How digital devices transform literary reading: The impact of e-books,audiobooks and online life on reading habits

Abstract

Literary reading is under transformation. Digital devices supplement traditional paper books with e-books and audiobooks, and at the same time, ubiquitous digital connection challenges focused reading. Based on a qualitative interview study with adult leisure readers, this article explores how affordances offered by digital technologies influence reading habits. Informants demonstrate how e-books and audiobooks enhance reading experiences, as digital affordances influence the how and the when of literary consumption. Three prominent findings are stated. (1) Readers adapt reading mode to the situation, and experienced readers have developed strategies to maximise the ultimate combination of title, format and reading conditions. (2) Digital reading favours lighter texts. This dimension is more substantial for audiobooks, relating to the wide choice of combining audiobooks with other activities. (3) Being devoted readers motivates people to develop strategies to ensure further reading. These strategies effectively make readers practically and temporally disconnect to immerse in literature.

Introduction

The traditional paper book is a versatile mobile device and a close companion in many people’s lives. New digital devices such as the iPad and Kindle offer an even more significant versatility. They can simulate most affordances of the book and contain a library. At the same time, the smartphone has become the medium for audiobooks, not least because of streaming services. However, the online nature of digital devices sometimes includes the ability to interrupt any other activity – such as reading. As a result, people generally read shorter texts in a digital media environment (Baron, 2015; Mangen and Van der Weel, 2016).

Historically, books and literature have a high standing in Western culture, and book reading is generally associated with depth, focus and other intellectual virtues (Furedi, 2015; Manguel, 2014). Nevertheless, concerns that newer media will suppress the book are a recurring topic (Syvertsen, 2017). Moreover, during the last decade, we have seen a growing concern that people are losing their ability to concentrate for more extended periods due to the overflow of ‘shallow’ and easily digestible content from the Internet and smartphones (Carr, 2010; Jackson, 2018; Twenge et al., 2019). Therefore, the future of reading longer texts are regarded as especially vulnerable (Baron, 2021; Kovač and Van der Weel, 2018; Mangen et al., 2021; Wolf, 2018).

A central question in this study concerns the relation between literary reading and digital online life. The development in literary reading is explored through the experiences of the users, namely the readers. Development in technology, media formats, media content and modes of social interaction furnish radical changes in media consumption (Das and Ytre-Arne, 2018). Digitalisation and platformisation have, on the one hand, made way for an increase in reading formats and business models, like streaming services, affecting both industry and consumers (Colbjørnsen, 2020; Dijck et al., 2018; Spilker and Colbjørnsen, 2020). Digitalisation presents a stream of opportunities for information, education and entertainment. On the other hand, as being digitally connected has become the default of modern living, long-form reading is more exposed to competition on the readers’ attention (Firth et al., 2019; Terranova, 2012). Over time, the cognitive presence required for reading longer narrative texts is vulnerable to digital temptations (Baron, 2021; Baron and Mangen, 2021). This challenge to mental attention entails a need to study the literature on reading with intrusive digital media (Syvertsen, 2020).

The article is based on a qualitative interview study with experienced readers of books in different formats. The exploration of reading for personal and private purposes underlines the scholarly aim of this article. The empirical basis is essential because it moves beyond reading for practical and educational purposes and explores digitalisation from the readers’ perspective. This article thus adds new insights concerning how readers handle literature reading in a complex media situation.

This article adds new insights into the influence of digitalization on literary reading. We examine literary reading in the era of deep mediatisation (Couldry and Hepp, 2017) and explore the influence of ubiquitous digital connectivity on literary reading (Das and Ytre-Arne, 2018; Syvertsen, 2020). Moreover, we consider the duality of digitalization in contemporary literary reading. The literature and its readers go digital, and we raise two research questions to explore this transition: (1) How does digital reading technology influence reading habits? (2) How do readers handle distractions following digital connections?

