Cover To Cover

I know this is going to sound dated and outdated. I just subscribed to the print version of the National Geographic Magazine. I'm not quite sure why but it may have something to do with what is going on in my house. Bucking the trend, it seems my kids prefer printed reading material over electronic. They read voraciously. Especially my daughter. She easily read two to three novels a month. Most of the books are loaned from the local libraries -- Mary Jacobs or the Princeton Public Library.

My son reads novels too but he also reads magazines. He reads the print version of Newsweek and loves reading the funnies in the Sunday comics. He reads my print subscription to Consumer Reports and the local newspaper.

What I have noticed is that they are more keen to share their thoughts and feelings on what they have read in print versus what they read online. It's weird. I don't know what's going on here but I like it. I find myself doing the same. When I sit to read on the computer or my iPad, I find it easy to get distracted. But when I read print, I find myself focusing more and retaining more of what was read. I do not get distracted. I can easily lose myself in the local newspaper for an hour.

When I was a kid I read my dad's National Geographic cover to cover. NatGeo helped me travel to a world beyond the tiny islands where I lived. A world full of wonder in nature and interesting people and cultures. So, this afternoon, I pulled out my credit card and subscribed to the print edition of the National Geographic Magazine. I hope my kids -- the family -- have as much joy and wonder from reading the stories are I did when I was a child. I hope this leads to interesting family conversations about the world.

Author: Khürt Williams

A human who works in information security and enjoys photography, Formula 1 and craft ale. #nobridge