> A hugely formative part of my childhood was just browsing the bookshelves at home and pulling down whatever looked interesting This is precisely how I widene

> A hugely formative part of my childhood was just browsing the bookshelves at home and pulling down whatever looked interesting This is precisely how I widened the scope of what I read as a youngster. I get very excited when I visit a new friend's or acquaintance's house and see they've got a bunch of heavily populated bookshelves, and there are books lying around everywhere. Another thing I forgot to add as a reason for the continued existence of paper books is flicking through older read books and discovering a bus or train ticket, or a receipt, used as a makeshift bookmark which can evoke strong memories or feelings from the time and place you'd read that particular book. And getting your favourite authors to sign first editions at book readings.