Why Kindles Are Ordinary.

[smokingboot]

There is a shop in Blackheath village, full of vintage books and maps and prints. It used to be permanently locked with a little sign up saying that book viewings were by appointment. Now it has changed hands, and the new owner has decided to make some radical changes, i.e opening. What a stunning place! I fell in love with an old copy of Arabian Nights, complete with Dulac illustrations. On Sunday larians attempted - and failed - to be surreptitious, and left me in the local ice-cream parlour while he snuck off to see what he could find for my Christmas present. He came back with a box in a carrier bag. Seems that the lovely book has gone - can't say I'm surprised - but I am pretty convinced that there's a book in that box in that carrier bag.

What is it that makes old book shops so magical?