I am still on a book ban because of limited finances, but I may splash out and get a book for the flight home. I hate having nothing to read!!! :( I am rereading all my novels, and have been for over a month. It is driving me crazy. I visited my (Great) Auntie June yesterday and she gave us (my Mum and I) a big bag of “sloppies” as my dad calls them. Yes that is right, I have been reduced to reading old Mills and Boons to keep myself entertained! I have reread my books SOOOOO many times that I can’t stomach much more of it. I also found out the Gutenberg Project has a mobile website m.gutenberg.org and that they have a java app for books you can download called QIOO! So I downloaded a few. It is hard though, because my screen is so small, and my phone battery gets chewed up. But I have been reading Around The World in 80 Days and have decided that I am either buying the book, or the eBook when I get my Sony Reader. I've also been reading HP Lovecraft, Wilke Collins, Dante, Kafka, PG Wodenhouse and Oscar Wilde. Yes, I downloaded a lot of books, but the only one I have read a lot of is the Jules Verne one. I will probably get the rest in hard copy or EPUB later. I keep meaning to join the Campsie library, but I am busy on weekends. My car has been fixed, so I may be able to go after work and join. I need to find a copy of Storm Front by Jim Butcher to have read by the 11th of October for book club. I bought it last year, read half, hated it, gave it away. I refuse to buy it again. Especially because it is part of a series I choose not to read. I can’t remember exactly why I hated it, but I remember thinking it was very dry and that it was a bit sexist. It felt like a noir film, in which I overlook sexism, because it was part of the times. Modern books tend to turn me off when they are sexist. I need to reread it to back up this statement, but I remember that feeling of sexism was one of the reasons I stopped reading it. That and I just wasn’t interested. Book club should be fun! I wonder if I still have this feeling when I read it again.
My other news is I have decided I want to get a Sony Reader. I give myself one present from my tax return every year, and it is that time again! I can buy cheaper books, download free classics and not lug around a million books with me. I normally take two books with me everywhere, more when I am travelling, and have six books stashed around my office. Instead I can have one slimline device and one book with me and not need to lug around a book bag with me everywhere! No, I am not forsaking the printed word! I love books with a passion! If I gave one a squishy hug, I would squish all the ink out of the pages, that is how hard I would hug it. I can’t see my life without books. My earliest memories are of books, and I am never not reading something! The smell, the texture, the tactile nature, the concept… I just don’t think I will every solely read eBooks. But I still can’t buy certain books in paperback, and I can’t afford them in hardcover. So this is my answer: http://www.sony.com.au/product/prs-650
It comes in black and red, it has expandable storage, can read EPUB, PDF, Text, RTF, Word and BBeB, plays audio files, has 12 inbuilt dictionaries (English, plus German, Spanish, French, Dutch and Italian), it has a touch screen, but it isn’t built into the screen, so it is readable in the sun! It also has 2 weeks battery life :D I am gonna love that baby! I am getting the red one, of course. I thought about getting the black one, but my twitter friends talked me out of being sensible.
Would you ever get an eReader? And if so, would that be instead of books, or as a supplement?
10 comments:
Oh, could never replace REAL books with an eReader! Like you I'd get one to carry less with me - when I go on holidays I almost have a panic attack over what books to take and always take to many (what if I get there and really want to read that book that I left behind...). Also, an eReader would be a lot lighter than the 2-3 books I feel the need to carry everywehre "just in case".
Am seriously considering the Sony too - and ABSOLUTELY have to go red ;-)
Great post, see you on Twitter
As a supplement, at least until the deplorable state of e-book purchasing in Aus gets better and publishers price titles appropriately.
In some cases I can buy a paperback and have it delivered from England for a couple of dollars less than an ebook in Aus
Oh my Zeus! You know it's bad when you're reduced to reading Mills and Boon. It makes me want to put together some organisation like the 'Save Jacq's Sanity' group or something where people will donate books for you to read.
It's such a bugger we don't live closer together or cross paths just for fun because I'm going to finish Storm Front today and I could have lent you my copy :(
And yes, sexism. The character is old school sexist and the way it is written makes you wonder if the author is a sexist pig so I can see why you stopped reading it.
You need to get that eReader quick smart I think. Before you go nuts from reading that soppy crap. There's so many websites that cater to different tastes with eReaders now. Plus Book Depository and Amazon have some cheaper ebooks now. I think it's a great idea to get one if you're strapped and can't always get the books you want.
I would get one as a supplement when it came to books I wasn't sure about and couldn't get at the library or just books I can't get in print (because there are a lot of them), but I have problems with reading that much on a screen so I don't think it would be healthy for me unfortunately.
Hope you're enjoying your hols! *hugs* See you when you get back.
