BRING BACK OUR PAPERBACKS

You gotta love a good book! I personally haven't discovered anything else that has the ability to take you to another realm, to make you forget about all of your worries, and transport you to a fictional dimension that seems very real. Books possess a wealth of information and knowledge capable of completely altering your life - mind, body, and spirit.

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It goes without saying that with the rapidly evolving world, books have been converted to digital versions. Because you may now practically have a full library on your phone or Ipad, it has become much simpler to explore the world of books and reading. This eliminates the hassle of having to carry around books, which may be heavy and strain your back. No fun.

Now if I were to choose between an e-book and a real physical one, I would, a thousand percent choose a real book over and over again. Why? Well I would love to share with you.

Growing up, I always wondered why people who loved reading were always obsessed with books. I couldn’t fathom why anyone would voluntarily dig their nose into a book for hours on end. What was so fascinating about reading? It sounded like stress to me. I could only read books that had large fonts and pictures.

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My whole orientation towards novels shifted when I was bored out of my mind one day at home. There was nothing to do, I didn’t have a phone then and there was no electricity at that time. So I wandered into my dad’s library in his room and browsed through the books there. I found an abandoned Enid Blyton novel that I had won at my primary school. I grabbed it out of curiosity and checked it out.

Nothing prepared me for the mind-blowing feeling I was about to experience 😅. Three paragraphs in and I was hooked! It felt like I was transported to a different universe where I could experience the characters and the story. It was a paradigm-shifting experience for me; I finally understood the euphoria that came along with reading.

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From then on, I started to feed my obsession. It was amazing to watch it grow and grow, I bought book after book after book. I had developed this insatiable appetite for good stories. Through this, I discovered the late Sidney Sheldon, who would later become one of my all-time favorite authors.

You might wonder why I bothered to give this background. During the course of falling in love with books, I fell in love with the totality of the experience. Right from the yellow frilly pages, through the dry nostalgic scent of the books, to the ambience that comes with snuggling up in a blanket in your bed, with a cup of your favorite drink and going to town on a book.

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Then there’s the excitement of going to a library or the bookstore to get more books. The moment you enter, you immediately feel at home. The need to explore the aisles and shelves brews deep within you, all of a sudden you get lost in the racks in the pursuit of your next obsession.

And dare I forget the absolute joy that comes with showing off your private book collection to your friends and other readers. It gives you a level of satisfaction to be able to look at all your books and affirm and marvel at the fact that you READ THEM ALL. I don’t know about you but for me, it feels like a reward.

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All of these crucial experiences are stripped away when using an e-book. Technically you are reading the same words that you would in a real book but that is the only similarity. That can’t be it! There is so much more to the reading experience than merely gaining access to the words.

Now if you are not completely convinced that you might be missing out by reading e-books, I’m going to list some reasons that will change your mind.

• Gadget screens emit blue light rays that not only put stress on the eyes, but also trick the brain into thinking it is daytime therefore inhibiting your sleep.
• You are likely to get more distracted when using a gadget to read because you have access the internet which is usually very tempting to use.
• You don’t have to worry about your battery running down or your gadget dying on you. Your book will be there for you through thick and thin, come sunshine come rain (just kidding, protect it from the rain).

That’s all I’ve got.

I appreciate the fact that books have also evolved with the times and we have the access to them at our fingertips. This alone is remarkable. However, I’m of the opinion that some changes are too drastic and can never replace the feeling that comes with doing things the old fashioned way.

My deepest gratitude to you dear reader for giving me your precious audience.🤗❤️❤️