Are you a voracious reader? How many books would you say you read during an average year?

I’ve thought a lot about my dwindling book-reading habit lately.

Last month, legendary Montreal Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden died at the age of 78. He was one of my childhood sports heroes and the author of my favourite book of all-time, The Game. 

After watching an endless string of YouTube videos to honour his passing, I immediately sought out the book. The well-worn (and signed) copy remains in a place of honour, tucked neatly beneath the underwear and socks in my dresser. It is the only book that resides outside of my remaining collection of prized sports books. Said collection used to number in the high hundreds but I’ve begrudgingly donated much of the collection to clear space over the years.

“Good for you, clearing out the clutter and allowing others to enjoy those books,” I can picture some of you saying. 

“What is wrong with you? How can you just give away those treasured memories? You’ll read them all again one day,” I can picture you wise ones out there, like myself, also saying.

I also routinely drive past signs signalling a giant book sale taking place in the near future somewhat close to my home. That was once a never-miss, with yours truly emerging with 10-20 new (to me) glorious books to take me on a variety of different journeys.

But we have a bit of an issue. I rarely read books anymore. In fact, the last one I did read cover-to-cover was Dryden’s last book Scotty: A Hockey Life Like No Other, another terrific effort on his longtime coach, Scotty Bowman.

My favourite annual summer relaxation technique was grabbing my copy of The Game, hopping onto a pool floatie, baking in the sun and listening to ’80s hair band tunes while I re-read the book and transported back in time. But even that has gone by the wayside the last couple of years, as some intrusive surgery has made pool-floating a no-no.

So what happened? I have always loved books. My Mum was a true bibliophile, churning through books of all kinds. How she found the time to read amid her Superwoman duties I have no idea. But she passed that love on to me. I would sometimes see books just lying around, and read them, even if I didn’t understand them. I’m not sure as a nine-year-old I could properly appreciate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn or Philip Roth.

And boy, was I surprised when I picked up a copy of Wifey and figured when I saw Judy Blume on the cover it would be just like my sister’s book Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. I still have my entire collection of Hardy Boys books, that will never be part of any decluttering.

But as much as I loved books, my true love was magazines, especially Sport Illustrated. The way those men and women could spin a long-form yarn was utterly transfixing, even to this day. Those were the writers I aspired to be. As I moved into my 20s, I’d still cruise through two or three books a month, but it was SI and GQ and the like that truly held my attention.

Even as life and responsibilities began intruding on my reading time, I still found time for my books. Mostly biographies but still actual books. Now, however, the real culprit has taken over.

Screens. I am absurdly addicted to my desktop, my laptop, my phone. I really do still consider myself a voracious reader. I consume information at an alarming rate. But it’s so much more bite-sized these days. I’ll read thousands of items in a day, hardly any of it as enjoyable as my old friend, a book. 

I felt some significant book envy when I asked my provincial Carpenter Media/Black Press colleagues how often they read books and many were still devouring them, anywhere from 25 to 100 a year. Super heroes I say, to carve out that time with jobs like that. 

I couldn’t get through 100 Berenstain Bears books in a year these days. Two pages in, I’d start twitching and grabbing for my phone in case I missed a vital story on Sydney Sweeney’s jeans. 

Save me, Mr. Dryden.

PQB News/Vancouver Island Free Daily editor Philip Wolf welcomes your questions, comments and local story ideas. He can be reached via email at [email protected]; by phone at 250-905-0029 or on Twitter @philipwolf13.