Essays on Pop Culture

I've been wandering around the house for about a week, trying to find something to read. I normally read history books, but recently I've been in the mood for fiction, some classic fantasy or scifi fiction. I have tons of old paper backs in various holes around here, but I've become a bit of a bookist, wanting to read hardcovers. They open easier, stay open and are usually slightly less packed text density wise.

But having exhausted my hardcovers and not wanting to re-read them I started poking into my paper backs. The first box I opened and the first book I picked up...Kane Dark Crusade by Karl Edward Wagner...proved a joy.

It wasn't because of the reading, but rather the book itself. I opened the long closed cover and that wonderful scent of old paper rose and rolled across me. It was wonderful. I love that smell.

It reminds me of a similar experience in a  comic book store, where I commented on the smell to the proprietor. He laughed but the kid next to me said, "what? you mean that wet, cat-piss on newspaper smell?" I fell over laughing and remarked, "yeah, that one!"

Its all in what memories the smell captures I suppose.