There's a rash of downsizing going on in my circle, and an inevitable step in that process is having to part with possessions. While most people my age are feeling ready to simplify their "stuff", those of us with what I generously call a "book problem" have a hard time deciding which books we can actually live without. Recently, a friend emailed an eloquent and poignant rumination on this point to me and the other members of our book club:

"We've had to give away a lot of books and it is killing me. Yesterday I spent time going through our children's books --- so many memories attached to sharing those with the kids.  It made me wonder what it would be like reading to children in the next generation (grandchildren!!!) . Will all books be on Kindle by then and will the printed word be a thing of the past? What will happen to the tactile experience of reading a book? Or will reading a device that is lit from within be more wonderful than a book illumined from without? Will we miss the permanence of the print or revel in the speed of flipping from page to page and book to book with a single stroke? I'm still not sure about cuddling up to a grandchild with a Kindle so I'm saving some of the most precious of our kids' print books.  They may turn out to be odd curiosities used to make handbags (yes, you heard it on NPR)  or perhaps to paper the wall.  But I will always love them."

Now, you can't be a book lover and not see the appeal of the Kindle, particularly for travel. Its sleek lines, light weight, bright clear screen, and easy access to hundreds of thousands of books! I mean, wow. But those of us "of a certain age" may never be able to give up the heft of a book in our hand and the sight of it on our shelf. Forget for a moment the issue of illustrated children's books. I work in an office surrounded by my own books, and in my kitchen and my bedroom, more books. Stacks of books, books I have read, books I mean to read, books I'll read again someday. I would trade almost any room in my house for a cozy library, lined with shelves and shelves of books. I know they could all fit in a tiny corner of the Kindle's brain. But I just feel better when I can see and touch them. They are real, living things to me.

So I'm with you my friend - I'm holding onto as many of my books as I can, for as long I can. I will always love them.

~Kristi