Happy New Year from The Book Dialogue
As we enter 2023, we are grateful for all the amazing books we have had the chance to share and discuss with you, our listeners. We thank you for adding to the conversations of 2022 and look forward to many more coming in the new year.
Reading books expands our vocabulary, improves communication skills, builds resilience, reduces stress, and slows age-related cognitive decline. Reading increases empathy for others, stimulates our imagination, and reinforces memory. Reading provides entertainment and pleasure, as well as knowledge and information. Dave Astor says in best in his book, Fascinating Facts
“Literature can send our minds to another time and place, allowing us to forget our lives and troubles for a few precious hours. It can educate us about history, open our minds, increase our empathy, make us think, give us things to converse about, and/or provide plenty of excitement along with the escapism.” Dave Astor
Talking about books deepens our understanding of the text and the characters. Sharing ideas stimulates creativity and encourages critical thinking. When we discuss books, we expand our knowledge when we encounter new perspectives and insights. Best of all, contributing to book conversations strengthens relationships and fosters meaningful connections with others.
This is your invitation to join us on The Book Dialogue!
Our podcast is the perfect place for readers and book lovers to share their thoughts and ideas about books. Join us for lively and engaging book conversations, featuring a variety of genres, authors, and topics.
Welcome to Season 4 of The Book Dialogue! We look forward to discussing books with you!
Wishing you all a wonderful 2023!
Sarah & Rebecca
The Book Dialogue 
Very engaging podcast, Rebecca and Sarah! I’m quite interested in hearing the results of the experiment of reading the same books in print, via eBook, and via audiobook!
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Thank you, Dave. Sarah and I have so much fun talking about books and ideas. I have often wondered if our thought process is the same when we use difference methodologies to experience the narrative. I think of the bards and troubadours of old, or listening to someone tell a ghost story around a campfire. Does the environment, the timing, all contribute to how we integrate new knowledge? 2023 is here and I’m looking forward to the books that are waiting to be opened.
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“Does the environment, the timing, all contribute to how we integrate new knowledge?” — a GREAT question!
Oh, I forgot to mention in my previous comment: Thank you very much for citing my quote in the post! 🙂
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Dave – your quote is on the top of my favourite quote list!!
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That is very flattering, Rebecca. 🙂 Thank you!
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Rebecca, your comments about different modes of reading is in line with what I’ve always believed about reading, particularly literature. We must experience a poem, a short story or a novel: reading as mere decoding of language isn’t enough. I would expect the experience to differ, depending on the mode we’ve chosen.
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I am very excited about reading in 2023 and will connect with you on my thoughts, which are in line with your expectation that we will encounter a diversity of experiences. This thought came to mind when I read War & Peace this past year. I would read from a “real” book and then listen to the same section via audio. The voices made a difference in how I processed information. It was enjoyable to here their interpretation, but I believe that it was in the reading that I “felt” a deeper connection.
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I find that my mind tends to wander when I listen to fiction. (Probably because I listen to podcasts when I’m cooking or doing housework.)
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2023 will be an exciting year for reading for all of us, I hope. I usually have a physical book on the go as well as a different one on line. I recently read an article on the smell of books which noted : “The complex scent is actually an amalgamation of specific chemical markers of decay that combine with how a book was made and how and where it was stored and used by the people who have touched it. In essence, when we breathe it in, we are simultaneously smelling the life—and the death—of a book. ” https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/whats-that-smell-youre-reading?fbclid=IwAR2u1iA0mQl8g9JmUsEKMwijktOFWTbbsfcavj4Y3ge6jIABMHb4JGlAvwQ Olfactory experiences are supposedly important for keeping our minds sharp. How do we smell our ebooks and our audio books I wonder? Do we need to smell them if they are providing stimulation to our other senses? Just some thoughts. 🙂
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This is an extraordinary thought, Mandy. I had never thought about how smell is a vital characteristic of a book. Many many thanks for this information, which I will be exploring more in 2023. I recall that books DO have different smells. Perhaps that is why my father loved second hand books. Happy New Year. We have arrived, we are ready, the books are calling our names.
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Hi Rebecca, Hi Sarah, I always enjoy your conversations about books. I wish my sisters read as much as you both do. I have mentioned before that I listen to a lot of audio books and there are reasons for that. Firstly, I listen slower than I read and that works well for me when I am visiting classic books that include a lot more description and are generally longer. Secondly, it makes good use of ‘dead’ time in the care or doing chores. I read very quickly when I read in my head, so I get through a great many books in a year.
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Thank you for listening in, Robbie and for adding to my understanding of how we read. I will check on my speed when I am reading. Sometimes I find that I skip paragraphs when I read. It comes from all those ideas of speed reading, which has its place. But I am finding that I MUST slow down. My other thought is: because you are a writer, you will have a broader experience in how we read. You cover several genres in your writing. Something to consider. Happy New Year!!! 2023 – we’re here and we are reading!!
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