I have been aware, for some considerable time now, that there is emerging a wholly new kind of book. I am not speaking here of ebooks for these are now “old hat”. Rather I am referring to the Sensation Book.

So what is the Sensation Book I hear you ask?

I was recently contacted by Sensation Books International with a request that I take a look at their forthcoming book, “The Traditional English Garden”. Being a lover of gardens and, in particular scented flowers I, of course jumped at the opportunity.

My experience of this book is rather painful! On turning to the first chapter “The Rose in the English Garden” I was blown away by the scent of the many roses which wafted up from the paper (the scent is, I understand kept fresh and ever changing by a series of tiny chips in the paper which keep the pages constantly refreshed with scents deriving from the Cloud, a kind of virtual reality). My pleasure was, however soon curtailed by a most painful sensation, that of being stung on the nose by an extremely large bumble bee.

The dratted thing was concealed smack bang in the middle of a gorgeous red rose which I had, until that moment been savouring.

Needless to say I closed the book immediately and have written a strong letter of complaint to the Director of Sensation Books International, one Ms J Ker expressing, in the strongest possible terms my dissatisfaction with the company’s offering.

In conclusion the idea of connecting books to the cloud and the utilisation of virtual reality to enhance the experience of the reader is, in theory a wonderful concept. However such projects should be handled with great care as my poor nose can testify!