Balancing the Books

I’m rediscovering the joy of reading real books—paper pages, a worn spine, and covers that creak when you open them. There’s something grounding about the weight of a book in your hands, the faint musty scent of old pages pulling you into a quieter world.

A comment on this blog from a long-time reader, who swore by physical books, inspired me to dive back in. 

For years, I’ve done most of my reading online—sometimes exclusively—and I’m starting to think that’s not the healthiest habit. The glow of screens can’t compare to the calm of turning a page.

The first book my blue-light-weary eyes landed on was Run With the Hunted: A Charles Bukowski Reader. It’s described as “a sometimes harrowing, invariably exhilarating reading experience, and a must for those interested in this counterculture figure.” 

Talk about a wake-up call. Bukowski’s raw insights into the human condition and the systems we navigate hit harder today than when he wrote them. His gritty resilience rubbed off on me, toughening my skin for life’s inevitable rough edges. Here was a man who faced hard times and spun them into poetry.

After Bukowski’s intensity, I craved something practical for these uncertain times, so I turned to Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Wild Edible Plants. 

I chose it because a recent government report predicts that by 2040, many Canadians might need to forage for food due to declining social mobility. You can read about this sobering outlook here:

Future Lives and Social Mobility. 

It’s a stark reminder of those zombie shows that flooded our screens, whispering, “You think it’s bad now, things could get worse.” 

Were those shows preparing us for a dystopian world where only the top 0.01 percent thrive? I’d rather be ready, with my plant field guide in hand.

To balance my book choices, I’m now eyeing Yoga Made Easy by Howard Kent. I can’t wait to sip dandelion tea, nibble tender fiddleheads gathered by the brook, and design a personal yoga program that promises to “transform” my daily life.

Yoga’s focus on mindfulness feels like the perfect antidote to modern chaos, and 5,000 years of Indian wisdom can’t steer me wrong. It’s a small step toward staying grounded in a world that’s rushing by at breakneck speed.

Physical books are treasures. Use ’em or lose ’em, folks.

Let us know what real books you have read lately in a comment below. Have any helped you to live more simply?