Materialistic and Physical

There seems to be a general perception that readers are non-materialistic and care more about the intellectual and the spiritual world, since we tend to be lost in stories and thoughts once the words start playing in our heads. But, it is not so, at least not for this reader. I am a lover of BOOKS -- the entire physicality of these beautiful objects. When done right, or done brilliantly, all of these elements please me: the colors and designs of the covers, the thickness (or thinness) of the volumes, the various trim sizes, the choices of paper (glossy or pseudo-antique, smooth or coarse,) the smell of the new ink, the interior designs: the balanced amount of white space, the size and style of the font, decorative drawings, illustrations, and any other design elements.

Of course, if it doesn't matter what the book LOOKS or FEELS like to you, what matters to you is only the content that lies in between the covers, then, you won't understand my relationship with books. You will not understand why I will NEVER ever pick up the paperback edition of Dealing with Dragons and was so sad when the hardcover edition went out of stock for a while. You also wouldn't understand the sense of ecstasy coursing through me when looking at pages with the pleasing text to margin ratio and the non-annoying or distracting font choice. You also probably won't believe the degree of annoyance when I encounter a poorly designed book with the "wrong" font choices, terrible interior decorations, low quality paper, sloppy illustrations, etc.

I am confessing here: I have sinned! I am a materialistic and physical book lover.