SMELLY BOOKS

They've arrived and a box is sitting on my desk. The new Cool Canals book - Britain's Great Waterways Outdoors. BW tweeted about us - "BWcomms. Just seen the fantastic new book from coolcanals... Looks good. Feels good. Even smells good!"

Aahh yes...that's what it's all about...smelly books. I know there's been an ebook revolution and, as a micro-publisher, I'm excited about the e-possibilities: but do I think ebooks will one day totally take the place of real books? (Guardian) Well... ebooks are cool, neat and functional, but you don't fondle them, you don't sniff them with deep indulgence and you don't turn the page with fumbling anticipation. For me that's the utter pleasure of books. Stop. I'm obsessing. Back to the question - do I think ebooks will ever totally replace real books? Absurd! No.

Anyway, on a similar note, my rant of the day: most folk agree libraries are the delicious place of safety where children want to roll to the edge of their imagination. Passion for books is contagious, and libraries spread the bug. As libraries face cuts and closure, should we take away the right of every child in Britain to experience the joys of books? Libraries are trusted, accessible resource centres for the whole community. Should Mr C's Big Society shout and make a noise about the loss of the real pub, the post office and now the neighbourhood library. Campaign

Dfrrrrxszdddd (Oops. Tufty, the coolcanals cat, wrote the last word with her paws as she walked over my laptop keyboard. Not sure what her point is)