The understanding of reading used in this article is indebted to the reader-response theory assigned to Wolfang Iser (1972, 1978). According to this view, reading is characterised by a continuous exchange of information (from the text) and associations intertwined with personal memories and earlier reading (from the reader). ‘Deep reading’ (Birkerts, 1994; Wolf and Barzillai, 2009) was coined to describe the concentrated reading that takes place over a reasonable amount of time to ensure involvement in the text by the reader.

This diversity of personal experiences through reading relates to Silverstone’s description of ‘personal economies of meaning’ (Silverstone and Hirsch, 1994). Highlighting how purely individual starting points are prerequisites for mediated experiences is an understanding directly in line with Iser’s. A reader’s outcome after an encounter with a literary universe will be dependent on experiences, knowledge and memories at a personal level. Reading takes place in an everyday context where cultural norms, taste and practicalities influence the what and the when of literary consumption.

Reading becomes even more nuanced when considering the range of reading modes, from deep reading to fast skimming and from a lonely and silent encounter with a book to an audiobook accompanying other activities (Baron, 2021; Birkerts, 1994; Furedi, 2015). Janice Radway (1998) argues for audiences as agents on the move, while Henry Jenkins (2013) states a position where recreational readers, as other audiences, are responsible only for themselves. Furthermore, recreational reading covers several genres divided into main categories such as fiction, non-fiction and poetry. The multiple genres underline how reading is an activity as diverse as there are readers.

Taking the readers’ perspective in the study of digital influence is in line with the emphasis on the active role of the digital media consumer in audience studies (Livingstone, 2004, 2019). In addition, leaning on Kim Schrøder’s (2019) ‘audiencization’ perspective, the study attempts to understand how conscious readers state their choices in a complex media situation. The following analysis will reflect readers’ experiences when digital reading formats are established as alternatives to paper books’ traditional, analogue reading.

This article revolves around readers and reading media, with particular attention paid to the difference between analogue and digital reading formats. In addition, the article focuses on digital connectivity and the risk of digital disturbances – from reading devices to everyday media use more generally. Reading habits and the relationship between the reader and the reading media are at the core of the study, more so than the social context in which the reading happens.

As the subject of concern is leisure reading that demands focus over time, the medium discussed in this analysis is the book. The study is based on Norwegian readers and three reading formats: the paper book for text printed on paper; the e-book for text displayed on a digital screen, typically a tablet; and the audiobook listened to on a digital device, usually a smartphone. In most instances, the digital book is comparable to the paper book, whereas the audiobook represents more radical remediation (Bolter and Grusin, 1996). In this article, all three of them – the paper book, the e-book and the audiobook – are named ‘the book’.

The analysis draws on the concept of affordance from design and media studies to address media specificities (Gibson, 1979; Norman, 2013). This theoretical perspective is presented in the next section, followed by a description of the method. Finally, the influence of digitalization on literary reading is conceptualised according to reactions perceived by the readers. After a discussion, the main takeaways are summarised in the conclusion.

Analytical framework

Since this study compares reading practices on various reading media, awareness of how they differ is equally essential. With this aim, we employ the concept of affordance, initially developed by the ecological psychologist James Gibson (1977). According to the design theorist Don Norman (2013), affordance is ‘a relationship between the properties of an object and the agent’s capabilities that determine just how the object could possibly be used’ (p. 11). Norman takes a human-centred approach and sees affordances as culturally grounded: Affordances are only as interesting as the user recognises them to be. It is in the relation between an object with specific properties and the person putting this object into practice that the affordance of the object is noticeable. Affordances are inherent possibilities in an object becoming visible only in actual use (McVeigh-Schultz and Baym, 2015; Mannell, 2019; Nagy and Neff, 2015). Hence, this article does not aim to systematically evaluate how various affordances are used. Instead, the focus is on those affordances the users recognise themselves and how and why they integrate them into their media use and media habits.

In insisting on the readers’ perspective in the tradition of audience studies, we emphasise how the influence of digital affordances in literary reading needs to be explored and analysed according to personal experiences.

