For the love of books

Let’s never let them go

A short reflection.

“That moment when you finish a book, look around, and realize that everyone is just carrying on with their lives…as though you didn’t just experience emotional trauma at the hands of a paperback.” — Jamie Craig

I love books. The stories are gateways to imaginary worlds, historic worlds, and of course, they can be educational.

And yes, we can get the words on an electronic device, and while I love the ability to take a plethora of books with me wherever I go, I miss the old ways.

I used to share my books with friends more frequently, recommend books, loan books, give away books and the Kindle has also prevented this beautiful kind of book and knowledge sharing.

I still love the smell of books. The weight of them, the beauty of turning a page. The description “page-turner” when speaking of a very exciting or well-written book is disappointingly becoming obsolete.

I love giving books as gifts. Personalizing a book specially chosen for a friend and inscribing it with a personal message. While I try to continue this tradition and I find people still love to receive books, it is a dying art.

I love libraries and thank goodness that they are finding a way to stay relevant. There is something so cozy and endearing about a shelf of books. Likely the same as many others, bookshelves take up more space in my living room than any other piece of furniture.

Let’s not lose the beauty of that exchange

Even as new tools are created, giving us the freedom to travel with many books in our handy electronic devices, I hope that the art of reading real books never leaves us.

Let’s find a way to preserve the book.

Sure, let’s protect the environment, but let’s recycle “bad” books, the unsold ones, and print more.

I’m cool with that.