Fortunately, even before I could read I was read to as a child and saw the adults in my life reading regularly. Once I began to read on my own, I was taken to the bookmobile in the summer and the library year around, and always had something to read even beyond the books I owned and those I borrowed. I read Time magazine at a young age, the newspaper, books my parents had as children, and pretty much anything else I could get my hands on. My best friend's older sister teased my friend and me about spending time together separately reading our own books. We also spent a lot of time outdoors doing other things, but at times we were happy to be in the same room not talking but reading.
Even growing up as an avid reader in a reading climate, I did not have the wealth of reading material at my fingertips that we do today. With the internet just a phone or tablet tap away for many people, there's no shortage of text to consume. Traditional books also are more readily available. My parents owned a few books as children, I had more, and my sons had many more, accumulating them as gifts and at frequent Scholastic school book fairs. No longer limited to dime store paperbacks, books of many types -- trade paperback, hardcover, children's -- can be purchased along with groceries and other basic necessities at Target or Walmart or similar stores.
Although my sons didn't read a lot of YA fiction, mainly because they aren't big fantasy readers, they did have a variety of fiction options written for teens that weren't available to me as I moved from children's books to adult titles. Similarly, adult fiction genres are becoming more specified -- urban, LGBTQ, YA, NA, and graphics.
While we have more options of formats and genres to read, at times maybe too much to read, I'm not sure our reading experience is improved. My childhood friend and I did spend time together reading separately, but we also spent time talking about the books we read. Access to a wide range of titles increases the possibility of finding "the next great read" for any particular reader, but also decreases the odds that after reading that book, you'll be able to talk about it in an informal way with a friend, family member or co-worker. Even belonging to a book club doesn't guarantee a shared reading experience, as members often seem too busy to read or finish the chosen title.
Will another J.K. Rowling create a story that captures readers of all ages around the world, creating a global shared reading experience, or as readers will we be increasingly isolated by our plethora of choices? Certainly reading serves many functions, and one book can have a great impact on an individual reader, but much would be lost if our access to a host of niche titles in a variety of formats virtually eliminates the possibility of moving the reading experience from the page to conversation with those around us.
