Books

"People Try Books For The First Time" Will Make Every Serious Reader Laugh Out Loud

by Kerri Jarema

We all know that being a reader makes you more empathetic, but if there is one group that bookish people have a really hard time understanding, it's non-bookish people. Their reasons just never seem to compute: "I'm just really busy," they say, when you've made sure to fit in books in every available free time you have; or "I get bored really easily," when you know full well that your non-reading friend is perfectly content re-watching that same series on Netflix 10 times in a row...because that's totally not boring or anything. See, for voracious readers, no downtime activity will ever be as fun, fulfilling and worthwile as curling up with a really good book. And we just want all non-readers to see what they're missing!

And if anyone knows what it feels like to talk to people who just don't get books it's the people at Penguin Random House. And they've used the old internet mainstay "People Try Things For The First Time" to make a video that is going to make every reader laugh and shake their heads in recognition. People Try Books For The First Time is like the evidence of a dystopian future all readers have feared; where maybe you can get all the way into adulthood without ever having held an actual physical book. *shudders*

From the proclamations, "I've heard of books, but I've never really seen them," to "Would I use a book again? I don't know, I'm really busy. I'm swamped trying to get this app off the ground," Penguin combines the common excuses readers hear all the time from their non-readers friends, with the sort of scary idea that an adult could be so unfamiliar with books that they wonder whether one would fit in their car. Of course, it's a funny parody on the ubiquitous "Try This" videos we see with everything from old-school Walkmen to floppy disks, but it's food for thought, too.

Will there ever be a time where trying to read physical books is the "retro" thing to do? Where we've become so unfamiliar with them that we don't know how to open them, or hold them? If the idea freaks you out beyond belief, check out some of the best bookstores and libraries around, which will definitely inspire you to go pick up a book or two. And if you're a non-reader who has been scared straight into trying harder? Here are some tips on getting more reading time in. Now, go forth and read! (And yes, you can fit many books into your car, don't worry.)