I didn’t intend to steal the book, just to read it – but it was quite a long book and I hadn’t finished it when it was time to go home – so I took it.  

It has been nice to have the feel of a paperback in my hands again, to measure progress through the book in width rather than page number, and to be reminded of the title and the author every time I picked up the book. 

But there are some downsides to paperbacks, apart from them being easy to steal. I had to make it one of the day’s jobs to read it. You can’t read a paperback during loadshedding or even easily, ever, in bed, unless you’ve got a serious head torch and an uncomplaining partner. This is hugely important if you live in South Africa – when the power goes out, the only thing to do is to get into bed with your tablet or Kindle and read a good book.  

Another thing I found with reading paperbacks is that lack of privacy. Everyone around you can see what you are reading – and my family did tease me about the horse book, even though I pointed out that it was written by a Pulitzer Prize winning author. The snoopiness of people about the paperback you are reading can also be a problem if you are ,say, engrossed in a steamy, Cosmo recommendation, or a great page-turner, where someone nearby will spy the book cover and ask “have you got to the part where he dies yet?”

With digital, you can read anything without fear of judgement or spoilers.

“Horse Heaven” was excellent and I’m not sure if it was the writing style, or because I read it in paperback, but it will be one of my most memorable books of this year.  I know what Jane Smiley looks like from her photo on the back of the book, and I really want to read some of her other titles. In fact I’ve already passed the book on to the next person who I think will enjoy it too.  And you can’t do that with a digital book!

~ Sarah