Recently I’ve been dabbling with eBooks. Using my boyfriend’s tablet I’ve bought a few; mostly been classics like Tender is The Night or Jamaica Inn for on location holiday reading, but I’ve bought some more recent books like Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean At The End of the Lane. I wasn’t what I’d call a convert as I still infinitely prefer paper, but I was something of a reformed Luddite in that I would consider the occasional dabble. I was even thinking of buying the tablet a case. Well, no more. I am back on the paper and can’t tell you what I thought of Mr Gaiman’s latest offering.

You see something strange happened in bed last night and don’t worry, this is family friendly weirdness. I was starting to read The Ocean At The End of the Lane on the tablet and absent-mindedly started stroking my boyfriend’s back, but it was strange, as if there was an energy between us that I’d never noticed before… a spark if you will. To cut a long story short, I realised that the metal tablet casing at the back of the tablet was conducting an electric current between us as the device charged, which suggests that there is something faulty within the device. I have now had to stop using the tablet for fear of being electrocuted.

So there we have yet another reason why paper books are superior to eBooks. I’ve never heard of anyone being electrocuted by a paper book. And of course, I now have nothing to read my copy of The Ocean at The End of The Lane on, unless I read it on my phone which has a teeny screen. I thought eBooks were meant to make your life easier not harder, grr.