I am all for ebooks and epublishing and kindles and ipads. As great as those are though they can't compete with your favorite bedraggled paperback that has been everywhere with you and you can read anywhere. At the beach. In the tub. You can toss it in your pack when you are going hiking and not worried about the battery life or getting it scratched. One of my favorite places to read is in the ocean. I still have some paperbacks from my childhood that faintly smell like the ocean. Don't worry about getting the pages a little damp- they'll dry. Trust me- it is totally worth it.