Book Week (7)

Well, yes, there are some good things about e-readers (that's Jools's colourful Kobo Vox in the picture): You don't have to go to a store to buy them, they take up no space and are easy to carry and read.

But, once read, the books are static. You can't loan them to friends or exchange them or donate them to charity. And Jools's books will only play on a Kobo reader, which ties her to a single vendor that, according to the BBC, believes the business isn't really about reading - it's about selling 'other digital goods'. Wow, that makes me really confident.

And how will bibliophiles of the future build their collections? I've been hunting down the works of JB Priestley since I worked as a journalist in the north-east of England many years ago, finding more volumes in Johannesburg, Southern California, Australia, New Zealand and at used book stores and charity sales in North America and England. Where, I wonder, will the collectors of the future find the books they crave?

I doubt if the man at Kobo really cares . . . nor, I'm informed, does Jools!

PS Caught in the act - Easter Bunny apprehended http://www.blipfolio.com/Agan/daily-pix#easter-bunny