Wait just a minute! Are you trying to tell me there are still books out there? You know, the kind with paper, printing, covers and all that? I thought they stopped making those kind of books long ago, because no one was reading them anymore. What with TV, DVDs, movies, BlackBerries, iPods, cell phones and those other electronic gizmos, it seemed the world no longer needed nor wanted books.

I've been reading books for about 80 of my 83+ years, and didn't expect ever to curl up at night with a good DVD. On second thought, I did exactly that just a few weeks ago, when our city was hit with a big rainstorm. Our electricity went out for more than eighteen hours, and I was glad I could spend the daylight hours reading a print book or two.

Having nothing better to do, I did just that for six hours until nightfall, passing the time away reading, except when I was busy cursing the electric company and trying to get my landline phone to work. It had gone dead, and after a bunch of calls on my little friend, my cell phone pooped, and I had no way of recharging it. I was totally cut off from the outside world.

When night fell and candlelight was the only light there was available, I did have one last way to read, sort of. I have a small DVD player, a recent gift from my daughter, and fortunately I had it all charged up before the storm. I estimated it had playing time to last about two hours. Another fortunate break was that for my birthday just weeks before, my son had sent me the complete multi-DVD set of the recent historical series, "John Adams". So, for as long as the stored up electricity lasted, Mr. Adams and I spent two enjoyable hours together on the DVD player.

I still read books as often as I can. I constantly search for good new ones at the local library and on the New York Times best-sellers lists. However, now that old age has crept up on me, I've been forced to start weaning myself away from print books recently because my ancient eyesight is fading. Now I'm into books on tape, and find they are just as enjoyable, and have extra advantages I never had considered before. Now I can read books with my ears at home, as well as when traveling, just by putting on a pair of earphones. If snuggling up with a good book before was great, I find it even a greater pleasure if I can do it with old eyes closed and in the dark.

As for making a choice between reading a book and watching a movie, there's absolutely no reason why I can't do both. As for a video, I can always turn off the never-ending political tirades, commercials, unreal reality shows and all the other junk on broadcast TV, and watch uninterrupted classic movies and soon, make a return visit with Mr. Adams.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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