Methods

The empirical material in this article is a qualitative study focusing on individual experiences, and 12 informants identifying as leisure readers were interviewed. This qualitative approach brings forward experiences of digital reading in the context of everyday life and the readers’ social, physical and digital surroundings of the present.

In line with the main focus on reading, the study concentrates on the relations between the readers and their reading medium. Hence, variation in persons’ age, sex, occupation, use of a reading medium and reading habits determined the sample and not the socio-economic status of the readers. The main selection criteria were that the informants enjoyed leisure reading and engaged in analogue reading and digital reading with eyes, ears or both. The sample consists of five males and seven females between 28 and 67, including persons with a higher university degree (5), a college degree (5) and vocational training (2). The primary recruitment strategy was snowball sampling (Biernacki and Waldorf, 1981) and advertising on social media.

When participating in the study, the informants received a short survey about age, education, occupation, examples of titles most recently read and preferred reading medium. Because of this initial information, the interview sessions were effectively driven towards the readers’ making sense of their literary reading under digitalization. The main topics in the interview guide were reading habits, experiences with digital reading formats and literary reading in the context of being digitally connected. The interviews lasted between 40 and 60 minutes and were, due to Covid, conducted online. Recruitment of informants continued until the empirical corpus appeared to have reached a saturation point according to the premise of variation in reading habits.

Two researchers conducted the interviews which were later transcribed and subject to a thematic analysis. Due to the exploratory character of this project, categories and themes were constructed with an inductive approach, following the principles of thematic analyses (Braun and Clarke, 2006).

The authors discussed the categories systematically to increase reliability, and the first author continued the thematic analysis in NVivo. The final coding in NVivo consists of 23 categories. The empirical base for this article are the categories availability, choice of books, frequency, concentration, media use, paper versus tablet, paper versus audio, preferences, pricing, reading volume, situations, time. Generally, takeaways are brought forward when three informants or more reported practices or tendencies most central to the research questions. When a finding is related to one informant only, this is noted. The informants are anonymised. The interviews were in Norwegian, and the first author translated the citations in this article.

Analysis

As an introduction to the analysis, we will start with a short note on the Norwegian media context. Norway is a highly connected country with widespread smartphone use. Statistics on media use show how analogue reading, such as newspapers and books, is replaced by digital media use (McVeigh-Schultz and Baym, 2015; Mannell, 2019; Nagy and Neff, 2015). The smartphone has become an intimate partner in everyday life (Deloitte, 2018; Ytre-Arne and Moe, 2018), and audiobooks through streaming services are spreading literature as never before. The ongoing changes among readers in Norway are reflected in turnover from digital literature sales, with numbers closely comparable to changes in other Scandinavian countries. Audiobooks in streaming services rose from 10% to 23% of total sales (Norwegian Publisher’s Association [NPA], 2022) from 2018 to 2021. At the same time, e-books represented 3.2% of total sales in 2018 and 3.7% in 2021. The numbers from Sweden and Denmark state an equally steep increase in the use of audiobooks (Danish Publishers [DP], 2022; Swedish Publisher’s Association [SPA], 2022), and indications suggest that the rate of growth in audiobooks is now flattening out in Sweden.

The following analysis explores how digitalised literature has influenced reading habits, including the readers’ treatment of digital connectivity alongside their reading. The informants were introduced to digital reading platforms several years before the interview, and most had a long-term relationship with various reading formats. Despite differences in age, sex and occupation, the interviews showed many commonalities among the informants. Being deeply immersed was mentioned by 9 of the 12 as the main reason to indulge in literary reading. In addition, reading provides a typical means to explore other cultures, ‘travel in time’, and see the world from other people’s perspectives. These were some of the reoccurring reasons for prioritising literature. ‘As they say, you live a hundred lives through just one if you read enough books’, one of the informants expressed.

Proceeding to the first research question about reading habits and the influences of digital reading technology, e-books and audiobooks are first handled separately.

