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veronica.p

Owl

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This is my first blog post. So I would like to make this short and sweet.

I have been a bibliophile all my life. I grew up browsing through book shops and reading everything I could find. My father was a savant. His library was an unforgettable sight. The books covered the walls and the floors. We had to make little passages just so we could still go inside. You could just imagine the piles of books that towered over an average size female like me. It was magical to walk in there surrounded by literature. And the smell! I can not begin to describe how it impels every nerve in me. There was a time when there were too many of them that they started to trickle down the staircase. Until it came to a point where there were books in every part of the house. It was nirvana.

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Now that my daddy has passed, these books and these book shops are two of the few mementos left of him that I've managed to hold on to. It's quite unfortunate to see the number of published and printed manuscripts plummeting rapidly, like an owl that has just lost its wings. Also, book shops are slowly closing one by one. These are two of the main reasons why I am not a big fan of Kindle, EBooks and the likes of it. Yes, it has its advantages -- you can list them all down if you'd like -- but it doesn't beat the feeling of an actual manuscript in your hands. The smell of a book is similar to wine: it gets better as it ages. Nothing can beat the experience of having to flip the pages, caring for it, lining up for one and collecting them. There's a huge difference between an electronic library and a physical one: a real library will never get lost when all forms of technology are gone.

Books take you on countless and endless adventures. Make them a memory, not a file you can obliterate at any given time.

Has the owl lost its wings? Or has it given up the will to fly?

On another note: I love how Kindle thinks they’re so innovative with their “no-glare” screen. You know what else has no glare? A book.

Updated 07-02-2013 at 09:51 AM by veronica.p

Tags: blog, books, kindle
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Comments

  1. sevmik's Avatar
    nothing beats a good hardbound book

    now that i have settled down back in cebu i have begun my book collection again. but back when i was travelling a lot it was a pain to keep lugging my mini library all over the country. i ended up leaving some books with people that i lived with while i sated my wanderlust, which is why i kept hoping for a kindle-like device back then. well, it's too late now... unless i decide to travel again, maybe this time to australia, lol.
  2. sushikandi's Avatar
    I love the new book smell and the old book smell is nostalgic, takes you back to the time when you first read the book. But as much as I want to have an actual book in hand, I prefer reading my ipad mini coz it takes less space in my purse and I can store more books. The only books I have right now is Paulo Cuelho.
  3. THE KID's Avatar
    nice....
    Updated 07-02-2013 at 01:04 PM by THE KID
  4. veronica.p's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by sevmik
    nothing beats a good hardbound book

    now that i have settled down back in cebu i have begun my book collection again. but back when i was travelling a lot it was a pain to keep lugging my mini library all over the country. i ended up leaving some books with people that i lived with while i sated my wanderlust, which is why i kept hoping for a kindle-like device back then. well, it's too late now... unless i decide to travel again, maybe this time to australia, lol.
    Keep your collection in a place where you know you'll come back to. I usually carry 2 books with me when I travel. Because I end up coming back with 5 or more hahaha Australia. Oh dear. You should tell me what's going on over at the office. It didn't sound so good, judging by your comment on the event photo.
  5. veronica.p's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by sushikandi
    I love the new book smell and the old book smell is nostalgic, takes you back to the time when you first read the book. But as much as I want to have an actual book in hand, I prefer reading my ipad mini coz it takes less space in my purse and I can store more books. The only books I have right now is Paulo Cuelho.
    Try carrying pocketbook versions. That's what I usually do. But then again we all have different preferences. The fact that you can appreciate a physical manuscript is great enough, in my opinion
  6. veronica.p's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by THE KID
    nice....
    Thank you for the kind word
  7. sevmik's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by veronica.p
    Keep your collection in a place where you know you'll come back to. I usually carry 2 books with me when I travel. Because I end up coming back with 5 or more hahaha Australia. Oh dear. You should tell me what's going on over at the office. It didn't sound so good, judging by your comment on the event photo.
    yeah, now i have a full shelf at home. problem is, haven't gotten around to reading the new ones i bought. those times when i could spend a lazy sunday in some cafe reading the entire day are apparently over...

    the office? growing but getting boring coz delle doesn't have you to pick on anymore hahahaha. wish you'd come back... add some color, errr, blacks to the drab office days lol
  8. tuxradar's Avatar
    Is your mini library located in Cebu? I wish i could visit your place and peruse those pages. I have just a very minimal collection of some favorite novels i have read years ago when i was in high school, some readers digest of my grandfather which he left and some almanacs. I am into shopping books whether it is old, new or second hand, but still I find reading these thing a form of stress relieving remedy. Wish to visit your place.!
  9. veronica.p's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by tuxradar
    Is your mini library located in Cebu? I wish i could visit your place and peruse those pages. I have just a very minimal collection of some favorite novels i have read years ago when i was in high school, some readers digest of my grandfather which he left and some almanacs. I am into shopping books whether it is old, new or second hand, but still I find reading these thing a form of stress relieving remedy. Wish to visit your place.!
    Unfortunately the library's gone. We transferred when my father died. But his books are still with us. Alive and well but we donated a quarter of it since we couldn't take care of all of them anymore.
  10. Dorothea's Avatar
    In my neighborhood, there's still one locally-owned bookstore left. It's one of my favorite places. Time stops when I'm there. It's a magical universe, a realm all on its own.
  11. sevmik's Avatar
    thea, do they have books by marion zimmer bradley? wa na jud dri sa cebu ay, and it has been almost like an obsession for me to complete her darkover books lol
  12. Dorothea's Avatar
    bro sev, what titles man of the Darkover series ang kuwang pa nimo? I'll ask them kung naa ba sila.
  13. sevmik's Avatar
    thea, will PM you.

    sorry for the OT Ron. ^_^
  14. kageron's Avatar
    books are harsh the moment you start to read them they let your imagination soar and fly.
  15. Sigbin Puti's Avatar
    Nice... it's unfortunate you couldn't keep all of your dad's books. It must've been hard to let go of some of them. I hope you kept the best ones.

    What I do is that I download the ebook version of a book or series - read it, and if I liked it enough, buy the paperback version. Hopefully, by 5 yrs or so (I wish - would be possible if I lose the habit of losing my books) I could rival your dad's collection.

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