HAPPY NEW YEAR!
For my first blog in 2012 (wow, that felt weird to type), I’d like to bring up a topic which most are black or white, with only a few in the grey area. I’m talking about the love for the way you read whether it’s from an e-book or a hardback/paperback. When I began this blog I was new to the e-book way of life, and I didn’t appreciate it as much as I do now. I even wrote a BLOG about it.
This was before I found myself reading books to be reviewed, and not just for pleasure. Now that I have established myself enough to be honored to be called a reviewer, it is easy for me to see now how much and e-book is such a necessity! I can read pretty much anywhere – in the grocery line, in the car while the hubby’s driving, a doctor’s office, just to name a few examples of why it’s nice to have an e-book! Having both, an iPhone and an iPad, are the two things I said that I would never have — I was strictly a Blackberry girl, but since changing over, it’s made my reading and reviewing life easier! Can we say yee-haw?! Oh, and to show you just how non-technical I am, just this week learned that I could sync where I was reading to another device! I’m all for ebooks now, except that…
They’re not the “real” thing! Has any ever thought about how there might now be anymore book signings? (I’ve always wanted to go to one). Just today I was watching TV the show I was watching was talking about how much books are worth. Would this be the case in the e-book world? I love to be able to see books on their shelves, but as a book collector I’m running out of space (This doesn’t make the hubby happy – ha, ha, ha!).
Where do you stand on this topic?
I’m a prolific reader and there’s really nothing like having a real book in your hands! Having said that, my ebook library has 2,286 books; I have several hundred on my iPod Touch right now and I just read even more than I did before. And I can put all those books in my pants pocket – try that with Stephen King’s “The Stand…”
Ebooks are real; you can dog-ear the pages with some readers! Whether they have value like a Tolstoy first-edition… eh, I doubt it. But if you love to read, well, ebooks are damned convenient and often less expensive than buying that hard-cover you’ve been drooling over.
I used to spend hundreds of dollars a month buying books and now if I spend that much a year, I’d be surprised. And, really, it’s about the content within those electronic pages and its ability to take us to different places with just a tap of a finger…
Thanks for your comment! Happy New Year!
I will always love printed books. I am not only a reader, but a collector as well. I have been using the Kindle app on my laptop for several months, but found that it was not as comfortable to read for pleasure that way, so I finally got a Kindle E-reader just last week. I am really enjoying the freedom of having access to so many books anywhere I go, and the amount of public domain free books available is wonderful. I downloaded a three volume set of Teutonic mythology at no cost to me, that comprises over 1400 pages that I can take and read anywhere. And even the editions that I will pay money for are much less expensive than buying print editions, and I get them deliveredd instantly. And I find that reading with the e-ink that Kindle uses is just as pleasant and easy on the eyes as a print book, plus I can add notes or reference a section of the book that I find interesting connected right there to the book. An idea with regard to being able to do book signings, for readers who bought the e-book, is to have either promo postcards with the covor art or book covers printed to be signed at author events. These make nice collectors items in their own right, even if they are not the same, or as valuable, as having a print copy signed. Just this weekend at a convention, a fan asked me to sign a book promo card I was giving out for free, because she was going to buy the e-book later.
I love your book signing idea! Thanks for your comment! Happy New Year!
Personally, I prefer the feel of my nook. I can take it anywhere, and read it outside without worrying about the wind The flying pages always annoyed me). I love to read while laying on the sofa, but I usually lay on my side. The pages of real books tended to flip over on me, which always annoyed me. My nook eliminated that, and the ability to sync the pages to the app on my iPhone made it even better.
That being said, if I truly love a book, the first thing I do when I finish it is buy it in hard copy. There is just something comforting about having the hard copy of a book–knowing I can read it again and again without any reliance on technology. 🙂
Thanks foe your comment! Happy New Year!!