Reading Books vs Reading Blogs

I have started reading books again after more than 1 year. One of the reasons i stopped reading books (and newspaper too) is because i was reading blogs, lots of them and had no time for reading anything else. 

Recently i have decided to limit myself to read 20 blogs max over a week with more self control. To be honest i feel much better and suddenly discover i have time for other things i used to do. Reading books.

I nearly forgot what a pleasure this could be. Of course i do not read books on management/high tech/internet/vcs...Most of the time i find them rather boring anyway.

And i am realizing now how different is the experience of reading a book vs reading a blog: i am listing some of them here.

• No temptation to zap: you are in front of your book, absorbed by it and you have no hyperlink to distract you or an open tab to appeal your mouse or even Google Talk that is ringing you
• No possibility of conversation: which is great. all you can do is read your book and discuss with yourself about it. Reading a book is a selfish experience. And being selfish is great. Of course later on you can go and talk about it in your blog
• Style and beauty: Blogs are interesting but this is not art. Books gives you a taste of beauty and i forgot how wonderful it could be to read a great writer.
• True reading: i find myself over-reading blogs, meaning not really reading. I can read very fast. And i do not need to read everything to get the point. i believe many people read like that. I am rediscovering again the pleasure of appreciating everything single word, stopping on expressions that make me think, words i never use.
• Continuous and consistent reading: the common point between blogs and books is that you don't read them at once. in once case because it is never finished in the second because it is too much for a single shot. The difference is that when you read a book you know you are part of a consistent process/story. Blogs are by necessity cluttered and not consistent (yes, i know you can create series, or talk about a same theme, but they are never as consistent as a book)
• The pleasure of paper: this is probably a stupid detail, but there is something relaxing in reading on paper vs reading on a screen. The text is there. You hold it in your hand, have control on it. You see where the page ends and where it begins. And this material/structure provides a sense of relaxation to me

FYI the picture above is the cover of the book i am reading those days Lunar Park by Brett Easton Ellis, which is one of my favorite writers after Stefan Sweig.

This may sound obvious but i believe reading books can eventually help us writing/reading better blogs. It brings a sense of content that can nurture the quality of continuous/partial writing. It can help bring a greater sense of structure to what you write.

But mainly it will remind you that beyond the idea itself the content has to be packaged in a nice wrapping which makes the whole difference: style

Do you feel like me?

Comments

[FabienD]

I agree with you, books are really not the same as blogs, and they both have their qualities. I hope I will always have the time to read great books. Great to read such a post about a non techno-geek subjet :)

[nawfal]

Tout à fait d'accord. tu as décris exactement ce que je pense. je me sens plus libre en lisant mes bouquins.

[Vanina]

I would never give up books...learning goes also with books. My love for books drove me to build a blog around books (Un livre Un jour).
Blogs are another way of learning but there are still a lot to learn in books :)

[franck perrier]

Interesting.Launching my weblog earlier this year has in fact driven me back to the newstand and to newspapers i had no bought for quite some time. I mostly use books to entertain myself.