Tales From A Reluctant E-Reader

I have bonded with my iPad Mini and thus have begun bonding with the Kindle app and e-reading. As I've said before, I'm not an e-reading hater, I've just always preferred real books. I still do. But the time has come for me to venture a bit further out of my comfort zone for two reasons- access and portability.

In terms of access, more authors are releasing e-content. Short stories and novellas are making a comeback. Authors are enjoying writing short pieces, readers are thrilled to get new content of any length between book releases, so it's a win/win. I'm also noticing e-content for tie-ins to movie and TV shows. This year marks the 50th. Anniversary of Doctor Who and to help celebrate, the BBC has commissioned popular YA authors to pen stories about each of the eleven doctors. A new story is e-published each month until November when the entire collection will be offered in  book form. E-content makes giving readers samples or early access cost effective and simple for authors and publishers.

Before Spring Break I was forced to purchase an e-book from one of my favorite authors because Barnes and Noble ordered such a small quantity of her new release,  it was sold out when I went to buy it. My heart was set on starting the book that night, so I downloaded it. Did I enjoy the book more or less? Not really, but I can't say that I feel like I own it. If I can't grab it off a shelf  or have it autographed is it really a book?

I am the type of reader who travels with books. For a vacation longer than seven days I will take at least five books with me and likely purchase one or two if I happen upon a bookstore. With airfare baggage charges and weight limits, I realize e-books make traveling much easier.

As I add to my e-book collection I have decided to purchase some favorite books that I enjoy rereading more than once- everything by Jane Austen for example. I know I want to reread the entire Harry Potter series as well as the Game of Thrones series. These books are huge and heavy and seem perfect for e-reading except for one catch- I'd need to repurchase them. I own two of all the Harry Potter books already and all of the Game of Thrones titles. E-copies would set me back about $120 total. To be honest, I'd rather spend that money on new books.

Remember how we all had to replace records with CDs and then CDs with digital downloads? Tough choices!

The one aspect of e-reading that still concerns me is how it affects the discovery process. Avid readers love to walk through the stacks at a bookstore or library. If you've reduced your entire reading existence to what you download from a recliner in your family room, I guarantee you'll be missing out on discovering a new author despite Amazon's "readers who bought this, also bought-" feature.

Reading is still a multi-sensory  experience. I've seen students who got e-readers for Christmas spend less time looking at books in the LMC because they now just shop in the Kindle store. Yes they're finding some good books, but that seems like such a passive way to treasure hunt. Book covers and titles are designed to be enticing. A flat screen doesn't capture that in quite the same way in my opinion.

I know reading isn't dying but I can't help but feel that small parts of it are nearing THE END.

 

Beating the Books Blahs

 Have you ever looked inside your closet and thought you had nothing to wear even though the closet was full of items? You start trying on clothes and putting together outfits but nothing fits, looks right, feels right or makes you appear 10 lbs. lighter? At this point your body temperature begins to rise, signaling an imminent meltdown. Shouting occurs, perhaps a throwing of the offending garments across the room and most certainly the gnashing of teeth. It isn't pretty.

It might surprise you to know that the same thing happens to book lovers. While there's no official name for this malady, I like to call it Transition Trouble.  

Transition Trouble is a dangerous affliction that affects your ability to dive into a new book after recently finishing an engaging one. In my case, I read new novels from my favorite authors all summer and then became stuck in the middle of a second book in a trilogy that seemed to be limping along. I decided to take a break from it (something I rarely do) and discovered two new fiction titles that I had trouble putting down.

It's been about ten days since I finished that last book and now I'm the one limping along. Everything I pick up feels wrong. I even requested two books with Jane Austen themes from the public library, but unfortunately they both centered on Mansfield Park, my least favorite of her work.

I've discussed this problem with other book lovers and found that it happens to everyone at some point. And we all appear to have the same fix- the palette cleanser. This is a favorite book, reread many times, that serves to clear your head and settle anxiety (because now you're worried you'll never find another new book you want to read). My palette cleanser is Pride & Prejudice. I can open it to any page and immediately begin to relax. After two or three days I've calmed down enough to pick up something new.

So last night I grabbed my worn copy of P&P (I own several) and waited for it to work its magic on me.

And I waited.

Nothing.

I'm now in four-alarm crisis mode. I HAVE NO BOOKS!

Yes I realize this is a gross exaggeration considering I work in a library and own at least 1,500 books but believe me, I have no books right now. Nothing is appealing to me and I'm getting worried.

The first thing I did this morning was log into Amazon and look up the titles I'd read recently and loved. Amazon's "Customers Who Bought____ Also Bought ______" feature is a fabulous way to discover new authors.  I searched and searched, then opened a new tab for the Scottsdale Public Library. As I found potential good reads, I requested them from the library or, if they weren't available, added them to my Amazon cart. In the end I requested 8 titles, ordered 3 and will stop by the library on my way home from work today to pick up one book that was on shelf and waiting to go home with an avid reader.

I'd like to think that between 14 books coming my way in the next week, at least one of them can rescue me from this malaise.

Has this ever happened to you? What's your favorite palette cleanser? I might need some suggestions!