An item on a breakfast TV programme recently took my attention. There was a discussion about why the sales of real books haven't nose dived in favour of e-books and the internet. Book sales in the UK have, in fact, increased, in the face of dire predictions that consumers would no longer want to buy real books.

Owning a book is one of life's greatest pleasures, the feel and smell of a new book, the rustle of crisp new pages and it just can't be replaced by a computer. The sheer joy of knowing that you have a new book to take to bed and the mere thought of laying luxuriating and reading that new book, which perhaps you had to order from the bookshop and then wait for, just cannot be replaced. Also computers whether desktops or lap tops are not compatable with reading in bed; they are metallic and uncomfortable. Besides I have been known to fall asleep with my nose in a book and you can't do that with a lap top!