Soapbox.

At this point, I feel it's pretty clear where I stand on the whole e-reader phenomenon. I know a lot of people love them, I have dear friends who adore them. These friends say they actually read more now that they have their precious e-readers and don't miss holding an actual book the way that they thought they would. These are friends that are voracious readers, friends I love, some of whom I would trust with my life. They tell me about the travel benefits, the space saving bonus, the pleasant screen, the books at their fingertips phenomenon. I listen and I get it. Kind of.

If you have an e-reader, fine. To each his own. I vote everyone picks and chooses what makes them happiest. Really, I do.

But.

They are so not for me.

And the amazement and wonder of an e-reader is something we are going to need to just go ahead and agree to disagree on.

I read headline after headline about book stores closing around the country. At first it seemed to only hurt a handful of shops here or there, ones that were perhaps overpriced to begin with or already dealing with a lousy location. Then the box stores started shuttering their doors, declaring Chapter 11. And lately, in my very own city - where just a few years ago a favored, local, independent shop forced a Barnes & Nobles to shut its own doors when it set up shop two blocks down the way, I find I am reading article after article about small, charming, lovely little shops being forced to close due high rents, slower sales, online purchases, and e-readers. Earlier this week I read that the very first store I ever set foot in here in Boston (or, Cambridge as it were) way back in 1997 would be closing at the end of the month.

I mourn for every single store that is lost and I do no exaggerate in the least when I tell you that every closing breaks my heart.

I spend a lot of hours at my job talking, emailing, meeting, and analyzing e-books. There is much debate about the printed book, the price of e-books, and on, and on, and on. I cannot tell you how many times I meet a friend of a friend or random acquaintance and the second they learn I work in publishing ask me - is the book dead?

I'm not quite sure how the e-reader trend will play out. I don't know how this will all end, though oh I pray it does not unfold the way I fear. I can tell you that I shop more at real, live, standing bookstores more than ever now, avoiding even Amazon whenever possible. I, personally, know I will continue to recoil in horror when someone suggests an e-reader for me and if I know you personally you can absolutely count on me never giving you one of your own as a gift. I will continue to lovingly gaze at my own bookshelves at home, running my hands over each book's spine and fondly recalling which books I purchased where and when. I will dog-ear pages and break spines and smell the delicious smell that only a real bound book can have. I will let people see what I'm reading, I will continue to check out what other non-e-reader users are carrying on their commutes. One of my cure-alls for a gloomy day has always - always - been to treat myself to a trip to the bookstore, knowing the minute I walked inside I'd feel better. On this I will still rely.

And while I sit in my meetings at work or scan the latest headlines I will hope and pray that I never know a time when I sit down, a grandchild on each knee, and tell them about these magical places that used to exit called bookstores.

Because if my heart breaks with every store I see close? Losing the lot of them will kill me.