Often, something in the book I am reading reminds me of something I ought to do on my phone. I read the word meteorologist, which prompts me to think, I ought to check the weather. As I reach for my phone to check the weather app, I glance out of the window and see that a grey mist has settled; it is overcast. That is the weather. With great difficultly, I put my phone down and do not check.
And so it goes. I read a paragraph or two. I need to check my phone. I return to the book. Try to find my place. Read a bit more. Check my phone.
My hunch is that there are others like me out there – people who have books open in their laps and phones in their hands. People who keep novels in their cars, on their nightstands, in wobbly stacks on the floor. And have cellphones in their hands. Maybe we should make a book group – one where we all make a real effort to get to the end of a story.