Why Kindles leave me cold

Thursday, May 12, 2011

I keep seeing people with ebook readers on the tube and it looks so uninspiring. Here’s what I think you’re missing with a Kindle and why my shelves will always be full:

The weight, thickness and texture of a book is part of the story
You can’t glance at a shelf of ebooks and know which one’s most loved
Heavily broken spines are a far better review than a five-star rating
Forgotten, makeshift bookmarks from train tickets, receipts and letters, scrawled notes in margins, underlined words, numbers from phone-held-between-ear-and-shoulder conversations
Handwriting that isn’t your own
Tears, stains and creases, sand stuck in the glue, dog-eared, warped and crumpled pages
An author’s illegible signature

Books hold the reader’s story too