Ye Ole Bookstore

Books are great. I love the feel of a new book. There is just something about the smell of the paper and the feel of the pages as you turn them. When I read a paperback, I turn down the page corners to mark my place. I never do that with a hard cover books. I use the book jacket to mark my place in that case. I’m mildly embarrassed that I turn down the page corners in a paperback. I didn’t do that when I was young, but it’s expeditious and doesn’t involve some sort of bookmark that might dislodge and lose my place.  

Bookstores are sort of magical places, don’t you think? It’s like walking into a place chock full of possible trips into imagination. Open any cover and travel off into another world. I get a min-rush each time I enter a bookstore because the store is the promise of unknown marvels. 

The thing is, in this brave new world of publishing, there are over twice the number of e-books published each year than conventional “books”. That means that most of us are reading books in some format other than paper and binding, and are buying books in some place other than a bookstore. 

Someday, I reckon, bookstores will be rare. It’s sad in a way because going to a bookstore and browsing the aisles results in book finds that I’d maybe never stumble over in an on-line search. As an aspiring writer, I’d love nothing better than to see my novel on a bookstore shelf, but I’m beginning to see that some sort of digital offering is a must.

I do love a book, but I also love my Kindle, which holds a trunk load of books, but fits in my purse on a trip. I also love audio books. I down load them to my phone and play them in the car as I drive. All these options let me have reading material anytime, anywhere, in any format I like. It’s a ‘brave new world’ for publishing. People have many choices for reading/ consuming books. 

 I hope expanded options will not result in a decline in quality. I hope that the decline of paper books relative to digital books will not change the wonder and sensation of reading. 

Laurie