My daughter is 14 and she’s been reading graphic novels for six years (and many great novels, too). She’s now into vampire stories (Cirque du Freak). She’s a reader and a writer — I’m thrilled. She got her library card at age five, when she could write her name for her library card application.

Congrats to Cate for winning “Doomsday.”

Aaron – I think all writers and readers should regularly listen to audio books — GOOD audio books, with great narrators, etc. It’d keep everyone fresh.

Jason – Good points. The mention of movies makes me think of foreign films that are subtitled, and yeah, that is reading … which is why many people prefer to watch those movies dubbed.

I say _static_ because, of course, that’s the only way I can think of to differentiate my sense of the act of reading from other forms that include motion and sound: movies, for example, also take place on a flat surface that you look at. The pedantic types might argue that this makes movies into a kind of reading, too.

And yes, as digital technologies evolve and the line between static and non-static content becomes blurry (what happens the first time someone writes a novel that, instead of simply including an illustration or two here and there, includes short animations which convey some important story point?) this definition will probably need revision.

But for now? If it doesn’t move or talk, and it fits on flat surfaces, yeah that’s reading.