Irony

So I read this great article about the importance of books - real, dead tree books. Right on! Preach it! But where did I read this great article - oh yeah, on the internet. Irony at its finest.

Irony aside though, I totally agree with the article. As I have spent more time online, not only do I have a harder time reading books, I am less interested in reading books. I find I am especially not as interested in non-fiction books that require engagement and thought. For example, I've been reading G.K. Chesterton's book Orthodoxy: The Romance of Faith. I think I've been reading it for at least three months and I'm still not finished. It's not long, either. I actually have about four non-fiction books that I've been reading for well over three months. Pretty embarrassing.

I love the internet. I love reading short articles, but I wonder how much retention I really have. Now, if I could get into Pinterest, I'd have a better way of keeping track of certain things. What works ok for me is to limit the number of blogs I read and the variety of subjects. I keep a pretty narrow range of blogs I read regularly. Or I try to be focused in my blog reading - reading only those blogs that are written about a particular subject, politics one day, for example, personal finance a different day, spiritual growth another day.

But regardless, it still inhibits my attention span. Partly because I do most of my reading at night, it's easier to read things that are shorter and that require less engagement. I'm tired, y'all. But there's a cost and it's one I think I need to re-evaluate.

Anyway, here's the link to the article. It's a good one - even if it is on the internet.

h/t to A Holy Experience