"What are you reading these days?" he asked.

"What are you reading these days?"

That's a question I ask now and then in casual conversation. But it seems like with the majority of people I talk to these days, whenever I ask them what they are reading or what they like to read, the answer tends to be something like, "Yeah I used to read a lot, but nowadays I just can't find the time." Or they say they have been too scatter-brained lately, unable to focus on reading a whole novel.

I can relate.

I think it's a worldwide social phenomenon, sadly. I won't blame it all on devices, but that's certainly part of it. The pace of life has sped up. We multitask more. We check social media. Email. Phone calls. Work stuff. Money is tight. Our attention spans are stretched thin. By the time we get into bed, we look at that novel that's been sitting on the bedside table for a couple of months and think, Nah, not tonight. I'm too tired. But I do need to get back into reading.

I did that for a year and a half: Practically stopped reading books altogether. That was a big deal for me, because I started reading of my own volition when I was twelve and had never stopped since. I'm not sure why I stopped, but I did.

Then, last year, that year-and-a-half-long dry spell ended. I said to myself, "This is fucking stupid. I like to read. Reading enriches me. It's time to start reading again." And I then forced myself to pick up a book and read a bit each night in bed (NOT on my ipad or phone; a physical, paper-paged book). And I have stuck with it, even when I am too tired to read more than a sentence or two. Some nights I have to force myself to put my book down.

One incentive that has kept me going is that I find reading in bed at night helps me sleep better, on average. Reading words on a page is different from on a lit-up screen, and even more different from watching TV. It triggers the imagination, I guess, and puts you closer to a dream state, which in turn helps you sleep. It does that for me, anyway.