Indulgence

I've always been a reader, pretty much since I discovered Enid Blyton.  It helped that all my family were voracious readers and writers themselves and our house was filled with books.  It was not uncommon for my entire family to be sitting round the breakfast table each of us reading our own books (for my Dad it was the newspaper).  These early habits continued throughout my teenage years, into University and my choice of degree and into my job in publishing.  I love the way a good piece of writing can take me away from the here and now into a different place.  In my current job it's a constant refrain of affection in the staffroom "don't talk to Sarah when she's reading".  Over the years I have accumulated hundreds and hundreds of books - I do tend to hoard them it's true.  Every time I've moved I've sold huge amounts to second hand shops, keeping the prized ones, and then begun over again.  My current house has a landing that is filled floor to ceiling with books. One day they will all come crashing down as I attempt to wrestle one out from near the bottom of the pile.  And then, then, Amazon came to my rescue with the Kindle.  I'd watched various e-readers being reviewed and was intrigued by them, but loved the physical feel of books so much, their smell, the satisfying whoosh of pages being turned, that my curiosity stayed put.  Last Christmas desperately trying to give someone an idea for my Christmas present I suggested a Kindle.  Which I got.  Which I love.  Not more than books, but for the sheer speed of access to all these titles.  For me it's akin to setting a child loose in a sweet shop and saying you can have anything you like.  60 seconds or less and there's my novel, poetry book, whatever my choice is without even leaving the comfort of my bed.  True indulgence.  I currently have 70 books on my Kindle and it's come into its own on holidays when I take one kindle not 8 novels.  I do however still buy the 'real' thing, especially books that need to be looked at and appreciated in paper form, but for the time being the landing has been saved from collapsing into the living room, and that can only be a good thing!