5 new places where people are reading?

Like it or not, gone are the black-and-white days of getting all your news from three television networks.

Nowadays, all the cable TV choices you have to choose from number more than I’d like to spend time counting.

Spotify, or some music service like it, can play groupings of any music, or genre of music, you’d like to hear—anytime, you want to hear it.

Nostalgia be damed, there are now so many choices that it’s almost overwhelming.

This same phenomena happened in the book publishing world with Kindle and the availability of E-Books.

Every time I go on vacation, I marvel that I’m able to select and download (almost instantly) an entire novel, and then begin reading it, in maybe twenty seconds.

Still, occasionally, I go to brick-and-mortar bookstores for the experience alone, or just to look at the most recent titles. 

But there’s no double about it.

You can get almost anything you want to read almost instantly.

Simply reading in Starbucks or a cafe’ is hardly vogue anymore.

The Era of All-Formats Entertainment

One good thing about COVID-19 is that many people did a lot more reading that they usually would have.

A recent study from Pew Research Center states that 23% of adult Americans didn’t read a book in 2020, but many of these people only have a high-school diploma or less, even though about 825 million books were printed in 2021.

30% of Americans read e-books instead of paperback.

Pew Research Center

For people who do enjoy reading, COVID gave them a nice chance to catch up.

Unless they got COVID, of course.

Still, local libraries now allow downloads of many books, and even most libraries have access to the Internet.

Beyond these possibilities, many people have laptops, iPads, Kindles, Tablets, and other electronic reading devices.

Which can download books pretty much anywhere.

1. Hotels, Pools, and Airports

Aside from the local library, many hotels now have dedicated libraries of their own.

Most cruise ships now have access to the Internet, in addition to having an on-ship lending library. Even people who don’t like to read typically will read a book on a cruise while they’re getting a tan.

And hotel guests have pretty much always been given the latitude of being able to read around the hotel pool.

Airports are excellent place to read new books.

The one caveat is that you should download any books you want to read before boarding the plane.

You can’t download in-flight, unless you’re willing to pay for it.

2. In-Limbo Opportunities

Ever been bored out of your mind, in the car, waiting in a line of cars for the kids to get out of school?

Why not bring a book? Or download one.

The same applies for long commutes to work on public transportation.

This is certainly a new place where people are reading books.

3. At-Home Lunch Hours and After Work

Are you currently working from home?

I am.

And my lunch hour only requires that I get up out of my chair and walk to the kitchen.

I’ve got a lot more lunch leisure-time on my hands since I’ve been working from home.

And daytime TV is boring at best.

I’ve always got a novel or two laying on my family-room table.

Maybe not necessarily a new place where people are reading books.

Maybe just at a different time of day.

Lunch hours actually turns out to be great time  for reading books. Not exactly a new place. Maybe just redefined a little.

For me, anyway. 

When my work day is over, I no longer have al 45-minute commute home. Now, weather permitting, I can just chill on my screened porch and read a book.

With less commute time, I now have an opportunity to go to a monthly book club, where I can meet up with like-minded folks who have read the same books I have.

Great conversation and refreshments.

Thinking about trying one out? 

4. For me, the Car’s a New Place for Reading Books

Vacations are always just around the corner.

And many trips to relatives or vacation spots involve a long drive in the car.

You can always opt for an audio book, especially wonderful if you’re traveling alone.

5. Outdoors

Weather permitting, parks, gardens, and even forests have become wonderful places to read.

And now, you can do that reading with a paperback, a hardback, or a downloaded E-book.

Post Header Photo by: Chris Benson on Unsplash