Hello Blog World, it's been too long ...

And that's my fault.

My Monday Musings, weekly book reviews, and even a 30-day photography challenge fell sadly by the wayside as I joined some friends in a panting, stumbling, dogged quest in search of better fitness.  I am trying to find a better balance though - and hopefully will be able to return to updating this blog and my Shelfari account regularly!

Part of seeking out that better balance included finding time to read, and my husband has been amused by venturing into the living room and finding me doing situps, book propped against my knees.  Or stepping on and off the Wii Balance board, on my way to 1600 steps, while reading.  In academy I used to walk from class to class while reading, so it only made sense that I could read while stepping more or less in place - even less hazardous!

It is difficult, however, to truly immerse myself in a book when my mind is more than half on counting reps, so the books I've been reading lately haven't been the kind that tend to stand out all that vividly in my mind.  "Then listen to an audio book!"  I can hear you thinking it! :)

Behold, a rant!
Amazon owns an online company called "audible", where they sell audio books and make available other types of audio material. It's a great idea.  I love audio books.  They keep me sane when I'm driving for more than two hours.  They let me re-hear favorites stories while I'm washing the dishes.  They give characters accents that I didn't think of - or add inflections that are different than those I'd mentally add when reading.  So let me be clear, I don't have anything against the concept or practice. What I DO have a problem with is the advertising that I've seen for audible.com.

Through their ads, full of quotes from users, audible makes the case that reading is all well and good, but hey - who's got time for that?  It's so much easier to have someone else read to you.  If you have a reading disability, then yes, easier in this case is a good thing.  But if you have the ability to read, and read well ...

Are they wrong?  Probably not.  But I feel my thoughts being pushed towards the debate that ink and paper books are becoming relics - things of the past that modern society has somehow moved beyond.  And as someone who loves not only the stories, but the medium itself...

Am I over-thinking this?  Maybe.  But I'm not ready to give my books up for eReaders and audiobooks.  Not entirely.  Convenient, they might be.  But to me, a great deal of the appeal of the literary is that it provides a break from the hectic, plugged-in pace of everyday life - without stopping you entirely and leaving the analyzing and creative parts of your brain to atrophy as they are completely bypassed.

A while back I posted about the dying arts, including some truly frightening statistics about the number of illiterate adults in the United States.  Ads like the one audible puts out there scare me, because I picture that number growing - as the generations that come after us become less and less willing to spend time simply learning for the love of learning, reading for the sake of story, to read for themselves at all.

Okay.  I feel better now.
I'm officially announcing that my birth month - April - is going to be the month that I take on my self-imposed literary challenge: 30 books in 30 days.  Clearly, I will not be reviewing them all.  I will, however, endeavor to post a list of all the books I read each week, throughout the month.

Join me if you feel so inspired!  I won't hold anyone else to the number 30.  If you want to do 15 books in 30 days, or 4 books in 4 weeks, or 1 book every 10 days - I'll still welcome you!  Your challenge for you, mine for me.  All I care about is that we take the time to read.  "Too busy" for books sounds a lot like "too busy to do something positive for myself" and if you love books anywhere near as much as I do, you owe it to yourself to find the time!