We’ve always had books in the house, always belonged to the local library. I’m old school and I don’t agree with writing in books, even notes in margins or highlights in text books, but I digress.

As our girls grew up, activities obviously changed from reading to them, to reading with them, listening to them read to me (with the dreaded weekly spelling lists) and finally reading the same books they read as teenagers, to keep aware of influences in their lives and to discuss stories, characters, plots with them.

As a family we all enjoyed some wonderful children’s authors from A. A. Milne, Dr Seuss, Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Murpurgo, Anne Fine, to name just a few. And of course, J K Rowling, but in this household Harry Potter deserves his own blog post. Watch this space.

So now, as our girls have moved out and we pack up this house, I have looked over our various bookshelves and wondered what to do with their content, how best to share the books with a new audience.

I was so pleased when our local secondary school (that both S~E and C~M attended) accepted a selection of books for the school library. I had sent an email asking if they would be interested and attached a photo of the books in question (smart thinking on my part, I thought, rather than listing titles and authors.)

So some of our books are off now to a new home, for a younger generation of kids to experience and enjoy. In this age of internet and ebooks I am delighted to be able to “pay it forward” and to encourage a love of physical books in others.

Whilst on the subject of ebooks and ereaders, I held out for a long while before getting a kindle, but I admit I wouldn’t be without one now. It is ideal for commuting, travelling, reading on the beach, reading in bed, so light and easy to use. I do however, still appreciate the tactile aspect of holding a real book, of turning paper pages. Some special books that I have purchased on kindle, I have bought again in physical form, to keep, share, read again and to enjoy just walking past them and noticing them on a bookshelf.

An unexpected bonus of using a kindle, has been the wide variety of authors I have read, just because their books have been in the best seller list, or have been free, or less than £1. Many such books have been good escapism but instantly forgettable, but there have been some real gems too, which have led me on to others titles but the same author.

So, in our house, we have a mix of old school, actual books, new technology with ebooks and we appreciate them all.

Happy reading x