 |
| Open Bible |
Reading has always been one of my favoured hobbies - from the time I was a little kid. I've always been able to lose myself for a few hours in a really good book, whether it's a novel or a reference and instructional book. If the subject matter interests me, I can spend a great deal of time "in" a book. Now, when I say a "book" I mean a "real world" book. One that's made of paper and ink, not something I have to look at on a screen. I am not a huge fan of ebooks or digital book readers. When I want a book to read, I want a book with paper pages, with ink on those pages, and covers. Not some cold, hard little piece of gadgetry.
 |
| Fitness Book, Horror Book, Humorous Book |
Part of the reading experience for me is
actually having a printed book in my hands. Books have a smell that can't be replicated in an ebook, and while sometimes that could be a good thing, for me ... the "scent" of a book is part of the reading experience. My dad used to have a box of really old books, and those books smelled musty - not so nice, really, but whenever I pulled out one of them to read that musty smell somehow managed to remind me that I was reading a book that has existed for a really long time. New books have a smell too, but it isn't the same - they have a smell of newness about them.
Back when I was beginning to go blind (early stages - see this article) I began choosing books from the "large print" section of our local library. Compared to the vast number of regular size print books, this section was still fairly small back then. It didn't take me long to read all the books available in genre I enjoyed (mystery, horror, some sci-fi, thrillers).