Some Women Have a Thing for Shoes pt. 2...

The title of this post is slightly deceiving. For context, click here.

I have been single for almost three years, but I have to admit that I don't always sleep alone. Lest you think Minister Donna Olivia has been sleeping around, rest assured. The only thing getting any play from me these days are my books...

I don't just sleep with my books. I am a tactile person, so naturally, I have a very sensual relationship with my books. I like to touch them, hold them, trace my fingers gently across the pages. When we aren't hearing each other, sometimes I place the open book on my head to see if I can hear it more clearly. When we really aren't getting along, I put it on the desk and give it the silent treatment. I take my books out to eat. I take them for quiet time in the park. I take them to the beach. I cannot say it enough, I love my books...

That said, I'm having a bit of an internal dialogue—okay, fight—about whether this digital girl can handle the latest electronic book readers like Kindle and Nook. As a Mac lover since Mr. Bartels computer class in the summer after seventh grade, I am super excited about Apple's iPad (though I'll be more excited when the second generation, with some kinks worked out, hits stores). I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the information I get from books—the scholarly depths I've plunged into, the creative hills I've climbed—but part of the appeal of the book is also being with it and holding it. Can I trace my fingers across an iPad? Can I sleep with an iPad? Do I even want to?

There is more to it...I love writing in the margins of my books, especially commenting on margin notes when I get used books. I love discovering and rediscovering some wisdom I had the first time I read a book as evidenced in my scribbles and underlines and highlights. I love the weight of books, the success that one feels with each turn of the page, the ability to read the conclusion to make sure you understand the middle, dog earring pages...you get the picture.

But there is the convenience of it all. And there is the issue of money I'll be saving on future visits to the chiropractor from not lugging around a sack of books. But still, I don't know. I mean, I still haven't joined the Blackberry/Palm/Treo craze. Every July I go to Staples and buy a pretty date book where I write down, in pencil, all of my appointments, events, and assignments. A scrolling through a virtual bookshelf doesn't appeal to me as much as walking up to the book cases in my room and fingering across book spines until I've found what I needed.

I don't know. But this I am sure of...if I don't get the iPad, I can always buy some new shoes!