What is a Book?

A book is a million different things, possessing a million different attributes. A book is an escape. An opportunity for one’s mind to travel far, far away from emotion that it dwells inside--good, bad, ugly, angst-filled. A book is a time-travel machine, taking you back to a place in a far, far away. To a land of words that have been arranged into a story. Whether it is a true story not, does not matter. It is a magical thing. A book is a present. Practical for any occasion, really. Some presents are wrapped very precise and neat, white, shiny paper with crisp folds and a golden bow tied around it. Some gifts are wrapped so that you can see easily what is enclosed, an outlining of the package clearly defined. Others, are simply in a box, you are never to know what’s inside until you open it up. This is a book. You can never know for sure if you like it until you open it up and see for yourself. You could absolutely hate what you find once you get into it, but on the other hand it could end up being something you never would have expected, something beautiful. No matter what though, you can’t tell until you unwrap the paper and dig in. I agree each book is the same no matter what form, and reading is important no matter it be enclosed in a real book, eReader, or iPad. I do agree though, that these e-books take away from the book’s personality. When they all look the same, where is the fun anymore? But, what are we do to when in 10 years our world has switched from CD’s to strictly iPods and other handheld devices, and from a simple flip phone to the iPhone 4S? There is not much that can be done to convince people that the eye of the beholder lies in the tangible pages of an actual book with a generation filled with people favoring technology over well, everything else traditional. All I know is what I believe books to be. It is something mysterious, something to be explored, so that is all that really matters.