Read All About It!

One thing I miss about being in high school English class is the engagement that went along with our reading assignments. While I love reading and treasure it for the “me” time that it gives me, I miss reading as a collaborative activity. Many books, I feel, are better appreciated when you can talk over their fine points and their controversial aspects with other readers.

The internet is bringing this ability back to readers who are no longer in school in various ways, one of which is the BookGlutton website.  BookGlutton’s aim is to “build an experience that is simultaneously a book group, a computer, and a book.”  How does it achieve this?

By making reading a group experience.  On BookGlutton, you read a book, but you can annotate it while you do so.  I personally abhor writing in books, but with these BookGlutton e-books, you can highlight a sentence or paragraph and ask for other readers’ opinions on it.  You can link to websites that explain what the word means.  You can say why that particular sentence makes you happy/sad/angry/excited about the book or character.  So even if you aren’t in an English literature class, you can still read, enjoy and engage with others about books while you read them.

Another site with a similar goal is Book Drum, where readers annotate their favorite books with graphics, links, articles and other information that makes reading a more multi-dimensional experience.  And one that can be much more interactive and social than reading has been in the past.

What do you think?  Should reading be a solitary activity or do you like the idea of engaging with a community?