More books please

I've been looking for good books this summer. Some I read on my Kindle, others in hardcover or paperback. The format matters little; it's the content that keeps me reading.

Still, there are a few things about books that e-readers can't match:

1. You don't have to turn them off for take-off and landing in airplanes.

2. Gather enough of them together and they fill bookshelves in colorful ways.

3. They can be decorative items in and of themselves, left open on a coffee table or used in a short stack under a plant or lamp.

4. They hold down the corners of beach towels, and the sand won't gum up their works.

5. You can read them in the bathtub, and the water won't fry any electronics. (Soggy pages eventually dry out.)

6. They can steady a wobbly table by adding length to a short leg.

7. Books are readily available from stores, libraries, friends, flea markets, and sidewalk sales.


8. They're easy to lend and give as gifts.

9. There are many informal book exchanges (at B&Bs, vacation homes, club houses, community centers).

10. They can be signed by the author.

And so on and so on.

I'm sure there are similar lists for digital books and even specific e-readers.

For those who love to read, it doesn't have to be either/or. It's nice that it can be either/more.