Affordances in e-books trigger ambivalence

Informants habituated with a tablet are aware of the affordances brought on by digital technology. They praise how these make reading books more available and reading situations more practical (Kuzmičová et al., 2020). Seven informants found new reading opportunities through digital tablets. Most referred to their Kindle, but iPads were a preferred reading device to at least two of them. One of the informants explicitly reported having read extensively on a smartphone.

The power of instant gratification for eager readers inbound to digital reading technology is striking. As stated by Gustav (67), ‘It’s magic. It is a great advantage with Kindle; just click and read. Everything is available’. Access to the whole world of literature instantly, from anywhere, is an advantage underlined by all but one of the e-book reading informants. Another advantage highly praised was the weight, or – more precisely – the lack of weight. ‘It weighs nothing. I can carry it everywhere all the time. It’s so easy. It weighs about 50 grams to carry along your library’ (Hans, 60).

The practicality of lightweight appeared as a gift to great consumers of literature, whether because of much travelling for work, more lightweight holiday luggage or less weight to carry around in your everyday handbag. In addition, more individual advantages were mentioned, such as having free and immediate access to library books or reading on an even smaller device than a tablet, namely the smartphone. For those who were habituated to reading on a tablet, the smoothness in accessing and reading literature in diverse situations was greatly appreciated.

Technological affordances that were especially appreciated include the possibility of adjusting light and the individualisation of text on the screen. Reading in the dark without disturbing others is a recurring point. ‘I have been reading a lot at my Kindle while lying in the dark with children who do not fall asleep while breastfeeding and this stuff’ (Susan, 34).

Due to adjustable letters, a tablet allows for reading even without glasses, when forgotten at home. The expanded reading options and the physical practicalities inbound to e-books were pointed arguments in favour of tablets.

Informants who were less enthusiastic about digital reading stressed the downside of tablets. Malfunctioning screens in the summer sun and the opportunity to avoid screens after a full day of work in front of a screen were arguments against digital reading. Electronic devices also bring a fear of damage and the risk of losing them, as underlined by Rita (63).

A clear majority of the informants express that navigating inside a digital text is cumbersome and negatively impacts the reading experience, as underlined by the enthusiastic e-book reader Alice (53): ‘Obviously, it is easier to scroll back and forth in a paper book’.

There was a wide spectre of reactions to how e-book reading influenced the outcome of the reading experience. The affordances in tablets bring along new and enhanced possibilities for their users (Norman, 2013). Several of the informants told us how they continuously switched between paper and tablet related to the occasion and the text’s complexity level. For example, Susan states (34), ‘Serious reading needs paper. Literature with a strong narrative and pace is fine digitally. You do not need to memorise where the text is on the page’. The most experienced tablet readers utilise the digital affordances provided by the tablet, such as highlighting quotes, searching for exact paragraphs or pages or, as earlier stated, adjusting letters on the screen. Three of the most habituated tablet readers had literally converted from paper to tablet. They chose the traditional codex only when they already had the paper book or the titles were digitally unavailable. To them, tablets brought on more reading.

When deliberating between physical and digital books, the value of materiality was accentuated, even among readers habituated to digital reading. Expressions like ‘a more substantial relation’ [to paper], ‘aesthetics’ and ‘romantic’ underlined the emotional aspects brought forward by memories related to personal reading history. As Richard (29) expressed, ‘the best reading experiences come from paper. It is to be present’. The physical book triggers emotions. One informant described how she passes the shelves in her living room, smiling when recognising a loved title. This notion of nostalgia in favour of paper books compared to e-books resembles the reaction described by Ballatore and Natale (2016), where the ‘aura’ (Benjamin, 1968) generated by media technology implies that one technology, like the paper book, is more authentic than others.

Being in favour of digital books for daily reading does not exclude the love of paper and analogue reading, but readers express double binds towards their paper books. On the one hand, the love of bookshelves and the physical touch of paper express a need for something tangible to connect to their literary experiences, different from a tablet. On the other hand, storing physical books is described as cumbersome and space-demanding. The interview guide contains no question about this, but unsolicited expressions are clearly stated, as when one informant explained how she throws away physical books every year. After renovating, she has had a ‘die-hard Marie Kondo exercise’, having freed some shelf space. Nevertheless, she keeps her carefully selected library of paper books.

