Getting a grip

Can be harder than you’d think.

I’m currently reading a great book, and by that I mean I like the contents. But it is also great in size. And that’s my problem. I can’t get a grip. I literally can’t pick it up with one hand, and to use both hands can occasionally be a little inconvenient. To do that I’d need to pick it up before I sit down, in which case I have to sit down while hugging this great book to my chest.

It’s a hardback so won’t bend. It probably has to have every one of its 600 pages. Even if more densely typeset I imagine it’d be 500 pages. The size of the pages is also large, but less of a problem than the thickness.

I know. It seems churlish to moan. But in this instance I have to claim to have hands the size of a child. It is a children’s book. If you want to encourage small-handed readers to read, it looks like a mistake making books so outsize that they dwarf the child. On the other hand, I suppose it could make you feel you’re getting good value for your money.

Speaking of money, it will also cost more to store this great book. More centimetres widthways and a couple of extra ones heightwise. It’s not my fault that our recently vacated bookcases could only accommodate the larger (=newer) hardbacks lying down. The books, not the bookcases. In the last ten years or so, hardbacks have become more XXL in size.

I just hope the largest size doesn’t become larger still. I’ve grown almost fond of my lying-down novels, but it has to stop now. Or I’ll need to employ a bookholder to sit in front of me when I read.

You know how books for dyslexics have been adapted to make everything easier? Well, I think having a spot of RSI/arthritis in my fingers should qualify for grippable books that won’t make the pain worse. I know, I could Kindle. But I don’t want to! I like book books.