Following my visit to the US in October last year, I came home to Australia bearing the latest Kindle very proudly. We are definitely a family that gets excited about gadgets, and this was one of the first international Kindles available - delivered straight to my Raleigh hotel room the day after release on Amazon.com.
I read a couple of books on it before Christmas, but the experience was unfortunately a little underwhelming; the conclusion being that it was slower and much more clunky than the much beloved iPhone. Without realizing it I had gradually been abandoning print for screen.
Then, for Christmas, I received a most beautiful limited edition, hardcover of the latest book by one of my favorite authors.
The cover was beautifully decorated - none of this cheap old slipcover nonsense - and there was one of those semi-transparent pages adjacent to the title page. Have you ever actually owned a book with one of those?
The final, perfect touch - my numbered book was signed by the author.
Now the story was every bit as good as I'd hoped and I lay in bed reading for indulgent hours - a treat I hadn't pursued for some time.
To my surprise I still occasionally find myself reminiscing about that sweet reading experience. Holding that beautifully crafted book in my hands was an unexpectedly sensual experience and it still sends a little shiver down my spine;-)