“It was one of those reporting trips that really test your physical stamina. There were several days of frantic scurrying around Moscow collecting interviews, followed by an overnight sleeper to Kazan, the capital of Tartarstan. The drunken Russian oil engineer who shared my compartment thought he spoke English but he was mistaken; the unbroken miles of birches that flashed passed as we rattled through that night seemed never-ending as he fired out words that never quite added up to a coherent sentence. Then there was a complicated sequence of flights to Ukraine, more journeys in cramped taxis, and finally a long flight home. I spent quite a lot of time hanging around in the antechambers of the rich and the powerful waiting for interviews. Easy access to reading material is essential to staying sane on such a trip.” - Edward Stourton

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I’m a long suffering bibliophile and I am slow to come to terms with the e-reader. The physicalness of a book is very dear to my heart. I’ve begun to admit that some of the reasons for my obstinacy are superficial, a full bookcase is a trophy room. And I also admit their are environmental reasons for e-books (and in fact, I have no repulsion to reading magazines and newspapers on my iPad when I get one). But still, I believe there are other reasons to prefer a physical book. Digital music is convenient because of it’s portability, books are portable. Both film and music are filtered through machines to reach us. Physical books have an immediacy and a direct connection. One of the joys of books is that they’re so low-tech isn’t it? How can you sequester yourself for a tech free weekend with an ebook? How do you take it camping? or on safari? How do you escape when your book has wifi? How can hold your place with your finger and sigh, content, in the natural morning light? How do you flip forward to see how many pages are left in a chapter? What do those pages sound like against the grains of your fingertips? I know what my books smell like, what does your ebook smell like? What is the significance of your bookmark? How heavy is this book compared to that one? What is the name of the person who owns the store where you bought that book? Is the tea any good?