New Book Smell

"Did you smell it?" Nola asked me when I told her that I had been sent an advance copy of my book. Did I smell my book I thought??....no I didn't. Was I supposed to? I didn't know that new book smelling was a thing.

I love the smell of old books, I know that's a thing. I have piles of old books around the house, with their mostly red covers and aged yellowing paper, they smell of musty grass, faintly of vanilla, faded ink and of the many hands that have flipped the pages. That's a smell I know and love.

But I had never smelt a new book before, well not intentionally. What would my book smell like I wondered? What have I been missing out on?

I thought it might smell of apples and orchards. Of freshly dug earthy potatoes and newly watered gardens, of late summer peaches and fresh strawberry jam. It would also smell of biscuits baking in a wood oven, of birthday cakes being sliced and the briny scent of a Bruny Island beach. There would be a faint whiff of dreams and hopes mixed with the smell of blood, sweat and tears. Yes I could imagine exactly what my book would smell like.

When I got home I grabbed my book, opened the pages and inhaled deeply to breathe in the smell. And it did have a smell, a distinct and not unpleasant smell, one of clean fresh paper and newly printed ink. Is smelt like a book store. It smelt good.

Then I realised, that I hadn't formally shown you my book. So here it is. A Table in the Orchard. It even has my name on the cover. Which feels amazing in itself.

Inside there are pictures of baked biscuits and freshly dug earthy potatoes. There are some recipes and lots of stories about orchards and apples and buying an old farmhouse in the Tasmanian countryside, with plenty of photos too. But you can't smell it yet.

It will be released on 1 May. You should be able to buy it at these stores listed below.

And if you do happen to get a copy, please let me know what you think of the smell....

Bookworld

Abbey's

Booktopia

Angus and Robertson

Check out this link for other retailers here

Do you smell books?