The readers express conflicting relations to their favoured reading medium, as when crammed bookshelves infuse troubling feelings, while the touch and smell of paper books are cherished. The tablets for e-books and paper books bring about a complex set of positive and negative reactions, depending on the kind of affordances emphasised by the reader.

Affordances in audiobooks make reading a combined activity

All informants who listed audiobooks as a preferred reading option highlighted the advantage of combining literature with other activities. This was expressed as a matter of fact. For example, one informant listened to audiobooks during most of his workday. A more typical finding, however, was the combination of listening to audiobooks while performing private, practical tasks. The advantage of audiobooks while driving, working outside in the garden or inside the house or performing other physical tasks was popular among those who were into audiobooks. Audiobooks were also used more instrumentally to fall asleep or engage in social activities with children: ‘It is such an incredibly nice activity, an excellent way of reading together’ (Susan, 34).

Listening to audiobooks also depends on the quality of the narrator’s voice. Although not introduced in the interview guide, it was mentioned by half of the informants listening to audiobooks, such as Caroline (63): ‘I get irritated by a bad voice’. The voice may lead the informants to stop reading or make it more enjoyable. One female informant reported falling in love with certain voices and, as a result, had listened to several ‘shitty’ books only because of the narrators. Voice affects the literary experience at a deeper level, and the voice becomes an integral part of the experience of audiobooks. One of the younger male informants highlighted this by telling how he remembered his voice from books he had read, but the narrator’s voice from audiobooks he had listened to.

Audiobooks provide the affordance of changing speed, but only a couple of informants used this feature. However, the slow pace of audiobooks was a shared complaint, most commonly by those who did not like listening to literature. ‘I am a fast reader. Audiobooks are too slow’ was a recurring notion. Only one of the informants, who had dyslexia, described audio as faster than text reading.

The significance of the narrator’s voice and the affordances inherent in audiobooks allow for a different kind of literary experience than reading the text. The affordances in audiobooks trigger new emotions and aesthetical aspects, as voice and speed become part of the equation. Consumption mode changes from reading to listening (Philips, 2007). Furthermore, the remediation (Bolter and Grusin, 1996) of the paper book to audiobook adds affordances that allow simultaneous engagement in activities other than reading while consuming literature. When reading becomes listening, the book becomes a more ambient medium akin to the radio in creating new user practices (Have and Pedersen, 2015). As a result, opportunities to consume literature are radically expanded.

Digital affordances make readers optimise

Even though there was a variety in how tablets had increased reading opportunities, a common denominator was that text reading became more flexible. The advantages of low weight, small size and the possibility of bringing a whole library along were praised by experienced e-book readers. ‘I read a lot on my Kindle. It is so practical to carry and easy to handle. If I walk the dog through the park when it is dark, I can put on more light, you know’ (Hannah, 55). Digital affordances in audiobooks on a smartphone make reading even more accessible.

I always read. When I brush my teeth, when I eat breakfast, I always have a book [a tablet] in hand. Bus, train, everything I do, I read. And now, with the audiobook, it has become even more; when cleaning and painting the house. Whatever I do, there is an audiobook on. (Theresa, 40)

Half of the informants who used audiobooks expressed how this format is most suitable for literature where missing parts of text or details such as names and dates are not a big issue. The experience results in different choices of literature for other reading mediums. Kate (63) stated, ‘It might be why I choose to read the important books [at her tablet], and I choose Lucinda Riley and those as audiobooks. Simon (32) said, ‘audio is for more peripheral reading’.

