7 Interactive Features I'd Add to Books

This was an interesting prompt I saw while doing some research for possible blog posts: "If you could add one interactive feature to reading books, what would it be?" (52 Discussion Post Prompts for Your Book Blog in 2018, Pages Unbound Reviews.) I decided to put my own spin on this post and add a few extras that I'd like to see. (This is mainly due to the fact that I couldn't decide on just one feature.)

I love the idea of having interactive features while reading books. They can be so helpful in understanding an author's message in their book. They can also help in visualizing the story in a way that just reading may not always be able to do.

So here are 7 interactive features I'd add to books.

Interactive Feature 1: Glow-in-the-dark ink.

Glow-in-the-dark ink would be so useful in reading at night. This is something I absolutely love doing because it helps me settle down. Not having to use a nightlight or book light would be so useful. Glow-in-the-dark ink in books can be so useful in many situations. (Just imagine it: You brought a book to a sleepover, and you don't want to disrupt your friends by having a little light on. Glow-in-the-dark ink is your savior.)

Interactive Feature 2: In-book audiobook feature.

I love audiobooks. It would be so useful if there was an audiobook feature in your physical books. That way, you can read along, hear how certain words, names, and places are pronounced, and so much more. Additionally, if the author narrates the book, then that'll help the reader best understand the book.

Interactive Feature 3: Gifs and/or video clips.

Gifs and/or video clips can also enhance your understanding of the book. Whether it's something simple like a dramatic gif or a video of a little walk through the woods, they can help understand the book's setting, emotions, and so much more.

Interactive Feature 4: Pause feature for audio and video aids.

This would be so useful, especially if you're still reading a book but need to get up for a drink top off or a snack. Being able to pause an audio or video aid can really help you out in the long run.

Interactive Feature 5: Sensory aids.

Other sensory aids, like smell and touch, can really help out with a reader's understanding as well. Being able to smell what the characters smell, and touch what they touch (i.e. specific words feel the way the actual object feels) can incorporate the reader into the story even more.

Interactive Feature 6: Audio aid memory if you set the book for a while.

Similarly to the pause feature, it would be useful to have a way for the audio aid to remember where you are in the book. Even if you set the book down for a longer period of time, the audio memory can really help in you picking the book back up again after a couple of hours of not reading.

Interactive Feature 7: A way to remember the page without a bookmark.

Similarly with the audio aid memory, this is another very useful feature. Let's say you don't have a bookmark (or something similar) on hand, and you hate dog-earing your books, this is a fantastic feature.

For most of these features,  I'm not sure how exactly they'd be incorporated. And I do apply these to physical books more than ebooks (because ebooks have a couple of these features, depending). However, these would be so useful for many of us readers.