Happiness is.. a good book

I'm one of those strange people in shops and libraries who always lifts a book to the nose and sniffs.

I’m quite open in admitting that as a child, books formed my fairly insular world.

I travelled far and wide through their pages and if lost could always be found curled up on my bed with my nose in a good, or even fairly average, read.

But I’m no purist.

This is not a rant against new technology.

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I may love a book but I hugely appreciate the advantage of hundreds of books at my fingertips via my e-reader, particularly when travelling.

All the airlines completely agree as they no longer face helping to lift ludicrously heavy book-based hand luggage into impossibly small lockers as I attempt to get through the entire works of Shakespeare or Harry Potter during a single flight.

Technology has also given wings to the millions of self published authors out there and provided a new business model for publication that has challenged the traditional way of creating a best-seller.

But I do love a hard copy book - something that I am not alone in and a fact which has ensured that, despite the doom and gloom predictions, has ensured book sales are actually on the up.

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This week it was revealed sales of ‘real’ books in the UK rose by eight per cent to £3bn - the highest level since 2012, something which bucks the trends and assumptions that books are consigned to the past.

In a similar story to the resurgence of vinyl , books are back, and not just as a niche.

Sales of e-books, correspondingly, have fallen slightly.

But the major boost in sales of physical books is not due to the traditional novel - it is non-fiction and children’s books that are responsible for the hike, indicating we are all looking for inspiration, knowledge and bit of peace and quiet - rather than just to be entertained via a page.

Or maybe we all just like a good sniff.

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