The Sweetest Perfume

There is something about being in a library that immediately puts me in a good mood. I used to think it was just being surrounded by books, being enveloped in the presence of all those stories. And I was half right.

Part of being surrounded by those books, the part that sets me instantly at ease, is the smell. The smell of the paper and the ink bled into its fibers. Even the smell of the dust that collects, that musty old book smell that is different than any other musty item smell. It is the smell of infinity. It is the smell of being surrounded by thousands of stories, thousands of histories and worlds, thousands of possibilities. It is the smell of escape and adventure. It is the smell of bliss.

And I am surrounded by it today. It will be a good day. When I'm not paying attention I keep finding myself smiling for no apparent reason. That is what a library does to me.

It's one of the big reasons I have not switched to an ereader yet. There is a draw to easy access to so many books. To be able to have them all at my fingertips all the time, to be easily carried with me everywhere I go. But I have hesitated because repurchasing all my books as ebooks would be expensive. Plus there are still a few publishers who wait to release ebooks rather than release simultaneously with the hardcover, and I can't bring myself to wait longer for the new books in any of the series I am a devoted fan of. By the time the book is released I am usually already slavering for it and devour it in a day.

But my big reason I haven't made the switch? That wonderful feeling I get when I sit in a room full of books, like I am right now. I'd miss that so much.