Book Collecting in the Age of the Kindle

I love my Kindle. I do. I can take a stack of books with me wherever I go without breaking my back. When I have no idea what the word 'tat' is, I just have to move my courser over to to it and the Kindle tells me. When I think a passage is cool and I might want to use that as a good example of how to describe a scene, I highlight it and later I pull it onto my computer. Seriously, it's awesome!

But there are those that say we miss something with the Kindle. We don't really own anything physical. There is not tangible book in our hands and we don't get the smell of freshly printed pages (or the musty smell of an older book) We don't get the feel of the pages, different layouts and print types that the publisher specifically choose for the book. We don't really get a cover.

So while I will not give up reading on my Kindle almost exclusively, I've found that I've drifted into book collecting to satisfy my urge to have physical books. It all started a couple weeks ago when I found a 1909 set of the works of Kipling at an estate sale. They looked really cool and I just had to have them. This has now turned into a small obsession and I'm finding myself re-buying some books that I liked over the past couple years actually, making sure they are those coveted First Editions.

I must say that for one, my bookshelf is starting to look more erudite, and not only are they (from what I know) a decent investment, but they also look cool sitting up there. This then got me thinking that perhaps this might be a trend, because I know a lot of people do like owning books but love the convenience of the e-reader.

I was wondering then, how many of you e-reader people have found you have also been drawn to the collectible books, and if so, why? Do you think the e-reader revolution will also spark a revolution in collectible books?