reading

Although admitting this may qualify me as a one-hundred percent board-certified nerd (dweeb, Poindexter, etc.), I’ve loved reference books for as long as I can remember. And they’ve come a long way since three clever Scots dreamed up the first Encyclopædia Brittanica in Edinburgh in 1768. Over the years they’ve become much more accessible, engaging, and, dare I say, delightful, in large part thanks to a company called Dorling Kindersley Limited, better known as DK Publishing. 

I first became aware of DK Publishing through their expansive Eyewitness series. As a grade school student in the

“Thus it was that the dawn of sensibility was mistaken for the onset of senility.”

When Queen Elizabeth II unexpectedly finds herself on the City of Westminster travelling library, she immediately recognizes a dilemma. “Knowing that if she left without a book it would seem to Mr. Hutching that the library was somehow lacking”, and despite that “reading was something she left to other people”, the Queen checked out a book. And thus begins Her Majesty’s fascination with books.

Alan Bennett has penned an utterly charming and delightful tale; the first book I’ve ever wanted to immediately read

The Night Bookmobile is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Audrey Niffenegger. The Night Bookmobile was originally written as a short story based on a one of Niffenegger’s reoccurring childhood dreams.  According to the author, the Night Bookmobile is the first part of a much larger work.  The book tells the story of Alexandra, a passionate reader, who discovers a battered Winnebago  on a deserted Chicago street.  The only person on board is a spooky looking librarian and a collection of books that seems to be all the titles Alexandra has read over the years, even the cereal boxes.  

Some of you may remember Nicholas Carr’s Atlantic article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” that was published back in 2008.  I recall reading the article and leaving somewhat skeptical of Carr’s overall argument.   Since then Carr has expanded his argument giving birth to a book discussing the Internet and how it is changing our mental landscape.   Well, being the sucker I am to read anything on the subject of reading, let alone reading and the Internet, I couldn’t resist giving Carr another shot.

Essentially, Carr’s argument is that reading on the Internet and the distractions inherent in the