When reading Bookishness, I was shocked with how I started to remember this fetishization of the book as a physical object. I remember when I was younger I had an obsession with the physical object of a book. I had to hold/read it a certain way so it wasn’t damaged, I wouldn’t let people borrow my beloved books, I had a book stamp that printed my name into every book I owned, and I would even pack my books a certain way on a road trip to ensure they were not damaged. I can think of so many other absurd examples of my own relationship to bookishness back then, but none of these things apply to my today as I write and fold all the pages in my books- coffee stains and all. I wonder what changed in my bookishness, could be a lot of things, but it’s interesting to read this book in context of thinking of my own bookishness actions. Although I was aware about these aspects of bookishness and the obsession with the object, I had never thought about it in the context of increasing digitization.”So what happens when the book get digitized and bookish culture goes digital- when the word ‘book’ may or may not refer to a material object?” (Pressman, 3). This question highlights the transition from bookishness being physical and now digital- something 12 year old me would not understand. Bookishness is in the physicality of the book, but what happens when we no longer have that? These ideas are being reimagined, and I can see how my own relationship with it has changed over time as books have become digitized. I read on a kindle almost every night before bed, but 6 years ago I refused to read on a kindle as I felt I was betraying my physical books- Bookishness.

When I continued with this reading I also found it fascinating when reading about the Mac BookBook. “My Mac BookBook displays the book to be a powerful form of residual media actively shaping digital culture” (Pressman 7). I found this idea of a Mac BookBook the epitome of Bookishness itself: a digital device pretending to be a physical book. Not only does this device make a book appear to be something its not, but it shows something that is no longer there. I found this very fascinating and also shocking. The aesthetic of the book went so far, you wonder why it was changed in the first place. It makes me think that people need change but are also afraid of it- as they hold on to the physicality of the book even when the Macbook was present. Bookishness is more than an aesthetic, its also a lifestyle, as I discussed before I was a part of this before I even knew it. The amount of bookishness themed things I owned: book stamps, book earrings, book t-shirts, etc. I was matching this bookishness of wanting to be near the physicality of the book but I did not even realize or know why- I am not sure I know now. The materiality doesn’t change the content: the words in the book are still the same. But at the same time the materiality of the book feels like its a part of its content.