The coffee pot is making its final gurgling sounds as I type. I know. How can I possibly blog without my mocha in hand? Well, let's just say I got a late start.I stayed up late reading in bed last night. I've been looking for some Christian Chick Lit to read and finally found one I could dive in to. So there I was at 1:00am still turning pages and I began to wonder about ebooks. Many of you know that the world of publishing has turned to things like ebooks and kindle. (If you didn't know that, you should spend some time searching the web.)
In some ways, the world of e-publishing is wonderful. It's a green industry, saving trees and landfills. Accessing ebooks is very convenient. No need to leave your house to run to the library or bookstore. Publishing time can be reduced.
But as I turned the crisp pages of my new book, I realized that I will never be a total ebook convert. You see, I love browsing the aisles of the library. I love wandering the shelves of the local bookstore, pulling out the titles one at a time and perusing their pages. And when I've made my selection, I can cuddle up with my new book. I love to stare at the covers and soak in the details. I love to see my progress from a full stack of pages in my right hand to an ever growing pile in my left.
Not only that, I have collected these treasures over the years. We have shelves of multicolored memories. As a homeschool family, we've read some of them aloud and enjoyed the experiences at home and on long trips. My friends and I have shared the discovery of a new author and then raced to collect his works. A few of our books, novels and non fiction alike, have marginalia in them. (Marginalia (mar jin a' lya) - notes we write in the margins of books)
And then, on a rainy day I can skim the shelves in my house and find the perfect selection. Oh sure, I've read it before. But there's comfort in the familiar, comfort in holding the paper and print in my hands.
You can call me old fashioned. I won't mind a bit.
2 comments:
I'm with you Casey. BTW did you go the CWG conference? Jamin and Mike went last year and loved it. Mike was on the brochure this year talking with Jerry Jenkins.
Jamin chose not to go this year - saving his pennies for college. He is taking some CWG/Taylor University courses. I was sad he coudln't go - but it was the right decision.
I like both e-books and "real books". I love the e-books for the variety that I may not find elsewhere and for the space they save in my home. But then again, I end up printing out many of my e-books and putting them into binders so that I can read them while on the run. There's absolutley nothing wrong with being old fashioned. So I guess I'm technically a real e-book lover. :)
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