Lianakay: Hey stranger! *grins* It appears we have the same problem. Books get heavy when you carry too many, but not having something to read is worse! @BookThingo is also a champion of the Sony Reader. I am not sure if she has had a chance to test drive one yet, as I haven't been on twitter much lately, but I know she was seriously considering getting one. I'll have to ask her what she thought! I haven't been near a store that stocks them yet.
VanyelK: You are a dahl!
Sean: I don't think I could ever fully switch to eBooks over paper, I am traditionalist in that sense. I can see them as a supplement, but I love books for the sake of books. I like eReaders for the convenience more than anything else. But yes, the availability and pricing of eBooks in Australia is ridiculous. I hope the geographical restrictions are a think of the pass soon! I guess it makes sense for physical things like DVDs (Although I still can't buy Nang Nak in Australia!) but for something like an eBook, which is entirely digital, it is completely redundant. It seems they are just continuing the pattern because they can. I know there are the different physical releases of books (UK vs US) but I hate how it has continued with eBooks. I went on the Random House (Aust) website to look at their eBooks and was disgusted that they are the same price as their physical books. I would buy an ebook because 1) it is still in hard cover in store and 2) it is cheaper. I guess I will be reading a lot of freebies from the Gutenberg Project until the eBook publishers catch up with reader's wishes.
Dutchie: Yes, it is driving me crazy! But at the same time, I would prefer to be reading these than not reading ANYTHING new. I have been rereading my books constantly since they are bought (I read about five books a week and only buy one) so I can practically repeat them word for word - or at least event by event. I do own some classics I haven't read yet (Wuthering Heights, Middlemarch etc) but my brainfog is pretty bad, so I haven't been able to read those instead. I just wish I could have joined the Campsie Library, but I don't make it on weekends, and am not comfortable walking from the bus stop to the library after dark. I'll join it one day... If I have time tonight, I think I will go to the Ashfield library and pay my fines. But their building is being rebuilt, and I don't know where the library is at the moment. Burwood is in the process of being relocated too. I am basically going to get a map, draw a 10km radius around my suburb and join all those libraries LOL I called Lillian last night, and she is going to see if she can borrow it for me from the library in my home town. Sofia doesn't own a copy, and I can't remember who I gave my copy to. I already have had someone save my sanity. For one weekend anyway LOL Someone became my fairy godmother and sent me a $30 voucher to Galaxy a month ago. Totally anonymous. I bought two books, and sent psychic hugs to whoever it was. But that was a month ago LOL I broke my bookdrought last night though. I am going back on it, but I went to Abbey's and bought Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I wanted to by it online, but I left it too late. I figure I need to start this one ASAP because of my brainfog, and if I had have bought it online, I would have had to wait a long time for it to arrive and then cram to read it. This way I can take it slowly. I don't know how heavy it is, but I know it received a Booker, so I am guessing it needs to be wordy enough for the purists to appreciate. I am taking it with me on the plane tomorrow night.
Yeah, I was getting the Film Noir vibe quite strongly! Which is fine in Film Noir, which was done in the Forties and Fifties, but society's values have progressed to the point that most people at least publicly espouse women's equality. Maria says it gets better, but I was pretty disgusted when I tried to read it. I have a number of pet hates (normally revolving around bigotry) and this one is one that I really despise. I just couldn't read it for pleasure. Normally if I read a book with facets of bigotry, it is because I had to for school, university or a book club :) Oh well, at least it doesn't have as many themes as The Sound And The Fury - now that was one I hated reading!
I bought this model Sony e-reader in red, and I have to say so far I love it! I can't imagine it replacing all my books, but I am thinking that it will become more and more part of my reading life, especially once I join one of the libraries that lend out ebooks.
I remember you saying you were interested in getting a Sony Reader. I also remember you telling me I should follow my heart and get the red version instead of being smart and buying the black one LOL I am so glad to hear someone who has actually used it give such positive feedback! Most of the reviewers for tech blogs just play with them as toys for a day. It isn't quite the same as being an actual user! FTW, I want one even more now! :D I'd love to hear from you after a few more weeks if you are still a fan of your new red toy! We have libraries in Australia lending eBooks? *must investigate*
There are a few in Melbourne. Off the top of my head Yarra Plenty library service and City of Port Phillip library service have ebooks to lend out, and they are willing to lend to people who live outside their area. I haven't joined up yet, but I will do soon.
Marg: Oh My Goodness! My local libraries all offer ebooks and I didn't know it! It is a shame they don't have any fiction I would choose to read though. They have a lot of audio books you can download, but I wouldn't choose an audio book unless I had lost my eyesight. I like reading! That, and I zone out easily when people talk at me LOL The Yarra Plenty Regional Library/Brisbane Library you mentioned seems to have a lot more titles. My local service has 74 books, that one has nearly 2000 :D I didn't even know we had libraries offering eBooks in Australia! I had only heard it in reference to America. Thanks Marg :)
Dutchie & VanyelK: Your local library popped up on that search too. Just an FYI.
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