I was sitting tonight and suddenly realized that I couldn't remember the last book that I was able to physically read.
Reading for me is a ritual.
I write down the date when I start a book, I write out quotes that I find interesting or profound, then I write the date when I finish a book. I even have a dedicated reading chair (though I read elsewhere too, but that chair was always the reading chair). Luckily enough for me, I knew I would have that last book documented.
Turns out that the last physical book I was able to read was Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and I read it in August 2023.
Shortly thereafter is when I, very suddenly, developed double vision as a result of progressing Geographic Atrophy.
I did try to get glasses with prism lenses to help with the double vision, and I tried to physically read Wuthering Heights, but the prism lenses don't help and the double vision makes it painful to try and read more than a few sentences. Physically painful. I never finished Wuthering Heights (I barely got two pages in before developing a horrendous migraine). So that's when I gave up on the physical books and dove into the world of audiobooks.
Since then I have listened to, loved, and finished 72 audiobooks.
I am able to read more with audiobooks than I ever could hope to read physically, I get to hear the proper pronunciation of names and worlds, and I still get to enjoy a beloved pastime. Sure, there are many books that do not have an audiobook version available, but that list is becoming smaller by the day.
This just goes to show that you never know when something may become more important than you thought.
Who could have known that Braiding Sweetgrass would be the last physical book I could comfortably read; with a tangible book in my hand, literally flipping pages, using a nice bookmark, and all of the cozy things associated with it? While I enjoyed the book, I wasn't obsessed with it. It didn't even make the mantel, where I display physical copies of my absolute favourite books.
If you knew that a book was your last book that you'd be able to physically read, which would you choose??