There Will Always Be Books

Dear Amanda,

     There will always be books. I know your mother has told you that someday digital media will completely replace paper and ink books the way music downloads have supplanted, for the most part, albums and cds.  But I do not believe that will ever happen.  It may be easier to transmit information through digital media, but books are much more than information. Books are adventures waiting to happen, and an adventure must be experienced with all one's senses.
     I have a Kindle and enjoy it's benefits. I no longer have to worry if I packed enough books for a trip. An e-reader can hold many books, I can always download more at my destination, and it's much easier to pack a Kindle than a stack of books, especially for airline travel. I also no longer have to worry about leaving a library book behind in an airport or hotel (or that Uncle Reed will think he left one behind when it is really buried by the junk on his dresser at home). But what I like best about my Kindle is that it introduces me to new authors. I no longer have the leisure to linger in libraries like when I was in school. My library trips are usually one stop on a long list of errands so, when I find authors whose books don't have sex and swearing, those are the only ones I look for.  I know there are lots of other good authors, but there is no "G" or "PG" category in adult fiction and the librarian might wonder why a middle aged woman only checks out children's books.
     My main reason for waiting so long to get a Kindle was that I am too cheap to pay money for books when I can get them from the library for free, but many of the daily deals are only $1.99 and I get to try a free sample first. Even Aunt Connie, the champion cheapskate, is willing to spend two bucks for a good book and I can usually tell from the sample if it will be Christian compatible. So you see, Amanda, e-readers have their benefits, but they are not real books because they do not engage all the senses. All e-books look and feel the same, the excitement is only is the story itself.
     There will always be printed books because the adventure begins with beckoning of the picture on the cover, the weight of the book in your hands, the sound of the pages turning, even the smell.  Even when the smell is old and musty, it may turn out to be a buried treasure that has been waiting for years for you to discover it. The only sense books do not stimulate is taste--and it probably should stay that way. In these days of self-check out, when librarians are only there to help you use the computer, I am afraid the excitement of going to the library is becoming extinct, but there will always be books, Amanda. There will always be books.