“People don’t read books anymore”,
or some people have been heard to say -
and to be honest I am always taken aback
by such a statement whenever I hear it,
because books and reading are,
in my opinion, the greatest form
and the most powerful source of information
and the sharing of stories there has ever been…
I cannot believe and I could never imagine
a world without physical media -
such as words printed upon the pages of books:
a world where people cannot use their senses
to make a connection with what they are holding -
whether that is a painting, a sculpture,
the sleeve of a vinyl record,
or a collection of interconnected words within a book
which you can imbibe a great deal
just from the weight of it, not to mention the smell.
What at else can give you the same feeling of satisfaction
than reading a book from cover to cover
and then having to recover from
the literal journey that you have been on?
I personally know of nothing
that can come close to coming to the conclusion
of a good book and then immediately feeling the urge
to turn the book over and start reading it once again.

Being the author of books, whenever I hear someone say
that books are a thing of the past -
because everything is done
and is accessible electronically in this day and age -
I almost makes me want to cry,
because writing means so much to me,
and to me my fellow storytellers,
authors, and contemporaries,
are who I believe I share a connection with
that cannot be shared with anyone else
who has not had the same experience
of being touched by the power
of the eternal muse and has created something
that did not exist before it was manifested into being
and captured by its creator and author.

To think, and to hear someone say,
something akin to “books no longer matter”,
to me is like someone saying that
we no longer need air to breathe -
because words and books
have always been something magical, special,
and capable of changing the world
in ways that could never be known…
a world without libraries, bookshops,
or second-hand stores, is such a frightening reality
for me to contemplate that I never
truly believe that such a thing could ever be a possibility -
because the places of this world
where books are still cherished and sold
are where storytelling continues to thrive
and can be found for future generations to
enjoy, learn, and share with everyone
for as long as humanity walks this world.

No matter how far humanity “progresses” as a species,
and no matter how much we become reliant upon
technology to function as a society,
we should never forget that nothing
could ever, nor should ever,
try and replace the physical, the tangible, the visceral,
the unequally satisfying, the emotional, the enlightening,
and the energising experience of reading a story
in the way that it was meant to be read -
and there is no better way to lose yourself
within an immersive tale than to read its words
printed upon the pages of a book.