Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Albert Lea Tribune. Her column appears every Tuesday.

When was the last time you read a good book?

I’m not talking about a short story online or the children’s book you read to your children or grandchildren. I’m talking about a story that’s a couple hundred pages long that held your attention long enough that all you wanted to do was stop everything else you were doing and read.

In the middle of full-time employment and my other responsibilities in my home and church — plus the distractions of social media — I’ll be the first to admit that reading for leisure has not been high up on my priority list.

A survey conducted by Pew Research in 2015 asked adults if they had read a book in any format. The survey showed that 27 percent of adults didn’t read a single book within the last 12 months.

Out of all participants surveyed, the average American adult read 12 books in the last year — a number the organization seemed to think was skewed high because of book lovers, as the median was only four books.

I remember as a child reading all the time. I loved to read, and I found there was noting quite like finding a good book. For a while I liked mysteries, then came the young adult horror books. I’ve never liked romance novels, and I find myself often going to some of the best-seller lists.

I mostly enjoy fiction, though I’m not opposed to reading nonfiction books, too.

Though I make it sound like reading is a thing of the past for me, I still love to read, though I haven’t done as much of it lately. As I write this column I’m getting a little antsy to get out there and find a good book.

Why do I like to read? I have always enjoyed hearing stories — whether real or made up — and I love being able to set aside my own life temporarily to delve into another’s life. Beyond reading for enjoyment, reading teaches us life lessons big and small.

One of my all-time favorite books is titled “Tuesdays with Morrie.” It’s a book about a newspaper sports columnist  who spent one day a week with his old sociology professor, who was dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — commonly known as ALS.

The sports columnist presents all of the lessons he learned from his professor during their weekly meetings, and in turn taught many lessons to readers as well.

I need to find a book as motivating as that one was to me when I first read it.

If you have a good book you’d like to suggest, I’d be happy to hear your suggestions. Please email me at sarah.stultz@albertleatribune.com.

“Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light.” — Verz Nazarian