I Still Need REAL Books…

The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who’ll get me a book I ain’t read. (Abraham Lincoln)

I like to think I’m a modern, forward thinking kind of girl (at least for a Gen’ Xer, anyway). In some circles, I could even be considered an ‘early adopter’ of some technology. For instance, I was one of the first among my friends to get an iPad. I loved it. Now, I have graduated to an iPad mini – and I love it even more.

I’m a bit of a reader, and I have quite a few eBooks. I just counted them for you – 404 as at the time of writing! I even surprised myself! 

Anyhoo. The point I’m getting to is that as much as I love my eReader, sometimes I need a real book. Not a soft copy. I love my eReader for fiction. I particularly love it when I’m travelling because real books are heavy and take up a lot of room. And, because I have been known to chew through a book a day when I’m on a serious reading bent.

But still, sometimes, I need a real book. I ALWAYS buy cookbooks in real book form. And, I’m starting to think I shall now do the same with all my non-fiction reading. Sometimes, especially with non-fiction, I want to flick back and forward. I want to spend time on specific information. I want to refer back to things I may have read earlier. At these times, a real book is the answer.

Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read. (Groucho Marx*)

Today, I was in need of a specific real book**. And, for me, the first port of call in Sydney for a real book is the most fabulous Kinokuniya.

Kinokuniya is the largest bookstore chain in Japan with over 80 stores worldwide.

Kinokuniya Sydney offers a huge range of books with over 300,000 titles in English, Japanese, Chinese, French and German. So, it’s great if you’re visiting Sydney and need a wee something to read in your language of choice!

Located in the heart of Sydney CBD, Kinokuniya stocks an extensive collection of Manga, graphic novels, art and design books, cookbooks, travel books and children’s literature. I reckon it is the place to come for art and design books.

You can find Kinokuniya at Level 2, The Galeries, 500 George Street (opposite the QVB), Sydney NSW 2000.

*eReaders clearly had not been invented at the time of Groucho’s quote!

**as it happens, my book was out of stock, but the very helpful man at the information desk sorted me out.