Kootenai River in NW Montana, near Canadian Border

Kootenai River in NW Montana, near Canadian Border
photo by Gene Tunick of Eureka, Montana

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Tip O'Day #358 - The Book Revival

Guest blogger Ben Drake says, “Buy books, people - physical or downloaded.”

I work in an old folks home. It's not very glamorous, I know, but they are pretty cool people with some pretty cool stories. Upon talking with them and enjoying their company, I find their generation did a lot more reading than my parents’ generation, and a hell of a lot more than my generation.

I am sure that one of the reasons was financial. With the Great Depression and two world wars, they just did not have much money to be going out. They were forced to be frugal, and books were an inexpensive escape from grim reality, as opposed to the lifestyle of today. Or should I say yesterday.

Today, with seemingly endless foreign wars, the constant fight against terrorism, and the recession that nobody has the balls to say is turning into another depression, few of us have the disposable income we once enjoyed. I think books are ready to make a huge comeback. E-books are incredibly inexpensive, or you can get free hard cover or paperback check-outs at the local library.

The weekend movie and dinner date will surely not be totally replaced, but some of us will scale back to the evening book and conversation instead.

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