Good writers read [1], and “wanting to write without wanting to read” [2] simply does not sound rational, as there is no proper writing without proper reading, that’s how it is.
Although the majority of university students may not read books for pleasure – as proven in Japan for instance [3], or do not read at all [4] – if that’s what really happens [5], and there is no clear yes-or-no answer whether students learn as much when they read digitally as they do in print [6], reading books should be your personal development priority in life, in general, as you are likely to live longer when you read, reading books can help you be more open-minded and creative [7], it can be good for your mental health (or the lack of it may be very devastating, as a matter of fact) [8] – and last but not least, as former POTUS Harry S. Truman allegedly stated: “All leaders are readers.” [9]
During the first ten years after Amazon launched its first Kindle e-book reader in 2007 [10], a rapidly growing percentage of reading activity had been conducted on e-book readers, then, around 2016/2017, the trend has taken an unexpected turn [11], and physical book sales started to rise again [12], for a number of relatively obvious reasons (which nobody would have predicted with certainty in 2007), such as: print books smell good, last longer, make more meaningful gifts than e-books (as they are more tangible and memorable than a simple electronic file download), they are more easily shared, they can be can be more easily scribbled in and marked up than an e-book, and last but not least: reading print books sets a good example for children [13] who are more likely to recognize a print book because its physical format than as content on a screen, which is also true for readers themselves who recall less of the contents read electronically, than that of print books [14].
The proverb says it all: you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Apparently, readers had to experience the difference between e-books and print books before they could truly appreciate the value of “old-fashioned” reading, for themselves, and future generations: shared book reading is an amazing developmental activity to engage in with children [15], and these reading experiences can set the stage for later reading success [16].
Surprisingly enough, members of the so-called millennial generation – meaning “anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 23 to 38 in 2019)” [17] who have grown up in the age of technology are more likely to have read a book in the last year than those over the age of 30 [18].
HOW you “consume” books, certainly says a lot about your intelligence [19] and your general learning process, in various ways. Are you a bookshelf overstuffer? Do you do so-called “fractal reading”? Do you abandon books often? How many unread books do you have?
The bottom line is: even though books certainly make great graduation gifts, there may be funnier, cheaper, and more personal ways to surprise a graduate, who has spent the last few years of his life reading a lot. How about a t-shirt, a coffee mug, a tumbler, or a notepad (for writing!), with an inspirational design?