Kindle my Arse

One of the 'must haves' this christmas appears to have been electronic e-book readers, if the number of people I have seen reading them is anything to go by.

I have always preferred a book made of paper (even if just because they never run out of batteries and will even survive a drop in the bath) and I love second hand book shops. This weekend has been spent getting my hundreds of books out of storage and sifting through them to slim down the smithski library, 180 are now going off to charity shops.

One thing you would never get from a kindle is this sort of message, the warming poignancy of the love of Emily Bedford and her husband 120 years ago. A wonderful narrative before you even reach the first page.