Why do I love reading so much?

I love a great book. Do I ever re-read a book? Not that I can remember. Do I own my favorite books? Absolutely! It's part of me once I've read it. It is part of my life. I admire writer's so much. The years these people put into their works. I mean it's their life. The dedication it must take to write a book. I just saw a special on Primetime with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and she said how she's just enjoying her family life now. Not having to deal with deadlines. She said for 10 years, she's been under pressure to produce book after book. I saw the part where she finished the book on TV with the reporter doing the story and I felt this exuberance thinking, my gosh, she just finished book #7 of her series! What a feeling that must be to know you're done.

I know a lot of people who are buying that Kindle and part of me wants to get it (if I could afford one), but mostly I feel like Carrie in the Sex In the City movie where she's lying in bed with Big and he says "I think you are the only person left in NY who takes books out of the library" or something like that. Carrie goes on to say she loves the smell of the books. I totally understood that. Nothing can replace the feel of the book in your hands. Or how many times do you read and read and then close your book for the night and look to see how far you are from the top of the book? I don't know, it's just not the same with an electronic book. What do I love about it, the built in dictionary. I love my bookshelf or should I say 5 bookshelves! I had my husband build a whole wall with shelves to hold all of my books! Is anyone out there understanding what I'm saying about this??