"I love old books. They tell you stories about their use. You can see where the fingerprints touched the pages as they held the book open. You can see how long they lingered on each page by the finger stains"

In this quote, Jack Bowman reveals his love for old books. To him, these books hold stories of their own, beyond the words printed on their pages. He observes that the marks left by human touch, such as finger prints and finger discolorations, tell us about the previous readers and their experiences with the book. He implies that old books bring a kind of history that is unique to each copy, shaped by the interactions between the reader and the text. Through his gratitude for these physical traces, he shows a respect for the human connection to literature and the importance of preserving the product things that hold that connection.