A reading problem

[VT100]

My name is VT100, and I have a reading problem. For a while, I coped by donating all my used books to the library. Just so they didn't clutter up the house. Then for father's day, I was given a Sony e-book reader. Basically a high-contrast, high-res B&W screen with the capacity to hold about 150 books, and just enough buttons to let you pick a book, turn the page, and change the font size. It came with 1 free new book download, plus 100 free downloads from their "classics" library: A set of books that are old enough to not have copyright issues. I started going wild, downloading books I had always meant to read, but never got around to. Then I found other websites where people have digitized copyright-free books and made them available. Books that have been out of print for decades are available for download. Enormous amounts of stuff. Think kid in an infinite candy store. So now I have this hand-held thing with 50ish books and growing, and I can still only read one thing at a time. I don't leave a trail of finished books, but I'll be reading for years just the stuff I have in the queue now. I am both excited and scared of the thing.

[Mel]

Serenity, Why I quit facebook
VT, thanks, I suspect my pdf's of scanned old books, covers, yellowed pages and all may not translate well to anything other than my pc, and from what I've read so far, you cant just plug and dump, you have to email them to yourself, and amazon has to convert them to kindle. sounds like it will make me crazy, so I'm going to have to let that idea go. I need to check out the Sony reader too, and figure out what I really need. Want. Need. Want. Whatever!

[VT100]

Mel: I don't know about your Adobe files. The way to find out might be to send them to someone you know who has a Kindle. I have the Sony reader, and it reads many formats. But not everything. And not everything necessarily comes out well. I think the book readers are really good at text. B/W art second, and right now, color not at all. Excepting that black and white are colors.

[serenity]

aw i missed the facebook link,but the onion one was a hoot ng, i needed a good cackle lol

mel 'my preciousssssssssssss' hahahhaa we are terrible enablers aren't we XD

[Mel]

oh, I got so sidetracked on your earlier links (rabbit holes!!! I especially loved the why I'm quitting facebook!)
that I never got to the Onion link. Funny.
Isn't it fun knowing you can just open a box and get your books now if you want to?

Hey, my hubby, who is a floor finish formulator said the sparkly stuff adds to the durability of the finish, its silica or quartz and you can get it unsparkly, but I say why would you want to? Life needs all the sparkle it can get, right?

[naturegeek]

You have to read the link I posted above - "mixbook" is a joke (as is the entire review - it's on The Onion, my personal favorite news source :) Very entertaining!

Yeah, we are almost all unpacked, EXCEPT for about 40 or 50 boxes of books!!! I decided that I should leave the books packed until we remodel, since moving bookcases full of books around to paint and put in flooring seems like more trouble than just living with them in the garage. They are all nicely labeled, so I think I could find one if I "needed" it - ha - these are books that have been in storage for 2 years! I admit, I have definitely missed some of them, but I'm thinking I may be downsizing my book collection once they get unpacked as well.

I've coveted the Kindle since it first came out - definitely seems like an mp3 player equivalent for books, and after living in an RV for two years and appreciating things that don't take up much space, it is definitely appealing. Low on my priority/wish list, but still appealing!

[Mel]

thanks to all of you and ha ha ha, I have enjoyed the heck out of this thread, how did I miss this one??
Before I started reading, I was sure I didn't want a kindle but somewhere around page 4 I started thinking that I haven't misssed my boxes of cd's I dumped on an mp3 player 2 years ago, and I started to get excited about all the free books I could store on it, and wondering if my hundreds of pdf's on my computer would be uploadable? I have several sources for free books to satisfy my history and geneology obsession, and I'll have to share those - MOMA being my favorite, the making of america project. VT, any idea if my adobe files can play with the kindle? My long winded point being that I am absolutely obsessed with having one of them as soon as possible. I neeeeeeeed it, it is preciousssssssssssssss. You guys are enablers!!! But as I am out of book space, and unable to stop acquring them, this is at least a step in the downsize direction. Thanks, for the laughs and for making me covet booktech stuff. More questions though - how are illustrations? OK? Good enough? And how long till it breaks and makes me sad? And whats a mix book?

On a semirelated note, I'm gearing up to sell the ones I can part with on half.com, because it looks easiest. I've been threatening to do this for a year, even priced out listing and fees on Abe, Amazon and ebay. Anyone tried it yet? I buy lots used online from any and all the above, and want to complete the circle and clear up some floor space!

Deb, how are you balancing reading and art? I just bought 6 new dense and fascinating books that will take a while to finish. TBR count now at 196, about 4 years. Thats scary. The tag kindle is used on Librarything 9881 times, so its happening. Gotta go price kindles now, bye.

[Deb S]

You know what? I'm really liking the idea of a "mix book". Sounds like a project. :-D

[naturegeek]

I just found this great review of the new Kindle - what do you guys think?

;->

[serenity]

wow that does sound cool VT!!

[VT100]

for games or fast moving graphics, the thing would be worthless. But for reading, it is awesome. Very stable. great contrast. You can read it in direct sunlight. and it only uses battery power to change the display. so once you have a page up, it uses practically no power to keep looking at the same thing.