Consistently inconsistent

I have a thing about books. I like them. Even though these days, I prefer to buy books in either audio or electronic format, I still have a whole room full of books. I keep getting rid of books and, somehow, the shelves still overflow. I’m not especially attached to the feel of a book in my hands or the smell of it when I’m reading so I surprised myself when I ordered two books that ought to have been on my ‘no no’ list for two reasons.

            First, they are physical books and I already have the information digitally. I sometimes will buy a digital book and then if I really like it and want to write all over it, I’ll buy a hard copy. This happens mostly with cookbooks. Second, they fall into the category of vanity publishing which, I’ve been taught, no self-respecting writer will touch with a ten-foot pole. Oh well.

I’ve been writing this blog for twelve years now and the other day I got to thinking how nice it would be to have all the blog posts in one place – one physical place.  I wondered if there was a way to turn my blog posts into a book. There is, and, as the old joke goes, it’s easy but not cheap. Several websites will load blog entries, turn them into a book and then ship the completed book to you. This really appealed to me and I see the irony. I freely admit to viewing most of my photos online and hardly ever looking at the photo albums I do have, yet I still wanted my blog posts in a book. I mentioned the idea to Richard who asked if I would like that as a birthday present.

I sat with the idea for a while. I looked at a few sites, selected the one the offered the largest format, hardcover books and loaded the blog address into the site. Then I previewed my two-volume book and Richard got out his credit card. Because the process is automated you don’t get a lot of choice as to format, and that suits me fine. I want a record of my posts, but I don’t want to spend a whole lot of time making choices about format or photos. The books are as the posts are, complete with errors, repetition, and low-quality photos. They will be my scrapbook of important thoughts and events and they need please no one but me.  I think I will refer to them often and enjoy flipping through the pages for specific information or just for the fun of it. Sometimes books have sentimental value and that’s okay.