Buying into books

I love the Internet. It helps me to work, cook, keep abreast of current events, find out things I never knew, learn things about myself and keep in touch with friends overseas. It entertains me and, occasionally, infuriates me.

However, despite the great passion that I have for this single-stop wealth of information and entertainment, I have often bemoaned the fact that it still doesn`t come close to sitting down with a good book, newspaper or magazine.

There`s something tactile and enjoyable in the smell of freshly printed paper. There`s a deep satisfaction in reading the words that have been printed between two covers for the first time, and in closing a book with the knowledge that I have read every word.

I don`t think the backlit experience of reading a monitor is ever going to catch on for true bibliophiles.

Georgina Guedes, Editor, ITWeb Brainstorm

People speak wistfully of a future where we will all be able to download e-books from the Internet and read them on our tablet PCs. I can`t imagine anything worse. Reading on screen makes me feel tired and grumpy.

Granted there`s a difference between a handheld tablet, which can accommodate any position in which I might want to be reading, and a PC monitor that requires me to be at my desk at the office or in my study at home. Nonetheless, I don`t think the backlit experience of reading a monitor is ever going to catch on for true bibliophiles.

I`m not saying that book readers should eschew the Internet. Far from it. Yesterday, for the first time, I really got down and dirty with Amazon.co.uk`s personalisation tools.

Wow! What a difference this has made to my online book purchasing experience. I can now receive tailor-made suggestions of what I should read next according to my preferences. This is a really great step forward, because for me, reading a book is an emotional experience.

When it is over, I`m generally devastated, even if the ending was happy, because I would love to stay immersed in the world of the lovely people with whom I have passed a number of event-filled days. So having a list on Amazon of ready-made recommendations waiting for me will definitely help ease the pain.

A friend recently commented to another friend, who had just got married, that she thought the idea of a wedding registry was fabulous. She, in her delightfully self-centred way, decided to get a birthday registry going.

Whether her friends and relatives will buy into her notion remains to be seen, but the self-indulgent idea isn`t necessarily a bad one. If Amazon can become a central repository for all our birthday, Christmas or even day-to-day present wishes, this could make the future of present shopping far simpler.

Unfortunately, when I did a search to see if any of my other friends were listed there, none seem to have cottoned on yet. I`m going to encourage them to do so. It would make my life a lot easier.