Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.
Firstly I'm feeling a little better. Though the night was a painful rasp of continued coughing and I've still got a sore throat at least I feel more with it than I did yesterday. Still there was no reason to overdo today so I mainly spent the day reading.
Now let me not be accused of being a hypocrite. I have a Kindle and it is useful. If you're going on holiday it's more convenient than putting a couple of books in the travel bag. You also can obtain books that are difficult to get in its print form. For example on my ereader there's The Brightfount Diaries by Brian Aldiss.I remembered enjoying reading it as a child in Barkingside Library. It was a fictional account of life in a fifties bookshop. That's right. The only copy I can obtain at a reasonable price about working in a bookshop is through an ereader. That's irony.
But, but. When all other things are things are equal there is a quiet pleasure in turning the page that the swiping of your finger along a tablet cannot match. When I am sitting down with a book in front of me, or standing in a queue, or waiting for my daughter from her school bus I can instantly find myself as I am now into the world of Scottish politics, Welsh football, A journey around the Mediterranean, a football fan's life and political thinking of a renowned essayist. Books can do this,
The decline of the paper book is a tragedy. Because the Internet cannot fulfil that latent thrill of discovering a tome in bookstall or a library that you know must read. The Internet cannot match trailing your eyes along the shelf. What it cannot do is the unexpected discovery. On the web you have to give it a guide through the search engine so the thrill is not as great.
For a while now I have been collecting Penguin and Pelican paperbacks. But only those that have the distinctive coloured spines on them. The spine bit is a bit of vanity as I like the way its uniformity on the shelves. The Penguin/Pelican paperbacks though I collect because they are the publishing house that would produce the widest range available.
As you see I'm in the process of putting the books I currently have in my collection online. At time of writing they are "under construction" (ie I've not finished yet) but hopefully they'll be completed soon.
Until the next time
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