The Comfort of Physical Media

“Your library is your paradise.”

— Erasmus

JRR Tolkien's painting of Smaug
on his gold, with “invisible” Bilbo.

A host of recent news stories, think-tank surveys, and academic studies focus on the phenomenon of younger generations preferring physical media rather than the supposed cornucopia of digital delights. Many examine this trend in Generation Z (roughly those born from 1997–2012), though I can attest from personal experience old curmudgeons like me, relics of the last century, can also cling to our physical media like jealous dragons on piles of gold. It’s a strange phenomenon for those living in a century flooded with electronic media of all kind, often to the detriment of old, more reliable, more vetted formats (such as print magazines and newspapers). For some it’s resistance to, if not an outright revolt against, an increasingly corporate urge to sell subscription services rather than actual product one can own and put on their shelf; electronic products companies can withdraw for whatever reason, even after consumers have paid for them. For others it’s convenience of access. And some prefer the ability to display physical media in their spaces as an expression of their personal interests. Society keeps imposing on us to adapt to new developments and technologies — even if they prove detrimental to our lives and world, like data centers and artificial intelligence — yet preserving “the old ways” has its benefits on the individual level.

Summer Reading & Play Pile

 “A home without books is a body without soul.”

— Cicero

Midsummer has come and gone. Around here the holiday quite accurately represents the middle point of my son’s academic summer vacation, for a school system that ends classes right before Memorial Day and resumes classes the first grueling hot week in August. So I apologize that my “summer reading” post comes a bit late in the season. I’ve made recommendations for summer reading in the past. Rather than look over what books and games I’d recommend from the past year as appropriate to summertime diversions, I thought I’d take a look at my piles to be read and to be played, with a few recent, notable exceptions.

My OSS Guilty Pleasure Reading

 “A judicious mixture of rumor and deception, with truth as bait, to foster disunity and confusion.”

— William J. Donovan

Every so often I return to read a beloved novel, something to help distract me from the woes of this existence and provide some level of entertainment and, in some cases, further enlightenment. I return to Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in A Strange Land occasionally, despite its obsolete and often biased views of “future” society and other issues. I’ve read aloud J.RR. Tolkien’s The Hobbit numerous times to my son when he was of bedtime-story age. I make the pilgrimage of reading A Canticle for Leibowitz when the world seems teetering on (or careening over) the brink of madness. But I’ve never before mentioned my guilty pleasure, a series of novels about the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II: W.E.B. Griffin’s Men at War series. Given the stresses of the holiday season combined with <waves hand> everything else, well, it seemed about time to revisit the young heroes of the novels and lose myself in their rollicking if not terribly historically accurate escapades.

Inspiring Citations

 “Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one’s own self.”

— Franz Kafka

I love reading books and even internet articles that reference their sources. Most of the non-fiction I read includes such handy research tools as foot- or endnotes and bibliographies. Many authors rely on these to document the information they used for their books. Internet writers use them to allow readers to cross-reference terms, concepts, and prior work beyond simply citing sources; a hyperlink can enable instant access to relevant material that might shed additional light on the topic and expose readers to new concepts they might wish to pursue on their own. Writers — even game designers — should include references not simply to substantiate their work but provide readers with inspiration. And readers — and game players — should seek them out to enhance and expand their own experiences.

Support Indie Bookstores

“The only important thing in a book is the meaning that it has for you.”

— Somerset Maugham 

After my recent missive on summer reading recommendations I came to realize I’ve been short-changing independent bookstores I usually link book references to Amazon, just as an unthinking default, because the Internet Age has programmed us to do that. As with most conditioning, it takes an awareness of why we do certain things and then a conscious effort to undo that thinking and adapt different behavior. Independent bookstores have always struggled against big-box retailers like Barnes & Noble and other chains; the prominence of online conglomerates that can well afford to offer discounts and free shipping further endangers them. Although not everyone can afford to pay a little more to support their book-buying habits through independent bookstores, every little bit helps. We can wean ourselves off ordering books on Amazon to divert some of the money we’d spend anyway to support local, community merchants who appreciate our love for reading.

Summer Reading Recommendations

“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.”

— W. Somerset Maugham

Summertime. Perhaps I’m old-fashioned, but these lazy days call for the simple pleasures of books. (Though I regret, for many adults in our time, “lazy days” never really exist in any season...). We take books with us on vacation, to read in the car, at the beach, or whenever we find a moment to kick back and relax. We subject our children to local public libraries and their summer reading programs. We hope, often in vain, they’ll pick up some titles from the suggested summer reading lists sent home at the end of the school year (though I’ve not seen one since the “Before Times” prior to the covid pandemic). Do kids still read books over the summer? Is summer reading still a thing in a culture increasingly focused on its cell phones and other electronic devices? (A discussion for another time, perhaps.) In musing on the fleeting joys of summer reading, I thought I might make a few recommendations for titles which reflect my own interests in history and gaming; books I’ve read in the past Hobby Games Recce readers might also enjoy.

The Inspiration of Books

 “Books are key to understanding the world and participating in a democratic society.”

– Carl Sagan

Over the years I’ve found inspiration in many places – films, television, music, historical sites, museums – but perhaps nowhere more than in books. They have fueled my endeavors in writing, game playing, and game design, explorations of various historical periods, and, of course, further reading across numerous subjects and genres that engaged my imagination. They have helped expand my horizons through non-fiction, escape this world and explore others through fiction, and play within the realms of roleplaying games. I have always been surrounded by books. No doubt I inherited these tendencies in part from a family that encourages learning (including several who were teachers) and respects the value of books. Books have helped enrich my life and, I’d hope, encouraged me to help enrich the live of others in some small way.