At The Bookstore

In spite of all our fancy e-readers, we still like to flip real books and magazines. The bookshelf isn't an obsolete piece of furniture in our flat. In fact, bookshelves will occupy full walls for a long while more. To us, hard copy books are irreplaceable. We've the usual soft covers stacked out in the open, then I've my precious vintage leather bound copies quietly sitting within humidity-controlled cabinets. Books are very much like leather bags and guitars. They need to be lovingly used and properly stored.

I've no inclination to buy new books till I know for sure that the contents are enthralling enough to keep a copy. The library works for me. But as we got older, for some reason, the library stopped being a regular hangout. It isn't exactly convenient for me to get to a couple of times a week. Between the man and I, we plough through 3 to 5 books a week. Amazon and The Book Depository work for us, along with second-hand bookshops, and pass-it-ons from the friends. In this way, we can comfortably manage the quantity of books on the shelves, rather than have too many of these books accumulating in an undignified heap in a corner.

The man and I spent some time before lunch in a second-hand bookshop browsing through its shelves. Limited stuff, but some fun titles. We picked out 2 books each for the week. And no, we can't share books, not frequently or regularly because we've rather different preferences when it comes to the sort of books. No prizes for guessing which genre of books the man likes, and which is my preferred.