Reading between the shelves

THERE is no question that books will eventually be bought almost exclusively online or that we are living through the end of an era for the printed book.

But for some, Kindles and iPads will never replace the feel, the smell, the very heft of a good old-fashioned ink-on-paper book.

And for those of us, fully paid-up, card-carrying members of this literary resistance, the bookshop remains a focal point in our lives; so the Bord Gáis Energy-sponsored Bookshop of the Year Award announced this week was welcome indeed.