I had my thirty-third birthday this weekend. As I have grown older, I have always been the sort-of person who tries to embrace technology and the changes that come along with it- except when it comes to books. To me, there is nothing greater than the feel of the pages in your hand as you read. There is no greater smell than that of the ink printed on the crisp pages of a book. Before I read anything, I bring the book up to my nose, close my eyes, and inhale the sweet smell of story before I even read. For me, the feeling of that book coupled with its smell is better than the smell of cookies baking in the oven or even the smell of the first Michigan rain in April.
Some women spend a fortune on clothes or purses or shoes. I am not one of these women. I could care less about clothes and shoes. Give me the choice, and I will spend all my money on books. Books never go out of style, and they aren’t usually expensive. I love them like I do my friends and family because for me, my books are great friends too and even better, when I miss my fictional friends, I do not even need to make a call, they are right there at my finger tips.
So, you can understand when I say I was against the idea of getting an electronic reader. How could I like it, without the feeling of freshly inked pages and the non-book smell? Oh, I looked at those electronic readers on several occasions, even admitting to myself that they were in fact, very cool. I even tried downloading a few books to my computer to read them. Oh sure, the instant gratification of wanting to read a book right then and there was great- but I missed taking the trip to the bookstore and the excitement of ordering from Barnes and Noble, my favorite bookstore, on-line. I even had myself convinced that I just could not “Get into the book” unless I held a paper copy in my hands.
When my husband Ben asked me what I wanted for my Birthday and I told him I wanted a Nook, needless to say, he was astounded. “Are you sure?” he asked, uncertainly. What brought on this change of heart? Well, my book collection has gotten a bit out of hand and we were running out of room. In fact, sometimes I feel like the books are crawling off the shelves to get me.
Yet, the real reason I decided to get Nook was because of an article I read. In it, it talked about how electronic texts were the future and by not embracing this new technology we, as book lovers, are hanging on to the past. That got me to thinking. Was I clinging too tightly to the past? Was I becoming the type of person who was unwilling to try new things because they were too much work? Was I clinging those written pages simply to be stubborn?
And that’s when it hit me.
When it came to books, that’s exactly what I was doing.
So I told myself firmly to get a Nook. Now I have the option of getting certain books in the traditional print form to satisfy my love of new paper books, and electronic books for my Nook as well and surprisingly, I love it! Barnes and Noble makes it so easy to order, there are tons of books right at my fingertips, and my Ben even bought me a cover for it that makes me feel like I’m holding a real book.
What does the cover say?
“When I step into this library, I cannot understand why I ever step out of it.” –Marie DeSevigne
Humm…my own portable library. How could I not love it?
