What I learnt this week: 25th May 2017

A real book

Are you a Kindle addict? Or do you believe a book isn’t a book unless it’s a paperback? Or are you like me, and lie somewhere in between.

In praise of the Kindle:

No more choosing between shoes or books, clothes or books when I go on holiday. I can take a hundred books with me and still stuff my case with all those shoes and clothes I absolutely can’t do without (but will end up not wearing).
Ebooks are cheaper. Some are free. So I can dabble with new authors without fear of breaking the bank.
When you pick it up again, you’re at the right page – no swearing over lost bookmarks or pages that fail to turn down.
My Kindle is back lit so when I wake in the middle of the night (as I do these days, thanks to age and hormones) I can read without disturbing my hubby. Mind you a thunderstorm doesn’t disturb him, either.
As my eyes get old (not the rest of me, you understand, just the eyes) I can increase the size of the font – no need to reach for the reading glasses.

In praise of the paperback:

There is something real, tangible about holding a book.
Choosing a book in a shop is a pleasure. Picking them up, scanning the back covers, moving on to the next one. It’s so much more rewarding than pouring over a computer screen. Just like on-line grocery shopping is convenient, yet not nearly as satisfying as seeing the food, touching it, smelling it, before you buy.
Books are pretty. They are pleasing on the eye and to the touch. They look good on a book shelf, giving a room a cosy, homely look…though the Fifty Shades of Grey may be better kept on the Kindle.
When I see my book on a Kindle, the words don’t look too dissimilar to those I’ve been reading on my computer. When I see them in a paperback, it looks like I’ve written a proper book.

So why am I rambling on about this today? Well, my publisher has just told me that I’ll have two paperbacks out this year; Before You (August) and A Second Christmas Wish (November).

So as much as I love my Kindle, I can’t wait to see my new paperbacks. Then I can slot them into my bookshelf, alongside books by my writing heroines (like Nora Roberts, Jilly Cooper, Erica James, Katie Fforde) – and feel like a proper author.