UPM-Biofore-Magazine-2-2017-ENG

Bookshelf as the heart of the home And what indeed would a home be like without any books? The prospect seems alien: everyone in the book club has a home library they have been adding to over the years. Printed books create a cosy, homelike feel, as they reflect the owner’s tastes and world view. Reading a book can provide an escape from the daily grind. Many people associate books with holidays, that special time of the year when they finally find time to read, fiction in particular. It feels wonderful to be fully absorbed in a book, like momentarily returning to childhood. For a child, the home bookshelf can become a real treasure trove, always full of surprises. Childhood reading experiences occupy a special place in the hearts of many readers. Wolfgang Gierens says that the books he had at home had a major influence on his passion for reading. At first, he began exploring books through amazing artwork, as visual imagery made a great impression on him. It was not until later that he began to actually read the text. “In the past, books were seen as status symbols, but nowadays the situation is different. However, some people still find the format of a book extremely important. Many young people are adamant about only wanting to buy books in print. Then the books find their rightful place on the bookshelf,” Gierens muses.

This evening’s event is themed around French literature and titles that have recently been translated fromFrench into German, France being the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2017. Krawehl describes a novel by Dany Laferrière, How toMake Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired – a new title apparently unknown to everyone in the audience. The next novel she introduces is Giratoire by Dominique Paravel, another new name for all present. This is typical for the German bookshop owner: part of her work is guiding customers and introducing them to carefully selected newworks. Germany is home to approximately 82 million people, and almost 90,000 new books were published there in 2015. The publishing industry’s turnover that year was over EUR 9 billion. Without the reading tips provided by booksellers, finding just the right new book from amidst such a massive selection would be an overwhelming task for many readers. After the presentation of new French novels, the attendees also discuss the differences between printed books and eBooks. There are plenty to be found. “Printed books allow you to turn the pages slowly. You don’t get the same feeling from an eBook. Both printed books and eBooks are like flowers, but the eBook is a flower without a scent,” describes book club member Zouhair Mahmoud .

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Germany is home to approximately 82 million people, and almost 90,000 new books were published there in 2015.

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