Those Prehistoric Things Called Books

I love used book stores. So it was to my delight that when I ventured into the abyss of 'outdoors' and had a wee bit of a social life today, I noticed a tiny little book store squashed in the middle of nowhere. This particular used book store was a nerdy dream! There were Star Wars novels everywhere, original orange Penguin novels, there were editions of Sherlock novels from the fifties, Doctor Who books from aeons ago and Star Trek episodes on VHS (yes, VHS my friends, those were the days!); it was as if this place were frozen in time.

Then a thought hit me that was slightly unnerving. As we've moved and progressed through mediums of entertainment through the ages, will books ever become a thing of the past? Will I be that weird uncool mum who enjoys lifting the pages of a good old book? Popular culture has certainly evolved over the years, after all, who still listens to radio plays? With the birth of television, colour television, 3D television; consumers certainly love the latest gadgets. Various forms of music have also progressed, from vinyl records to iPods, we've certainly seen change in the industry. We really do live in a digital age.

With the birth of E-Readers much debate has occurred over whether books were really worth it. Some question the environmental issues with the printing of books, as they are obviously made of paper. Whilst I believe firmly in saving the environment, I am all for books, and I believe that they can be printed in a sustainable way. A way of keeping the environment in check whilst still having the benefit of the printed word is of course Mixed Sources, for example, in my beloved copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, it declares openly that it is printed upon paper from well managed forests.

Quite frankly, I do not see the fuss of E-Readers, and staring at a screen for too long can make my eyes go fuzzy (I blame the Nargles). However, I am certainly for reading no matter how a person chooses to do so. Will books slowly be phased out? I very much doubt that, not in my lifetime anyway. And I hope not. Old fashioned books have existed for centuries, and most likely will for centuries more. A person may do as they wish in regards to reading a book and I wish them well should they choose to read digitally. I have experimented with E-Readers and have not found them to my liking, but to each their own. I guess I just love the smell of books and the feel of paper too much.

During the course of the 50 books challenge, and the rest of my life...




P.S. My next vlog is about books. Spoilers!