Booking Through Thursday: Definition

This week's BTT topic:
What, in your opinion, is the definition of a “reader.” A person who indiscriminately reads everything in sight? A person who reads BOOKS? A person who reads, period, no matter what it is? … Or, more specific? Like the specific person who’s reading something you wrote?

Dear Reader,

Yes, you. You know who you are.

You're a person who thinks all is not right with the world if you don't have a book in your hands, or on your bedside table, or in your backpack or briefcase. You're never empty-handed on that long plane flight or that solitary lunch break. When you walk through the door of a library you feel right at home. You experience regret when you leave a bookstore without a new book in your possession.

You may not read the latest best-sellers. You might prefer the classics. You might read nothing but fiction, or you might choose material from the "real world." You might confine your reading to romance novels, or military history, or police procedurals, or science fiction adventures, or biographies of movie stars, or medical thrillers, or any other special genre or topic. You might read books selected for you by a book club. Or you might just read anything that comes your way.

You may read to further your education or explore a subject that interests you. Or you may read to keep abreast of world politics. Or to enhance your parenting skills and set an example for your children. Or you may read for the sheer pleasure of it.

I suppose I recognize that, strictly speaking, reading is reading. And any reading of the written word is valuable, whether it's books or magazines or articles on the internet. But while I know that the word "reader" can be defined in many ways in many different situations – I must confess that when I use the term, I'm almost always thinking of someone who reads books. Someone who loves books. Books in any form. Someone who understands how much a love of books and reading enriches our lives and makes us better human beings.

Someone, Dear Reader, just like you.