Nothing quite compares to the tactile feel of a well-bound book, but delivery method isn't really the issue here. I think we're talking about story, narrative, art, and the medium of words. We're talking about our fundamental need to articulate what's going on within us and around us. We're talking about intellectual, imaginative, and spiritual yearning. It's our obligation as leaders, writers, and parents to nurture these important needs and longings, not just in ourselves but in our children too.

I, too, think the ability to focus and sustain attention to a long-form story or idea is essential to the life of a civilization. If we cannot do that anymore, we will become a short-sighted people, unable to hold the weight of world-sized matters … and then we will find ourselves intensely vulnerable. I haven't studied history as much as I ought to have, but I can't help but wonder if this is what happened to the fall of the Roman Empire.

More than the socio-political perspective you've offered here, I take from this post the simple invitation to read again. I don't read as many books these days as I used to, and I used to devour them pell-mell. I can feel the lack of them in my life. I can feel the lack of them in my soul. Thanks, Michael, for the reminder this gave to me of how much I love to engage the long form.

He included a link to that book's page on Amazon.com but the book is out of print and only used copies are available, starting at $39! No digital book available.

I would have bought that book, on Miller's recommendation. Perhaps other readers of his blog would have done so as well. There must be *some* way to guarantee that Thomas Nelson titles are readily available and affordable, even out of print titles.

In a doucmentary for Coca-Cola, I heard their Director of Sales for Africa say that their goal is to keep Coke "within an arm's reach of desire." I encourage Thomas Nelson to adopt that and make sure that when I want to buy a book they have published I can do it easily and affordably.

- David

Books were so formative in my life. For me, the impact of books began early in my life when a public library opened near our house in Dallas. I often went there on Saturday's and checked out biographies. Each week I read biography after biography. Not only did my world expand through encountering others' lives but also stimulated my thinking.

1. I was able to read it wherever I happened to be. For example, I went to a college graduation, and I sat uninterestedly through an hour of names that I did not recognize, I turned on the iPhone and read a few more chapters in the Vook.
2. I gleaned a lot of interesting information from the videos within the Vook. There were pictures, stories and interviews (non-verbal communication) that were told in a 60-90 second clip that gave some interesting context to the written words.

Overall, I agree. Not being a "book reader," I see the value and understand I am missing out on a lot of knowledge. On the other hand, I appreciate the "Vooks" out there that help bring those of us in, so we can make the step to becoming a more avid reader.

Question: Where does someone like me start? What are modern must-reads? Not a laundry list, but one or two high priority reads?

I'm also reminded of how books–and the actual reading and absorbing of them–lifted Andy Andrews out of his homelessness. One reason I love "The Noticer" is it gives the reader much hope that present circumstances don't determine one's future.

“It is often said that children are the wealth of the poor. This was not my experience. But books are without question the wealth of the poor's children. Books are a guiding light out of the underworld, a secret passageway, an escape hatch. To the affluent, books are ornaments. To the poor, books are siege weapons.”

I realized a few years ago that reading books had such a different affect on me as a learner, thinker, teacher, and leader. Mags, blogs, etc are fine for what they are, but they are no substitute for books. Might I suggest a quick little book to further underscore the point? Books are to be preferred for our development not only for long-form argument or extended imaginative engagement. Not only that, because it takes time to research, reflect, articulate the argument or develop the characters and plot, and write them, books almost by the nature of their creation/production have a more mature perspective than the immediate news cycle. The book is How the News Makes Us Dumb: The Death of Wisdom in an Information Society, by John Sommerville.

I often find myself in disagreement with your viewpoints, but this post is the shining exception. Your advocacy for the long-form narrative as integral to civilization is, IMO, both true and profound.

Thank you for sharing.

-Steve

He would read enough of them to master the topic-hobby and then he'd launch a new business venture with the knowledge (become a pilot, teach for the US Power Squadron, open an upscale billiards parlor, etc.). He was always learning, always successful, and always doing something he loved.

Watching him over the years taught me you can do, learn or be nearly anything if you read enough books about it by the leaders in that field. So yes, I agree, books aren't in need of a casket or urn.

Digital books and paper books are somewhat different. I think some types of reading is more suitable to having a hard book and some is more suitable for an electronic reader. I don't understand why so many seem to think it has to be either/or.

I am not familiar with those books. Sorry.