Book Doctors: Different genres are essential for a healthy book diet

We had a great couple of days in New York at BookExpo America last week. One highlight was an evening spent at the New York Public Library with Zola Books, Scribd, Flavorwire, Kickstarter, Submittable, and Rooster. A big thanks to everyone we saw there or who stopped by the booth to peek at our new retail display and chat about books.

During one of these great chats, we were talking about ereaders (obviously) and someone mentioned that she didn’t like hefting the tomes of a verbose writer like Dostoyevsky on the subway because it was difficult to read with one hand on a railing or sandwiched between two other commuters.

While she made a good argument for an ereader, I was thinking more about the mental jostling that takes place on the subway than the physical toll of the ride. While it certainly would be hard to hold Crime and Punishment with one hand, it would be more difficult to fully appreciate the beauty of the sentences themselves let alone the deeper meanings as you worry about a looming presentation, missing your stop, or why you’re always in the one train car that stinks.

Whether I’m planning a trip or looking for some entertainment after a day of work, I know I’m going to need a book to go along with me, and it’s at these times that I like to think of books as meals. Some require a good amount of chewing, some are so succulent you don’t want anything else to distract you at the time of consumption, and some are perfect to take on the go. Instead of struggling under the ancient dilemma of whether book should be challenging or entertaining, why not think of them (as well as the magazines ,YA titles, and guilty pleasures) as all part of a balanced diet.