How do you read?

Someone asked me today how I felt about the Kindle. My response was truthful and immediate: it's not a product that interests me at all. I also don't like reading used books for much the same reason.

Reading a book is a very personal and intimate experience for me. I'm slipping into another world for as long as it takes to read those two- or three- or five hundred pages. Sometimes I'm literally slipping inside the mind of another character and the fact that this person may not actually exist in "the real world" doesn't make him or her any less real to me if the writing is good. Reading evokes an emotional response in me -- I'm angered when the characters are angered, I laugh when they laugh, I grieve when they grieve. In short, reading a book is like living a tiny little life inside my own life. Sometimes when I finish a book, I go through a brief period of mourning. I'm not ready to leave that world, to step out of that life, to say goodbye to those characters.

In addition to these gifts (as I think of them) that my books give me, I share quite a bit of my life with my books in return. When I'm reading, my book goes everywhere with me. I read it in bed, on the bus, in stolen moments throughout the day. I read while I'm eating and drinking, while I'm snuggling with my husband and dog, while I'm cooking. I carry the book in my purse, in my coat, it lays on my bed, on my couch, gets tangled in my blankets. It becomes an intimate part of my life while I have it.

An e-reader, whether it be the Kindle or any one of the other brands available, is far too impersonal a way for me to interact with my stories. My books get hard use. When I'm done, I've broken the spine, I've folded down page corners -- sometimes I'll even underline things or make notes in the margins. I can pick up that book a week or a month or a year later and still sense the life I lived while reading it. Even its materials once had a life of their own. The mechanical feel of reading a story through an e-reader or online just doesn't mesh with the way I've come to enjoy my books.

Reading used books evokes a similar reaction for me. I feel that so much of me, my life and the experiences and feelings evoked in me while reading the book are imprinted on it while I'm reading it that I don't care for the idea of picking up on those same elements of someone else's life or experiences with the book if I were to read a used copy. It's just too intimate an experience to share with a stranger.

That's not to say, of course, that I'll never read an e-book or a used book. I've done both, in fact. It's just not my preference. I also greatly respect and admire the e-book industry for the freedom and opportunities its offered to writers over the years. But, given the choice, I'd prefer to read a book in print format rather than electronic.

This whole post brings to mind a very funny story I heard from Dr. Regina Barreca. I had the wonderful opportunity to take several classes and an independant study with Dr. Barreca while at UConn several years ago. She is a talented writer, an engaging professor, HILARIOUS and one of the smartest women I've ever met.

One day in class, she was telling us how she and her husband used to buy a single copy of the books they both wanted to read and simply pass it to each other when the first was through reading it. She went on to say that they began to argue so frequently about the way they each handled the books, that they finally decided to simply maintain separate libraries. Dr. Barreca's husband believes that books are nearly sacred objects -- they are to be handled with proper care and treated with a level of respect akin to the Pope himself. Bindings are not broken, pages are not folded and they are never, EVER to be laid carelessly in the vicinity of treacherous food and drink! Dr. Barreca reads like I do: the sign of a well-loved book is just how many food and drink stains are in it. Because that means you simply could not bear to part with the book for even the twenty minutes it would take to eat dinner.

She even tells a story about how she had to travel for business and was reading some gigantic hardcover book. She was about halfway through and couldn't stand the thought of being without it for the length of her trip but also couldn't find room for the enormous book in her suitcase. She solved the problem by simply *ripping the book in half* and taking the half she hadn't read with her! I'll admit, that's a bit extreme, even for me but, hey. We all do what we've got to do to get our reading in, right?

So, I'm curious to know how you all read? Do you keep your books in pristine condition? Or do they show the wear and tear of a life well-lived? And how do you feel about the Kindle or other e-readers?