When last have you read a paperback book? (We’re not here to judge!) But there’s just something so natural and liberating about physically holding a book in your hands – the rustling sound when you turn the next page, the smell of the paper (lover of old books over here), and how it connects you to the author in a way that the digital world simply cannot replicate.
I find it quite fascinating how apps have managed to mimic the sound of pages turning, writes Cape {town} Etc’s Micayla Vellai, even though it’s blatantly synthetic. And even though digital forms have made reading far more accessible, the paperback book is slowly (and painfully) being shoved to the side.
Well, Paperback Book Day is here to celebrate the joys of all things physical when it comes to novels, and I’m here for it! As an avid reader (and an owner of a pretty cool bookshelf), I am drawn to books, often wandering into bookstores only to glance down at my watch and realise that hours have passed by already!
At times, I’ll even build myself a little nest, usually positioned somewhere on the floor, surrounded by heaps of new books just waiting to be read. I think George R.R. Martin said it best: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”
And second-hand bookstores are my favourite, because there’s so much history between the pages. I often wonder who had this book before me, how did page 15 make them feel, what was the reason for this little crease on page 38…
So why do I place the paperback book above eBooks (and continue to each time)? Quite simply:
- No glare of the screen
- The battery will never rundown
- The smell of the paper is mesmerising
- The way a physical book connects you to the writer
- You get to physically visit the bookstore (cool outing – yay!)
And if you’ve been out of the game for a while and haven’t cradled a book in the longest time, then here are some of my favourite novels by my favourite authors that I would highly recommend you read if you enjoy classic literature.
Jane Austen
If you’re in search of a 19th century novelist whose words will tug at your heartstrings and have you feeling the love, then Austen’s work will be the perfect fit for you.
- Pride and Prejudice
- Sense and Sensibility
- Emma.
Charles Dickens
Are you a fan of satire and caricature? Then Dickens’ work is right up your alley. He often uses exaggeration to imply character traits while using catchy names like Mr. Wopsle and Mr. Pumblechook in Great Expectations or Wackford Squeers Jr in Nicholas Nickleby.
- A Christmas Carol
- Great Expectations
- Oliver Twist
- Nicholas Nickleby
George Orwell
Many attach Orwell to the brilliant novel, Animal Farm, and it’s a classic that still evokes outrage, (lots of tears) and sheer empathy. But I’ve recently read 1984 and I’ve been hooked ever since! Orwell’s writing style is very direct and concise – uncluttered and honest if you will.
- Animal Farm
- Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
George Eliot
Fun fact: This novelist’s real name is actually Mary Ann Evans. She adopted this pseudonym (George Eliot) because she wanted her work to be judged without the knowledge of her irregular social position, living as an unmarried woman with a married man as well as to conceal her gender.
- Silas Marner
- Middlemarch
Thomas Hardy
Hardy has a way of evoking emotions in an effortless manner. Some of his work portrays the hardships of working-class people in a very sympathetic way. These are the novels to look out for.
- Tess of the d’Urbervilles
- Jude the Obscure
- Under the Greenwood Tree
Also read:
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