Reading Rubio

Are you going to read Marco Rubio's book?

I am.  I just haven't decided whether to do the hardback version or the Kindle version.  If I get the Kindle version I can't get him to sign it should I ever meet him.

Sigh.

Decisions.

I've Capitulated

Don't tell Bride of Rove, but I've actually read two entire books on my eReader now.  (I use the Kindle app on my Android tablet).

BoR and I have been having this book debate for a couple of years now and I swore I'd never read electronic books.  I also swore (once upon a time) that I'd never have a cellphone, and well, that didn't last.

A while back I got this Android tablet and I use it to read some periodicals and surf websites and news through the Pulse reader.  But books?  Nah.

Until last week.  Micheal Henry contacted me about reading his latest manuscript Atmosphere of Violence; it's book number 5 for Michael and his son/co-writer William and they were looking for some feedback.  (You can order it now through Amazon; it's only $2.99!  You can't lose!)  The problem?  The book was still in manuscript form.  They sent the document through email and I downloaded it into the Kindle app.  

And I read it.

What really helped was the fact that the book is fabulous and I couldn't put it down.  

I read the whole book in about three or four days and even made the occasional note using the "note" function. Woah!  Progress!

I finished the book and I thought, "Well, now.  That was pretty cool.  And convenient."  Which is what BoR said to me all along.  So I was lounging around one day this week, went online, and downloaded Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews.  Light chick lit.  I hate chick lit, but I like her books (mostly because her first few books I read had a character that was an antique dealer).  

I downloaded Summer Rental...and read it.  

I'm on a roll now.  I'm already thinking, "What's next?!"

It'll never replace my dead-tree books; some I want to keep on the shelf, you know.  But I guess I'm now a Kindle reader.  Dammit.

Just don't tell BoR because she'll say "I  told you so."  

Thinking About the Kindle Fire

I still don't want to read books on it but I'm thinking this might be a cool tablet.  I have a Dell Streak and it's okay but I don't LOVE it.  Me and Android just don't click.  (Yes, I know Kindle is 'Droid, but the OS seems to run better on this device.  My main problem is with the battery life of the Streak.)

I use my tablet for reading periodicals, news sites, checking weather, Facebook, Twitter, and sometimes for blogging.  I don't read books on it and I don't play games on it. 

The Kindle Fire is definitely cheaper than an iPad.  It could be ME.

David French has a glowing review.

Anybody listening?  Christmas?

Shopping with SIGIS

I just saw a report that the Kindle Fire is expected to hit four million in holiday sales! That's a lot of fire. Consider doing your shopping from the safety of your laptop this year and help your blogger friends get a little kickback from your shopping.  SIGIS will periodically be providing shopping links and suggestions for your convenience and as always, you can search through our Amazon search box on the sidebar which helps YOU and it helps ME!

And be sure to check out the SIGIS store, complete with a Christmas wing.

The End of Dead Tree Books Is Nigh

Via The Weekly Standard, the Washington Post had a piece last week about the decline of Borders Books:

Borders, they know, is struggling to survive. It recently suspended payments to book publishers. Dozens of its stores across the country, including several in the Washington area, have closed. For many in the industry - and for this group of Borders regulars - the question is not whether the chain will go under, but when. 

As far as I know, we don't have a Borders in the Shreveport/Bossier area, but we do still have our Barnes & Noble.  

It seems that much as Netflix and other video-streaming outfits have done to Blockbuster, so too goes Borders.  Will Barnes and Noble be far behind?

Once, Borders was, with rival Barnes & Noble, the long tail of reading, with supermarket-size stores offering thousands of obscure titles alongside bestsellers. Now, Borders confronts the limitless, more efficient supply chain of Amazon's online emporium. Borders, which helped a generation of readers learn the pleasure of diving into a book for hours at a stretch, now competes for the attention of readers who dip into a few pages on an iPad, open Facebook, read some more, then tweet random thoughts. Printed books don't need a power outlet or a data plan, yet for some people, their utility seems to be fading. 

