The Beginning

I am innately distrustful of advancements in technology. I used a typewriter long after my husband & colleagues were embracing DOS in the mid-80's. When Powerpoint arrived I wanted to chain myself to the slide projector that I used to show the worship songs on Sunday mornings. But even I got annoyed with my inability to correct spelling errors.

The only reason I reluctantly learned how to email was because my husband traveled overseas for several weeks in '96. If I wanted to communicate with him it had to be via Outlook.

Several years ago, in a small, passive sort of protest against blogging, I wrote an “Unblog” (aka family newsletter) via email to huge acclaim and affirmation. A small shaft of light began to shine into my Luddite brain.

Facebook was a big time-waster in my considered opinion until my friend introduced me to “creeping” which apparently is what mothers do to keep track of their off-spring and their off-springs' friends. Bingo. Now I even have my own Facebook friends.

As I was driving home from work a few days ago, I heard a chilling news item on my favorite radio station. Britain's spy agency MI5 was retiring (read firing) its older agents who had refused to embrace modern networking technology. Jolted is too mild to describe the sensation that went down my spine.

I've come a long way friends. Ironically, one of my recent Facebook posts read, “I have two new best friends, Google and Roomba.” (Roomba is the ladybug shaped robotic vacuum that beetles its way around my living room.)

Therefore, I have now become a firm believer (okay a flabby believer) in communication by machine, more familiarly known as the social media. Playing with a friend's i-phone yesterday actually activated some sort of long suppressed urge to buy my own. You can sit in your rocker and check Facebook or tomorrow's weather with a small purple gadget the size of a pack of cigarettes.

Loving books and people as I do, and wanting to connect the two, it is a pleasure to introduce the House of James Book Talk blog. Want to know what we are reading? Loving? Recommending? Hating? Want to contribute YOUR thoughts? Wish there was a way you could ask our children's book manager what she would recommend for children who have experienced tragedy? Do you have questions about the multitude of Bible translations? Wondering what “Christian” fiction looks like these days? Hoping to interact with other bibliophiles? 

We hope you will join us semi-weekly as we explore the wonderful world of books and related products using this electronic tool. We would love to see you at our bricks and mortar store, of course, but I hope that your appetite will be whetted by this blog. And of course, we welcome your comments.

Becky Warkentin