AS someone who was never seduced by the siren song of the Kindle or similar electronic book products, Parade loves the idea of Love Your Bookshop Day.
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Parade has spent many a happy hour in bookshops of all sorts over the years – from the big, light and airy type to the small, dank and dusty variety (the small, dank and dusty variety often has the best surprises).
Sometimes Parade was looking for something specific, sometimes Parade was browsing and sometimes he’d just wandered in because he was wandering past, but he’s never regretted some time spent among the groaning shelves.
Parade knows it’s old-fashioned, but he thinks a physical book will always beat its electronic counterpart.
It’s nice to feel the weight of the book in your hands, to mark a page where you come across an interesting passage or even to study the front and back cover artwork while you digest a particularly thought-provoking chapter.
As well as all that, Parade thinks you can never have affection for an electronic book in the same way as you can for the physical paperback with its creases, dog-ears and little rips and tears – signs of a life well-lived.
Locals who want to celebrate Love Your Bookshop Day on Saturday, August 12 can attend an all-ages storytime from 11am at BooksPlus, where staff will be reading from their favourite storybooks.
That was a quick trip to New York
AND a book can also be cheap entertainment.
As a new car owner, a very young Parade drove over to Orange many years ago to get a service for his vehicle and was told the car wouldn’t be finished until late that afternoon.
With no car and needing a way to kill the day, Parade walked from the car yard into the Orange CBD, found a secondhand bookstore and bought a copy of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather for about $2.50.
With the book and a sandwich from a nearby shop, Parade walked down to Cook Park and spent the day among the Mafia on the mean streets of New York City.
Perfect!