More than half of the informants using audiobooks regularly expressed how their concentration slips away more quickly when listening than reading. The refrain was that it is easier to drop out of an audiobook and start thinking of something else. The audiobook was experienced as less demanding and more suitable for literature that does not require much concentration, as listening is done ‘less attentively’ (Costera Meijer and Groot Kormelink, 2015; Have and Pedersen, 2015, 2020), which implies that audiobooks challenge reading concentration (Bergström and Höglund, 2020; Tattersall Wallin and Nolin, 2020).

One of the great hindrances to digital reading is navigating the text, going back and forth. In practice, this is harder when listening to an audiobook than reading an e-book, and it is highlighted as a justification for the preference for lighter literature in audiobooks. Several informants report ‘falling out’ of the text while listening to audiobooks, and this is a reason to choose titles with a pointed theme (non-fiction) or simple storylines (fiction). Hence, the informants sort genre and complexity of literature according to format.

This study demonstrates how digital affordances give literature the power to expand the reading situations. Experienced readers customise their reading according to the situation, and the choice of the book also depends on the reading medium.

Digital reading technology influences reading habits by changing how the readers relate to and perceive their literary reading. Research question one can be summed up in three main takeaways: affordances in e-books trigger ambivalence, affordances in audiobooks make reading a combined activity, digital affordances make readers optimise and adapt their reading according to the situation.

Advancing to research question 2, about readers’ handling of distractions following digital connection, the act of literary reading is explored in the context of media use more generally and the ubiquitous digital connection present in everyday life of the 2020s.

Readers activate affordances to handle digital distractions

Social media on the smartphone were immediately and unanimously described as the main source of digital disturbances. Half of the informants had made precautions to protect themselves from being disturbed by social media. They had developed strategies to make the smartphone less tempting. They expressed an attitude of self-awareness and control but did not always succeed: ‘I can feel the pull, something exciting, and if I first get to these small films [of cats] and then it is one more and one more and . . . Then I turn off’ (Hannah, 55).

The informants expressed a strong motivation to uphold digital discipline, whether by activating the black and white mode on the smartphone to make it less tempting, eradicating all notifications, or depositing the smartphone in another room to read. There was a significant variation in individual rules set up to protect the reader from digital distractions. The overall impression was that they regarded themselves as masters of their devices and time, like Alice (53) who stated that ‘I am very conscious about being on and off. I want to decide myself when to be available’.

One informant needed more severe restrictions on herself. She related her extended use of social media to periods of feeling down, and at the moment, she described herself as enthralled by Twitter: ‘I am awful, I can’t stop it. I will have to uninstall the app to get a pause. Facebook and Insta are uninstalled already’ (Theresa, 40). These reactions are similar to reactions described by Pentzold et al. (2020) in their study on leisure life and quality time. Self-determined disconnection is a personal goal that is not always attainable.

There were many exposures to real-life intervention in the matter of reading, and this was brought into the interviews in response to questions about digital connectivity. Regardless of digitalisation, the manifestations of everyday life occurred as relevant as digital disturbances when exploring possibilities to read to half of the informants. Family members that need following up are reoccurring examples. To balance everyday life, family obligations and literature reading become an issue. Susan (34), who manages to maintain a large amount of leisure reading combined with small children and demanding work, is very conscious of her choice of reading mode. She distinguishes between reading for work and recreational reading and varies between tablets or audio according to the available situation. To her, digital online media does not steal reading time but challenges her working time. She must often refrain from scrolling through news and social media when she is about to follow-up on work-related tasks, and when working late, she hurries to ensure time for reading books.

To summarise the second research question about handling digital distractions, readers consciously navigate to make room for their priorities and continue reading. In interaction with social media, users tend to focus on their responsibility to regulate their use and limit digital distractions. They establish private ‘rules’ and sense troubled feelings of overuse (Ytre-Arne et al., 2020). The smartphone may be moved to another room, or the digital affordances of the smartphone may be put into practice, like activating silent mode or erasing social media apps to protect time for concentrated reading.

