The Magic of Books
This morning I found myself browsing around a small, independent bookstore, the kind that's being rendered obsolete by amazon.com, Borders, and, more recently, e-readers. Big stores like Borders overwhelm me; there are just too many books, too many categories. The size of this store, probably less than a thousand square feet, means that the owners have to pick and choose which books to stock. I wandered around, checking out fiction, non-fiction, self-help, cookbooks, and local travel guides, finding all kinds of things to intrigue me.
Here is the conundrum I find myself in. At this point in my life, poised on the brink of a move and trying desperately to pare down, I don't want to buy books. I love reading, I love holding a book in my hands, but shelf after shelf of books I might never revisit and just have to move from place to place doesn't appeal. For the past few years, I have mostly been borrowing from the library, where they go to the trouble of storing books for me. I can always go back and check one out again if I want to reread it, but I don't have to pay for it.
Some would argue to get an e-reader - an iPad or a Kindle that I can have magazines, newspapers, or books on, and believe me, I understand the appeal of one slim device holding dozens of reading opportunities, of not having to shlep actual books on a vacation, or to be able to easily pull out some reading material on the subway. But when I only read most books once, and can't hand that book off to a friend, or relax in the tub or on the beach with it, the expense of both the device and the book feels frivolous, yet another cost of living in our digital age.
There is something about holding a book, curling up with it on the couch on a cold afternoon, feeling the pages in my hands, even being able to flip to the last page and read the last paragraph, that's irreplaceable. Even browsing for books online is different than in a bookstore. In this bookstore this morning, I could wander around, letting the books' artwork catch my eye, pick up the ones that look interesting, flip to random pages to sample the text, smile at old favorites that I see on the shelves. This is the magic of a book, this is what pulls me in.
On vacation this week, I might read a couple of books on the borrowed iPad I am taking with me, but I don't think that can ever replace the value of a physical book for me.
Here is the conundrum I find myself in. At this point in my life, poised on the brink of a move and trying desperately to pare down, I don't want to buy books. I love reading, I love holding a book in my hands, but shelf after shelf of books I might never revisit and just have to move from place to place doesn't appeal. For the past few years, I have mostly been borrowing from the library, where they go to the trouble of storing books for me. I can always go back and check one out again if I want to reread it, but I don't have to pay for it.
Some would argue to get an e-reader - an iPad or a Kindle that I can have magazines, newspapers, or books on, and believe me, I understand the appeal of one slim device holding dozens of reading opportunities, of not having to shlep actual books on a vacation, or to be able to easily pull out some reading material on the subway. But when I only read most books once, and can't hand that book off to a friend, or relax in the tub or on the beach with it, the expense of both the device and the book feels frivolous, yet another cost of living in our digital age.
There is something about holding a book, curling up with it on the couch on a cold afternoon, feeling the pages in my hands, even being able to flip to the last page and read the last paragraph, that's irreplaceable. Even browsing for books online is different than in a bookstore. In this bookstore this morning, I could wander around, letting the books' artwork catch my eye, pick up the ones that look interesting, flip to random pages to sample the text, smile at old favorites that I see on the shelves. This is the magic of a book, this is what pulls me in.
On vacation this week, I might read a couple of books on the borrowed iPad I am taking with me, but I don't think that can ever replace the value of a physical book for me.