Friday, May 20, 2011

For the love of a good book...


Reading has always been a passion of mine and one I have passed on to my children.  When I was young, Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet so I had to rely on good old fashion trips to the library to scour encyclopedia after encyclopedia not to mention claiming time on one of the microfilm machines.  This was our internet...you could view months of newspapers and magazine articles on the machines.  Yes, I have shown my age here but I bet if you are nodding your head you will not admit to that age! Neither do I!

I remember hours of reading and writing down the notes for papers I had to write.  I know I must have complained that it was "just too hard" but looking back now, all I can remember is how I enjoyed reading.  History, biographies, romances, and of course all the teen magazines with the latest gossip on Shaun Cassidy.  It was a treat for me to actually buy a book and the ones that I did I still have.  Mostly I checked them out from the library and went back weekly.  Nothing like a good book to take you away to places you may never go or to a time where life was simple.  Not to mention books passed the time when waiting in a doctor's office and most definitely occupied my girls' time while were waiting anywhere more than 5 minutes!

Free entertainment for the kids was the library or the local bookstore.  We would spend hours there and I had to drag them out kicking.  There was even a "book game" - one would describe the plot and the rest would have to come up with the title and author.  It was a perfect car game!  I preferred to buy them a book over a cheap dollar store toy, not to say we didn't have our share of those too but more books.  I made the them a promise once that I would never turn them down if they wanted to buy a book.  It's come to bite me a few times but I stuck to it.  We have our own library!  We all have our favorite authors and they do recommend their favorites to me and I read them.  Some are great and others left me saying, I wasted some time there!

With the age of the e-books it seems everyone is getting a Nook or a Kindle.  Ok I admit, I thought I wanted a Kindle for a few moments.  I mean I could carry a thousand books with me at once and not walk like the Hunchback!  So before I asked for one for the next holiday, I downloaded one on my Droid.  Yes I know, it was not the size or anything like a Kindle but it was similar and it was just a test.  The book I chose was The Secret Holocaust Diaries by Nonna Bannister and I loved the book.  I read it on my lunch breaks and for a moment I thought a Kindle was in my future but the moment was short-lived.  I felt something missing...the feel of a book in my hands, turning the pages (electronically turning isn't the same), the smell of a new book and even the stink of some not so new.  It wasn't the same at all.  Now I know, some will disagree with me on that but that is what makes opinions - opinions!  Perhaps in the future I will have one but there is nothing like snuggling in your bed with a good book or on a cold rainy day cozying up with a good cup of tea and book.

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