Reading takes work, but it is incredibly rewarding. I’ve discovered more and more the benefits of solitary reading on a person’s mind and soul. Reading online isn’t all that terrible (otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this), but it has drawbacks that we should be aware of. This article is spot on.
"The digital world offers us many advantages, but if we yield to that world too completely we may lose the privacy we need to develop a self. Activities that require time and careful attention, like serious reading, are at risk; we read less and skim more as the Internet occupies more of our lives. And there’s a link between selfhood and reading slowly, rather than scanning for quick information, as the Web encourages us to do. Recent work in sociology and psychology suggests that reading books, a private experience, is an important aspect of coming to know who we are."