Logan Fargo said he believes the pandemic has boosted their reading habits — and, above all, reading in digital media.
“I have definitely been reading more during the pandemic compared to before,” he said. “I think that’s because I have gotten bored with my usual video game routine.”
The portability and practicality of e-readers were some of the factors that attracted Canadians during this period, and Logan, who enjoys reading fantasy and adventure, believes his new Kindle really boosts his reading.
“I have been using a kindle to do most of my reading. It has made reading easier on places like the bus,” said Logan, a sustainable energy student at Humber College.
Canada has suffered a good lot with the pandemic, and libraries and bookstores were no exception to the rules. Toronto Public Library had many branches closed during lockdown periods, and bookstores were also very much affected.
This situation has created the perfect scenario for prompting the buying of eBooks and audiobooks among Canadians.
Michelle Leung, a Toronto Public Library communications officer, said more people are borrowing digital books and audio books since the pandemic started.
“Digital borrowing increased more than 30 per cent over last year,” she said.
Regarding the most-read genres during the pandemic, Leung said she noticed an increase in demand for informative books, as well as diversity in the authors picked by the readers. Many were also related to political causes and movements.
“Many of Toronto’s most popular books this year were related to the Black Lives Matter movement,” Leung said.
Every winter, BookNet runs a survey to see how Canadians are spending their leisure time and how are their reading habits.
A study conducted in April of 2020 shows about one in 10 people read every single day with an almost equal likelihood of reading print books, 12 per cent of respondents, 11 per cent read eBooks, and nine per cent listened to audio books.
For Annelise Besson, it is hard to imagine her life without her Kindle Oasis.
“I’m very proud to say that I read about 60 books or more a year, and I believe half of them I read on Kindle,” she said.
The comfort and the possibility of reading in the dark at bedtime without disturbing her husband’s sleep with a strong reading light are some of the reasons Besson cited.
“On top of that, there’s also the fact that eBooks are usually a lot cheaper than physical books, and sometimes you can even find them for free,” she said. “Services like Kindle Unlimited are also very worthwhile for readers because for a fixed price you can read everything that is available there.”