Portable Magic: A History of Books and their Readers - Emma Smith

This is an excellent read about books, their origin, influence and survival.

Chapters with catchy titles takes the reader through the journey of bound books through the ages. flexibility to dip in and out. My favourite is the one about Gutenberg where Smith explains how colonialism came into play when Europe started claiming a first regarding printing on mass scale.

Smith makes a case for physical books, examines the various aspects such as its evolution from a xmas gift to a must-have accessory (remember our bookcase obsessions during pandemic video meetings!) to an instrument of power, religion and democracy.

She also uses contemporary examples such as the climate movie Day After Tomorrow to illustrate her point, making it very accessible for the non academic reader.

Writer Val Mcdermid says on the cover, "If you love books, you'll love Portable Magic".

I second that!