A book is...

A book is an idea. A book doesn't have guidelines or rules. There is no reason for that a book should be required to be written on paper. Books, or stories in ancient history used to be written on stone tablets, or cave walls but when a new technology was discovered that made it easier to write, these ancient concepts were abandoned. We didn't continue to write on caves because we "love the way a new cave smells", instead we advanced as we should and came to love the new vehicle for sharing our stories. Books are far more important than any attempt at a physical representation of what they are. A book is far more than a couple of pieces of paper taped to some plastic to hold it all together. A book transcends the physical nature of paper and is adaptable to any environmnet. You dont even need to have something physical to represent a book because a book is just a story, a story that can start through sharing from mouth to mouth. As society advances book will advance with us, because if there is one thing that Tom Piazza got right, it was when he said "I mean if there's no future for books, there's no future". There may be no future for the United States postal service, and there may be no future for paper stories, but the idea of books, and stories will always have a future, so long as the human existence has one. So we will advance, slowly more and more people will come to have electronic versions of books. In church you will start to see more and more kindles or Ipods in the place of the Bible until the ratio switches to where instead of occasionally seeing an ebook, you will only occasionally see a real book. And maybe we will miss the smell of a new book, but as our children grow up with our technology and read books through a different vehicle they will learn to become nostalgic of the smell of a new Ereader. They will love the smell that a Kindle gives off, however minute. If a newer technology comes along to replace Ipods and Ereaders than so be it. Each technology will have it's own way to bring up waves of nostalgia, and it may not be a smell, we may just come to love the feel of an environment as we delve into our new worlds. But the idea of a book. of a story can never, ever disappear in a society that remains innately human.

Why I Read

Reading a book for me is a way of escaping my universe and exploring strange new ones. I love to read science fiction books because they expose me to new ideas and concepts that amaze and entrance me. Books can tell a story and teach you new things and entertain you all at the same time if you find the right one. Often time the things you are being taught aren't just facts or new ideas but a lesson in how to deal with day to day life. Reading gives me this perfect balance of entertainement, entrancement and information that you often can't find in a movie or other forms of entertainement, and it can be done anywhere and at any time. You can gain knowledge and experience in many aspects without even leaving the comfort of your living room. Explore entire worlds while swinging in your hammock, and for that very purpose i read as often as i have the free time to.