While these strategies are far from uncommon (Karlsen and Syvertsen, 2016; Mannell, 2019; Vanden Abeele et al., 2022), what is remarkable in our study is how closely they were linked to the act of reading. The level of prioritising literary reading is a pointed takeaway. The statements were unequivocal, as in these examples: ‘To me, reading is the best I can do. That’s my leisure time. It’s better than Facebook’ (Susan, 34); ‘The best is to sit totally in peace, alone, [and read] in two-three hours. That is absolutely the best’ (John, 28).

Devoted readers recognise digital distractions but do not consider them the main hindrance to their reading. Even those who struggle to disconnect are not prevented from reading. Instead, they customise their reading practices, partly by means of the affordances enabled by the smartphone. The love of reading itself serves as a means to prioritise certain activities and – to a large extent – manoeuvre one’s digital management of leisure time.

Discussion

The analysis demonstrates how the readers recognise the affordances in digital literature and digital reading devices. Informants generally express an intimate and nuanced relation to their reading medium.

Literary readers adjust to digital affordances, as in e-books and tablets, with the notion of ambivalence at two levels. First, there is a clear distinction between those who love their tablets and those who do not. The e-book readers praise the freedom enabled by digital technology, from the small weight and abundance of works readily available to the practical adjustment of light, letters and searching tools. Others actively prefer paper books. Second, there is an inbound ambivalence towards the deliberation of e-books related to paper books, even among experienced e-book readers.

A sense of value is at stake (Ballatore and Natale, 2016). The deliberation on e-book reading brings an automatic evaluation of paper books (Kosch et al., 2022). On the one hand, the central tendency is that the essential titles should be on paper. On the other hand, the affordances inbound to e-books and devices come with a great practical advantage to many readers, most notably those who read the most. Notably, no one seems neutral on the digital reading of literary texts.

The ambivalence towards digital text reading may relate to the differences in analogue and digital reading found in reading research, which tends to be more focused on educational contexts (Alexander, 2004; Clinton, 2019; Delgado et al., 2018; Singer and Alexander, 2017; Støle et al., 2020). Studies report on deprived sensory perception when reading from a screen. Furthermore, enhanced tactility from paper reading entails better comprehension and learning (Kong et al., 2018; Mangen, 2016, 2020). Screens bring along fewer ‘mental anchors’; another effect that might affect reading outcome negatively (Schilhab et al., 2018), while physical texts on paper might be easier to navigate (Mangen and Kuiken, 2014). One of the few studies comparing long-form literary reading on paper and Kindle states that readers’ overall comprehension of the content is comparable on both reading platforms, but navigating across linear progress, remembering the order and understanding temporalities in narratives is easier on paper than on screen (Mangen et al., 2019).

The informants who are most into e-book reading convey a long history of tablet reading. This may indicate that it takes some time to understand the meaning of the affordances in tablets, in line with the operation of body schemas identified in research on embodied reading. Accordingly, exploring the affordances of tablets instigates learning processes to develop sensorimotor skills customised to the new reading media (Hillesund et al., 2022).

A quantitative survey of everyday reading practices among Danish library professionals and students underlines how digitalization has set the ground for ‘a flexible and highly personalized approach to reading as an acitivity’ (Balling et al., 2019: 215), highlighting customisation to situations, specifically related to reading text on the smartphone. A Swedish study analysing a Swedish subscription service data set demonstrates how audiobooks have enlarged the ‘timespaces’ of literary reading (Tattersall Wallin and Nolin, 2020). Finally, our Norwegian study underlines how an expansion of reading situations relates to the e-book and the audiobook. These three Scandinavian studies mutually strengthen the argument of digital affordances expanding literary reading.

As such, digital reading devices and audiobooks are comparable to other digital technology, which invades parts of everyday life earlier occupied by other activities (Silverstone and Hirsch, 1994). In contrast to concerns about overuse, however, increased reading time was not unwelcome, and the informants did not describe any apparent conflict between reading and other activities. Quite the contrary, accessing digital literature in text or audio expanded their reading, and new habits were established. This gives reason to summarise that they have developed and personalised their reading habits to optimise their outcome of reading at different reading mediums and in different situations.

