Texting, texting, 1 2 3

My best friend's daughter is getting married next summer! Today they drove up north to check out a venue. How do I know this? Communication, baby! I received a picture on facebook taken with her Blackberry. How else?

So if a picture paints a thousand words, can a thousand words condensed into a roughly 7 x 10 inch 'box' be accepted in place of a BOOK? I think not.

I can't tell how many times I've been told that I would just LOVE a 'Kindle', Sony reader, and/or the newest kid on the block, the Barnes and Noble Nook. All sell for between $200 and $400. That buys me a lot of books!

I'm sorry, but I just can't get past the fact that IT'S NOT A BOOK! Yes, I know you can store infinite numbers of books on it, book prices are great, easy to transport, blah blah blah.

I need to turn the pages, admire the front cover, read the inside (and back) flaps, reread a few pages, FOLD over the corners (library copies only - apologies in advance to those that reserve books at The Toronto Public Library and have the same taste as me - and those salsa stains, well......). Don't even get me started on bookmarks and booklights and all the cute (and necessary) enhancements I have discovered over the years and had to have. For those that need to know, the VERY best bookmark is one made by Levengers, called the book bungee. I own MANY of these stretchy little gems and either order them online or visit the store when I'm in Florida and need to surround myself with a little book heaven (even their website calls them 'tools for serious readers'). Post-it makes a great flag highlighter (imagine, you can highlight AND mark your page!)

Last year I discovered the thrill of author readings and signings. Meeting James Frey, Wilbur Smith, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Joseph Boyden, Wally Lamb.....to name just a few, AND listen to them speak AND HAVE THEM SIGN MY BOOK - PRICELESS. Can't do that with a Kindle, can you?

My hubby swears by his ereader on his Blackberry,and I know many 'converts' that are happy as well, but after a day spent clearing clutter in my bedroom, I was proud to move my A-Z bookends (which encase my 10 copies of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) to the newly added coffee table and small reading couch. Just can't see a piece of metal having quite the same effect.