Saturday, 30 July 2016

Time to Burn Books

Time to Burn Books ©
By Michael Casey

As a child I read by the yard, I must have read most of the History books on the shelves by my desk in Class One at Primary school. I read all the Alistair Maclean thrillers too I spent many happy years as a reader. I even read the Bible in Mass on a Sunday. Though as a catholic a reader is just that a reader, not anybody with special training to preach. So reading has been part of my life. Nowadays I read the newspapers online, so I’m still a reader. When I write a new story I read it back out loud and the girls give me marks out of ten for each new story, yes it’s a form of punishment for them.

So with the reading bug inside me my girls have grown up as big readers too. We have 3 bookcases in the house, and now after years of reading there is no more room in the house for any more books. So it’s time to burn the books, you will all be horrified, am I a Right wing or Left wing dictator?  Or just a demigod of a dad? When I say burn books I would never burn books. Books are special and cost money. Hudson’s in Birmingham used to be a rabbit warren of a book shop and I have happy memories of it.

No book should be ever burned, maybe used a toilet paper as a last resort, but books should be treasured. You should give them to a Charity Shop, or to a jumble sale but never never burn them. So why did I use the title, time to burn books? To get you attention, also because books are “burnt” now, as in burnt to a disc or to a device. Kindle books are what I’m talking about. Technically the word burnt is wrong, but technicians can argue about that.

So Kindle will be coming to town, or to our house. My small daughter asked for one because she has no more space  on her bookshelves. The cheapest one is the same price as 10 books, that’s real books. So once you have paid that price you have a platform to read you books on. Can I recommend 10 great ebooks

I’m told there are load of free books too, the Classics, so I’m happy about that. Then for a few quid you get loads of new books. If I read by the yard my girls read by the kilometre, my small daughter if she does not become a horror writer could become an editor as she reads so fast. The joke about editors is that if one was at the dentist and somebody drops a magazine, and it flutters to the floor, before it hits the ground the editor will have read it.


So I’m full on anticipation for the future and Kindle, to kindle means to set on fire, and kindling is used to start a fire. So it’s a good name for a reading product because it sets minds on fire, it fires the imagination, and sparks make all the difference in the world of learning. So I’ll get back to you all with news of the Kindle when it arrives next week. I will of course hide the charger and cable from Totoro our cat, for she loves to nibble cable. Totoro will no doubt hear many many tales, do you think Puss in Boots is available? 



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