First, hello and thank you to everyone who is following my blog. The past couple of months have been a whirlwind and I have been crazy anxious but I’m starting to get back to my normal, only slightly neurotic self.

The holidays are near and I’ve been thinking about what to get myself for being such a naughty/nice girl this year. Okay, I’m naughty/nice every year, but that’s neither here nor there . Electronics are at the top of my list but here’s where it gets weird; my head says one thing and my heart says another. My brain wants a book reading device (am I allowed to say the brand?) ‘cuz it’s snazzy and cute and all those things that new toys are; but my heart objects.

My lifetime of reading experience has been almost spiritual. I feel like I’ve had personal, intimate relationships with the bound pages of paperback novels; bundles carried like my very own secret gift, covers worn with my clutching, or nestled safely within my purse. The very experience—the sacred act—of holding, touching, smelling those pages has always been special. Falling asleep with my cheek lying on an open page, turning the corners over solemnly to mark my place, buying an expensive bookmark and lovingly placing it in a treasured tome… these acts all a part of my sacred experiences. After a lifetime of loving books I have become so accustomed to the feel and heft of the paper between my fingers, that tactile sensory memory is as recognizable to my fingertips as the skin of my own face.

For me, books have never just been about the story.

The kid in me wants a new toy if only because everyone else has one and I don’t like being left behind. But will I use it? Will I love it? Will it lull me to sleep? Will I look forward to the sound it makes when I turn the electronic pages? Will it demand the same reverence, telling others to back off because this woman is reading? I mean, people apologize when they interrupt your reading. When you’re on the computer they just walk up to you and start talking. Will they apologize for interrupting the sacred act of artificially turning the page? Will they give it the same respect? Will I? Or will it just be like every other toy I own but don’t really love?

Or am I making a mountain out of a molehill? I do that sometimes. I ask people what they think and the jury’s out. Some have told me that once the newness wears off it’s more trouble than it’s worth, but some have told me it’s the only way they read. I’d love some feedback from anyone who cares to share. Am I being silly or does anyone else think they’ll never love a device like they love an honest-to-God book?

All the Best,

Ava