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.

[Deb S]

Oh dear. Same here. And I always needed to keep the good books. And the reference books, and the......... Recently, I decided to lighten my load in case I might just want to hit to road ala Naturegeek. Yeah right. But I was also very determined to use the library more, since I think it is the best invention humankind has come with. (If I read MORE, maybe I wouldn't end my sentences with prepositions, but never mind.) And I loved it that friends kids would come over here to do their reports for school because "name it, i got it." I did get rid of most of the books. I wish I'd made a list because, as we know, my brain cells.... And I'm having phantom pain. But I HAVE used the library more and it's fun. I still go to 2nd hand bookstores/thrift shops but I'm determined to re-donate all that I've read.

BUT, yesterday a friend told me about Kindle. (A coincidence or an evil master plan?) Apparently Amazon has it/makes it? Sounds like your Sony thing. OMG. We just looked each other like, do we want to go there? The answer was YES, but I too am scared. Think it's about $300 now. I'll wait until the price goes down a bit or until I'm employed full-time with all the bells and whistles. Air conditioner and Kindle. Goodbye cruel world.

[JeninLB]

I've heard that the handheld readers are great, but I sort of like the feel of a book. How does this compare? Also, if you accumulate a lot of regular books and you want to declutter, you can send them to Powells.com where you get credit that lets you buy--that's right--more books!

[VT100]

The kindle is cool, because it uses the cell network to get more books. So if none of the books you currently have in it are what you want to read this very minute, you can browse out and get another! The sony one needs a computer to mediate. If I spent a lot of time away from a computer, I'd be more interested. As it turns out, I am not often far from a computer, so no biggy for me.

And you are allowed to end sentences with prepositions. Grammar Girl's podcast told me so. Which is enough for me :-)

Actual paper books are nice. They boot up right away. Page turning is instant. You can read them in bright sunlight, the resolution and contrast are good. I am very used to paper books. I grew up with them. And truth is, I never really needed to carry 50 around just in case I couldn't decide what to read. But this little thing is sweet. It does have good contrast and resolution, and you can read it in direct sunlight.

It isn't perfect. I think the business side of things have not become totally sorted out. I would think that practically any book available, or available in the last 10 years would be available in this format, but it isn't the case. At least some stuff is not. Including some sci-fi, which I find ironic. I do imagine I will sometimes buy a paper book. But if it is available for my reader, I'll go that way. If only because it is somewhat cheaper. I imagine that in the future, college kids will have such things. Why lug around 90 lbs of paper if there is an alternative that weighs less than a pound? I think on the kindle, because there is a keyboard, you can stick notes on pages too. Mine lets you plop down a bookmark, but that is about it. So maybe not the one I have exactly, but something like it. Since I am not in college any more (not for quite a while, actually) I don't have quite the same need to take notes.

[LAly]

Aren't they about the change the copyright or whatever on the kindle? There was at least a rumor saying that people who had bought books on the kindle weren't going to have them be compatible with the newer generation one. Did that already happen?

I've been wanting one of those Sony ones for awhile. I guess I need to do some research!

[super librarian]

As the librarian (also, reading problem, 3 books going at once!), I think the whole Kindle/e-book thing is interesting. I've not yet enjoyed any of the other electronic books-- online reading of literature sucks. But I;ve not tried these new devices. I was at a library conference recently where a Tekky Guy (can''t recall his name) was showing us Microsoft Surface and the iPhones... he suggested that within a few years people will be ordering their books from the surface screen or from their iPhones, the phones will alert them to being near a library (or starbucks or whatever). All I know is that libraries better get hip and embrace this idea, though I have to say many are, at least in offering e-books. Still, when I read Where the Wild Things Are, I want it in paper. In my hands. So I can share it with a group of wide-eyed children.......

[Evangeline]

*raises hand* Another one here with a book problem...am actually on my way out the door to buy a new bookshelf for the only room in the house that doesn't have one, and is currently littered with books. We try to donate the ones that aren't our favourites. The problem is that sooooo many are our favourites, and we neeeeeed them.
I think that I would love a Sony reader for non fiction, but I just can't wrap my head around it for my fiction reading. The smell of the book, the turning of the pages, the weight of it in my hands, the underlining of favourite passages, all so much a part of the pleasure for me.

[serenity]

i still can't get through HP 3 so i don't think i have a reading problem,lol. however the electronic book thing does sound super interesting!

[naturegeek]

I got rid of lots of stuff for hitting the road, Deb, but not my books!! haha. My boxes of books are taking up a good chunk of our storage space!

I don't keep most novels that I read, though - usually pass them on for others to read, or Freecycle or Thrift store or donate elsewhere (I used to have great used bookstores where I'd do exchanges, too). But I have tons of natural history books, science books, field guides and the like. Lots of poetry, too.

I've been eyeing the Kindle for a while now - it really appeals to me to have books that way! After all, I have all my music in an iPod, movies - well I have a notebook of DVD's, but it would be cool to set up an AppleTV video server someday... (we also rent and download movies from iTunes to watch on our laptops). Stuff compression is a good thing! After all, it's not the dusty old bindings of books I love best (though, I do love the way books look and feel, I can't deny it, and the smell of a library - ahhhh). It's the writing within that makes them wonderful. And the ebook readers preserve that, and allow you do to things like highlight, bookmark, annotate, etc (at least some, right?)

The thing is, I don't think I would get rid of the books I already have, and for the types of books I own, I might still want to buy the actual book. I like having a library. But for books just to read, I think one would be great.

And libraries are so wonderful and so important!!! Ideal scenario: a library that loans out electronic books :-)

Reading problem? It's part of my whole ADD package - "reading" several books at once, always, but it takes me longer to finish them that way than if I read them serially instead. And during times of other obsessions (like school, which I am heavily procrastinating on now with Nerdfighting - ha), I hardly do any other reading. I scour the net looking for more info on my subject (see my Diigo and del.icio.us links on web design and photoshop, for example) and read everything I can find on it. Pleasure reading gets pushed to the back of the list. I need to obsess on books to finish them, I think. And boy, can I do that! Just lock me away with a good book and I won't eat, drink, sleep, pee or... well, you get the idea! ha.

And, have I told you all my preposition joke? It even involves libraries!

[super librarian]

tell us the joke!!! puh--lease?

[Deb S]

Joke! Joke!