The study demonstrates that digital affordances integrate literary reading into everyday practices, in line with Don Norman. He highlights that affordances enhance and strengthen the relationship between a human agent and an object (Norman, 2013). Therefore, enlarged reading opportunities facilitated by digital affordances facilitating the expansion of literary reading are valuable to the readers.

Furthermore, the study demonstrates how dedication to leisure reading facilitates disconnection. When reading is highly praised, you are not so prone to become invaded by digital distractions. Disconnection studies highlight how strategies for coping with digital media are flexible; disconnection and connection do not constitute a dichotomy but represents a continuum (Dremljuga, 2018; Karppi, 2018). This study underlines how an explicit devotion to books, regardless of format, justifies reading as a reason to disconnect and enhance resilience, without going offline. Literary readers manage to contain online temptations because of an inbound longing to go on reading, which, as a result, serves as a form of digital detox (Syvertsen, 2020).

Conclusion

This article has explored the following research questions: ‘How does digital reading technology influence reading habits’ and ‘how do readers handle distractions following digital connections’. This combination of questions reveals findings that capture essential aspects of today’s reading practices, relevant for disconnection research and audience and reading research. Research on disconnection usually focuses on the media that cause distractions, not on media that may insulate the user from them (Lomborg and Ytre-Arne, 2021). This study, in contrast, shows an example of digital media use that may foster a less disturbing everyday life simply because the alternative to social media and the smartphone is regarded as more worthwhile. The tablet expands reading opportunities but affords the contemplation the traditional book offers.

The study establishes new knowledge about leisure readers of literature reflecting a diversity of readers, affordances and contexts. The affordances of tablets and audiobooks have opened new venues for consuming literature and, to various degrees, influenced reading habits. The spread of audiobooks through streaming services has accelerated such change. Space and time allocated to media use are recurring topics in media studies and public debates, and they turned out to be topics central to the informants. The analysis states that digital leisure reading and listening increased regarding how, where and when literature is consumed. The main conclusion of the research questions consists of three findings.

The first finding is that readers adapt their reading mode to the situation. To a large extent, increased reading is linked to affordances inherent in digital reading technology. Digitalisation makes text reading easily accessible. Experienced readers have developed strategies to maximise the combination of work of literature, reading format and situation. They swap seamlessly between paper, e-books and audio due to altered habits and their circumstances. To great consumers of literature, advantages like availability, weight and the possibility of personal customisation make digital literature a better option for daily reading than paper.

A second finding is that digital reading favours lighter texts. Complex narrative structure and deep layers of meaning are harder to grasp when the reading format does not easily support going back and forth in the text. This dimension is more substantial for audiobooks, where books that demand less concentration are favoured. The selection of literature is closely linked to the reading format. The complexity of the text is one criterion for selecting a format, especially audiobooks, which allows for light and ambient literature consumption. Reading on tablets or paper books demands more attention and is also the medium where immersion in the text, which many informants strive for, is more commonly reached. Several informants report finding it easier to navigate complex texts in physical books than in a tablet; in some cases, they choose a paper book for this reason. Audiobooks increase reading opportunities and alter reading practices, opening for more casual and less focused literature consumption. The literature becomes more available but also more ephemeral.

A third finding is that being a devoted reader gives motivation for developing strategies ensuring continued reading. Readers do not question whether they should go on reading. Obstacles are to be bypassed. While readers are as frustrated with digital distractions and prone to online browsing as anybody else, they express a strong awareness of their need to protect reading. These strategies effectively make readers practically and temporally disconnect to immerse themselves in literature.

This study and the research referred to are based on people already reading literature. Further research will have to broaden the scope to include less devoted readers and non-readers (of books). In other words, there is a need for more research in order to explore the influence of affordances and the structural changes due to technical and commercial frames on literary reading following the spread of streaming services, the accelerated high rise in audio listening and the general development in digitalization.