In praise of ….. reading books

 In an age of social media, internet memes, gifs, tweets, wikipedia and even AI why do I still read books, especially hard copy ones? I will tell you why.

Flicking through the pages

As you may notice I’ve been borrowing books from Hong Kong’s various public libraries and been buying second hand books on my recent UK visit.  I also have the Amazon Kindle app on my smart devices, although I hardly use it.  It’s hard copy books that I like, even though they caused the death of trees.  First, no power is needed, then, reading text on paper does less damage to one’s eyes.  There’s also the sense of achievement in finishing a book of several hundred pages. To mitigate the ecological damage, I’ve been either borrowing them from the library or buying second hand.  I find reading a book is extremely relaxing whilst I’m waiting for something or queuing, that’s why I regularly have a book in bag.  I find that the Kindle is only useful involving books about programming languages where I can copy and paste the code. Therefore I’ve gone back to hardcopy books.  

Afterwards

What do I do with them after finishing the bought ones?  I tried donating them to Hong Kong public libraries but it no longer accepts new donations of English language books. So I’m trying to sell them on Carousell.  

Call me a luddite but hard copy books will remain with us for a long time.

All the (second hand ) books I bought last week

Dover to Dungeness - day 2

Yesterday was pill boxes, today it was Martello towers and a miniature heritage railway, as we head from Folkestone to Dymchurch. After leaving the hotel it rained a little and stopped after we left Folkestone. First landmark was Sandgate castle on the town’s outskirts.

In the same vicinity, something caught my eye, a lone canon, which was next to an information plaque for army officer John Moore, who led of the 95 Rifles light infantry regiment in the Peninsular wars against Napoleon and the French over 200 years ago. I remember watching a Youtube video from the Epic History channel that mentioned them a few years ago.

Towards Hythe we saw our first Elizabethan beacon. We then saw a sign for the Royal Military Canal and we would later walk along it. 

After stopping at the Waterfront restaurant in Hythe for a pot of tea, we set off along Hythe’s sea front. From then on the Martello towers started appearing one by one. 

When we moved onto the Royal Military Canal towpath, a miniature steam train trundled alongside on the narrow gauge rails that ran parallel. Further on we came across our sound mirror and tested it out, my friend only heard a muffled voice. Then it was over the miniature railway foot crossing to go along the road to our destination, Dymchurch.

Interesting sites here included an army firing range and more Martellos. Finally we reached Dymchurch, which is a small sleepy seaside town with a little amusement park. I was expecting it to be a fishing village. It also had an incredibly well stocked charity bookshop. Unlike many second hand bookshops I’ve been in, the books are categorized for the customer. I bought three of them but I may regret it on tomorrow’s walk.

Very interesting book

Right now I am 42% through Can You Play Cricket on Mars?: And Other Scientific Questions Answered by Moore, Sir Patrick on Kindle for Android! http://www.amazon.co.uk/kindleforandroid/ according to my kindle app. It is an accessible book on planetary science written by the late popeyed broadcaster.  It has witty ancedotes as well as clear scientific explanations.  I will update more later.