Books a mile high

George Robert Gissing said:

"I know every book of mine by its smell.and I have but to put my nose between the pages to be reminded of all sorts of things."

Having a collection of over 500 books myself, I can understand the sentiment behind his quote. I only have to pick up certain books in my collection to be transported back to the point in time when it came into my possession. Where it was purchased, how I was feeling and how it made me feel having acquired it.

I know my collection takes up considerable room in my house and if I had one these new 'Kindle' creations that holds thousands of books I would probably have more room for shoes and handbags (we girls can never have enough of those), but for me the whole experience of being an avid reader is in the search for 'the one' - that one book you have been wanting since the world came into being.

Only this past week, I attended an antiques fair where I came upon a rare 1970 edition of 'The complete fairy tales of Oscar wilde' iluustrated by Philipped Julian, which has been on my 'wish list' of books since I can remember.  I love going to car boot sales, antique fairs, second hand book shops and charity shops in search of 'treasure'. There is nothing like perusing the shelves of old book shops (apart from coming out sneezing from the dust) and thumbing through pages, in the hope that you will find that rare classic.

While I am all for new technology, I'll be staying with my tactile 'old friends' and will not be 'kindling' a fire any time soon with them and will be sticking with what I consider to be 'proper' books.

I would be interested to know how my fellow soupers feel on the subject - do you possess a 'Kindle' or are you like me and sticking with the familiar.

My best wishes to you all

Janette