That line:  "...dip into a few pages on an iPad, open Facebook, read some more, then tweet random thoughts"  pretty much sums things up, I guess.  We live in a society that feels the need to "Tweet" when they put their socks in the dryer, when they eat a cheeseburger, get stuck on a train, or are watching a soccer match.  Don't get me wrong - I tweet.  Twitter is fun.  It can be a great way to spread information quickly; it has it's advantages.  But what does it say about us, really?

No, it's more the decline of the dead tree that I'm worried about.  I know there will always be books.  Won't there?  An analogous situation seems to be the closing of my local Blockbuster store.  What am I to do if I suddenly decide on a Saturday night that I want to watch High Anxiety or Top Hat?  I can't just go rent it.  I have to figure out how to stream Netflix onto my TV.  I'm sure it's easy - I've never tried it.  For the record, I'm scoping out all the Red Box outlets near me so I can at least attempt to rent a movie if I want to.

Back to books.  I've tried the Kindle.  I have.  Bride of Rove made me and she loves hers so I gave it an honest legitimate shot.  I downloaded the app for my iPhone and bought two e-books.  I bought a Sue Grafton mystery and I got Andrew McCarthy's The Grand Jihad.  I finally figured out I could highlight and make notes, but still...it's just not the same.  I can't retain what I'm reading as well.  It's too...well, transient.

I can't imagine reading The Pacific on an electronic format.  I'm constantly flipping back and forth for something, looking up something, comparing something, looking at a map....  I suspect you can still do that on a Kindle, but it's not the same.

I'm trying to imagine our landscape without tangible things.  No books.  No DVDs.  No vinyl record albums, and now precious few CDs.  No actual money -just electronic transfers.  It's odd.  We're becoming such a transient society with our streaming this and streaming that.  Digital photographs.  Even our household items like furniture have, in many cases, become disposable and temporary.  None of those sturdy, durable antiques of your grandmother's!

No, what we'll leave behind for archeologists will be broken down computers and parts, remnants of some plastic something or other, lots of styrofoam....  Future generations looking back will find precious few books, family photographs, fragile letters, or sturdy heirlooms.

Cue REM:

No, No, No!!!!

I will resist this until my dying day! 

An Experiement with the Kindle

Shhhhhhhhhh! Don't tell Bride of Rove, but I've downloaded the Kindle app for my iPhone and I'm giving it a shot.

The app is free - why would I buy a $300 device?

She's an ardent supporter of the e-book, and I've griped and moaned about them for a long time now. Bride has kindly not told me to shut up until I've tried it - she's too nice for that. She did suggest that I don't know what I'm missing. And my own good conscience says I should give it a try before I knock it.

I can see the benefits in e-books to some degree. Portability. And it's true - you don't want to keep ALL your books. It's cheaper than real books. It's spontaneous - you can download a book on a whim.

My first e-book is one that I know I don't want to treasure later and keep on the shelf for reference. I'll never be able to Kindle those. (Is "kindle" a verb now? I mean, "Facebooked" is a verb now, so why not "kindle"?)

Anyway, my first e-book is Sue Grafton's "U" is for Undertow. I've read all the others and hate to bail on her before I get to the end of the alphabet, although Kinsey is stuck in the eighties.

I'll report back and let you know how my experiment turns out.

NOT On My Christmas Wish List

The popularity of the Amazon Kindle baffles me. According to this report, Amazon has run out of Kindles and has started a waiting list. I never caught on to the books-on-tape thing, much less electronic books. I know people that travel a lot, spend a lot of time in the car, and like to listen to books on CD. There could be something to be said for an author reading his own work; that might interest me, but I'd really rather have the book.

I'm a child of the purple mimeograph generation; I get high on the smell of ink. I love the crisp pages of new books. I love to look at books stacked on my bedside table waiting for me. I like seeing them on my shelves and I like picking them back up and referring to them for one reason or another. I like the physical weight of a good hardback or the sturdiness of an over sized paperback novel.

I don't really think that the Kindle, or even books you download to your iPod will replace the actual printed word; I simply would never read a book that way. One of my favorite blogs, People Reading, caught up with a Kindle reader in September; it seems that this woman is sold on the electronic word. Not me. Give me paper and ink any day.

Item NOT on my Christmas list: The Kindle.