As February begins to settle in, Marshall students start to settle in with a new favorite book.
The Parthenon interviewed three students and conducted a poll about current reading habits on campus, which received 53 responses.
The poll found 81.1% of students reported reading in their free time, and 52.3% of students read physical books.
Though students enjoy reading in their free time, some feel they don’t have enough time to sit down and read a couple of chapters of their favorite book.
Undergraduate student Mercy Hill said, “My New Year’s resolution was to read at least an hour a day every day. I’ve mostly stuck to that when I’m not feeling overwhelmed by work and school.”
Art education major Sydney Burris said, “I honestly don’t read all that much because I simply don’t have the time for it. I try to read at least once or twice a week, though.”
The love for books still shines. Even if they only get an hour a day, students said it offered a form of peace and creative escape.
“I like reading because I can use it to escape everything else for a while,” Burris said.
Kenly Arbogast, master’s student in adult and continuing education, said, “I love reading as it’s a form of escapism and allows me to temporarily escape from the real world. There’s nothing better than getting lost in a fictional world.”
In the current digital world, e-books and audiobooks seem to be gaining popularity. The poll reported that 18% of people who read physical books also read e-books.
“I absolutely love audiobooks/e-books,” Arbogast said. “I’ve honestly come to enjoy them more than physical books. I still enjoy having a physical copy of the books I’ve listened to or read on my Kindle, though.”
“I feel like I’m more easily distracted when I listen to an audiobook vs reading a book,” Hill said. “I think it’s great to have books/stories accessible in many different forms, though.”
Some of the students interviewed said they wanted to reduce their screen time or preferred physical books because reading on a digital screen caused eye strain.
“I like audiobooks, so I can listen along while I read, but I cannot deal with e-books,” Burris said. “They hurt my eyes, so I prefer paper.”
“I’ve made it my goal this year to read more in an effort to reduce my screen time,” Hill said. “For a long time now, I’ve felt like I’ve wasted a ridiculous amount of time on my phone. Not only that, but I think that consuming hours of short-form content every day has reduced my attention span significantly, so reading books feels like a workout for my brain, and it’s far more fulfilling than reading a hundred of posts a day.”
In the spirit of reading, Marshall students recommended some titles for picking up a new book, whether in physical or digital format.
“I’d recommend ‘American Psycho’ if you like a horror/satire/dark comedy,” Hill said. “It’s a modern classic for a reason. If you like the movie, you’ll love the book. It’s like a car crash – so disturbing, yet you can’t look away.”
“A book recommendation that I have is ‘The Only One Left’ by Riley Sager,” Arbogast said. “This was one of my favorite books that I read last year, and I absolutely could not put it down. It is a page-turner with a crazy plot twist at the end, which I love.”
Soleil Woolard can be contacted at [email protected]