Book Wars

A book made such an impact on me today that all the lovely, scenic views of my trip to Llanstephan went out the window. I started and finished Engage ? The Fall and Rise of Matt Hampson this morning, not many books can grip me so much that I want to read them all the way through. For those who don't know who Matt Hampson is, he was an England rugby player who was seriously injured when a scrum collapsed on him. The book is his story, and as I posted on my Twitter account the book is one of the most powerful and awe inspiring books I've ever read.

I love books, proper books though not your e-books, hence today's blip. Don't get me wrong I love gadgets and my iPad and iPod Touch go with me everywhere, and there is a little bit of me that says I should own an Amazon Kindle just because I love books so much. I won't succumb though, because to me there is something special about a proper book, paperback or hardback. There is a thrill to purchase a book from a shop, or receive an Amazon parcel with a book I ordered, you don't get this thrill when you purchase an e-book because its there instantly as you download it. When you look at someone's bookshelves or what they are reading on a bus or train, you can tell what types of books they like with an e-book you have no idea.

I never want to lose proper books; I think we'd miss so much. For example, I could never own an autographed Tom Baker autobiography with a personal message, you can hardly do that on an e-book can you? Yes I can get the complete works of Sherlock Holmes in one quick and easy download, but it's not the same as my leather bound complete works that my mother and father bought me, which has so much memory and sentiment attached to it.

I'm all for progress and as I say I love my gadgets, but lets not lose proper books!

What is your preference?