the problem of many people not reading anything, let alone books, is a real one. The fact is children, young adults, and adults do not read and are not even interested in starting the activity as it is doomed as time-consuming and boring and never really given a chance. 

Personally, I have always enjoyed reading books and cannot imagine my future without a book in my hands. When I was younger, books were windows through which I could leave the constraints of my house, the small village I lived in, even the country I was growing up in. I learned about peoples and believes and ideas that I would have not come across had I not been reading. Even today, every time I open a book and start reading, I fall through the rabbit hole and similar to Alice, encounter a wonderland crowded with people, places, and events that teach me something new and make me a better person.(By the way, if you don’t know which Alice I am referring to, I suggest you start with that book first – Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - and then keep going:). 

With the illiteracy rate increasing in a time when opportunities for learning are so much greater than they used to be, I certainly hope that the teachers out there who hold the power to spark the interest in books are actually doing what they are supposed to. And even though I am not a fan of it, the students can get a Kindle or a NOOK for all I care. Just let those kids read!

-          Krasi

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