Cold hard books

I do not really care how people choose to read, so long as they choose to read. Some people enjoy e-readers, and that is perfectly fine. I find debates about how one should read to be tiresome. However, I do love a good solid book, one that you can hold and read. I have always found it difficult to read on a computer screen — which is not a valid argument against e-readers — and there is nothing like reading an actual book that you can hold, feel, abuse and lose. I am in the process of researching a paper and have been having trouble finding actual books — as per an assignment requirement. This makes me long for the joys of being able to bend the spine of a book, carry it around in my backpack, write in, leave on the floor and use as a coaster. I want something that when I spill water on it the worst thing that happens is it gets a little wrinkled. I have never been very kind to my books — you can tell which ones I have read by whether or not the cover will lie flat — but they know they have been loved. No I do not want to download a PDF, no I do not want to walk into the digital age, I simply want to be able to sit down and read a book — digital only content is a far cry from this. Do not make it only. Make it either, or, or both.