Green Is the Color of My True Love's Gear

[#1]

I never thought I would be tempted to read a book not on paper. But as I look at my burgeoning TBR piles and shelves, or rather, as my husband looks at them and then looks at me, I'm thinkin' I may have to look into a Kindle...

I just love the darn look and feel of the books so much. Of course that doesn't help me with all the ebooks I'd like to be reading, man, I usually just download it to my computer, and then sit at my desk and read. Which is why I don't do it very often. Reading at your computer seems too much like work.

[#2]

You know, amyskf, I never thought of the 'too much work' concept, but you're on to something.  There are times in the day I simply can't abide another moment at the thing and reading time needs to be relaxing.  I'm kind of a 'never say never' person (cause I learned way back with 'I'll never blog'), so I'm not sure I won't eventually get some kind of reader.  But I do love me some paperback...

[#3]

I love a real print book and I know in a few years I'll be in the minority, but as my eyesight lessens and my age increases I think I'll stick to print. I do review some ebooks and how do I do that because I have no e equipment except for my puter, so I download the pdf and print it. ;-)

[#4]

I'm kinda with you, too, dhaupt.  I really don't dig the on-screen, though I like to accept books that way cause it saves paper and authors money so they don't have to give up precious ARCs. But it kinda bothers my eyes. Everyone keeps telling me the iPad's going to change everything, so I'll be interested in seeing how that plays out.  Considering I lost my cell in a cab in DC last week... grrr... it may be sooner than later that I'll equip with a larger-screened cell.  sigh.

[#5]

I download e-books on my computer. Okay, I know that's totally old school, but I'm not ready for iPhones and e-readers yet. My husband is itching for one, though, which means he will drag me into the techno-age with him, kicking and screaming. He's bound and determined to see me become tech savvy!

[#6]

I'm hopelessly old school, too. There's just something about a bound book that helps me lose myself in the story. I can't explain why this is, but I don't even get the same experience reading manuscript pages. It has to be a bound, papery book. I don't get the same sensory engagement with e-readers. I like to smell the book, touch the cover, feel the pages.

Hopelessly old school.

[#7]

Oh, I agree, Melanie - I love the smell and feel of a new book! For that matter, I like the smell and feel of really old books, too -- there's such a sense of adventure when I walk into an antiquarian bookstore. Who knows what treasures will be hidden on those shelves?

[#8]

I have a Kindle and it comes in handy when I am traveling. Reading on the Kindle is totally different from reading on the computer screen; I've taken it to the beach and had no problem reading for a long time and the fact that the size of the font can be changed is great for aging eyes. I've only found one thing wrong with it so far - since the font can be increased or decreased there are no page numbers, only locations. And while I don't mind marking location numbers while I enter notes for myself, it can get a little awkward when I need notes for my book club. 

Owning the Kindle doesn't mean I have given up buying books. There are many, especially those containing graphics or photographs that technology isn't ready for;  ebooks just add a new dimension to my reading material. I've downloaded quite a few free classics (to my computer, then transferred via USB cable) and now, whenever I'm out of town I have options. Beowulf, Anna Karenina, Divine Comedy, Candide, Grimm's Fairy Tales? Or, under ten dollars, a quick download of a contemporary novel before the plane takes off?

Of course, taking along eGear requires cables, foreign plugs, batteries. And at the airport a separate bin to dump cell phone, netbook, kindle, and digital camera. Once, when I was away from home for a month, I took a portable printer which really made the guy dig through my bag. But he never said a word about my knitting needles.

[#9]

Sunltcloud, that is sooo funny about the knitting needles. And I see your point -- ha! Didn't mean to do that. See, now I'm worried about all the cables and plugs and batterries...oh my. I'm sure soon, there'll be less of the paraphenalia that goes along with it.

[#10]

Sunltcloud, that's what worries, me, too. Not crafting -- the idea of me w/ pointy things worries everyone who cares for me -- but eStuff w/accessories.  I just lost my cell in a cab last week. I'm not sure I can be trusted w/ an eReader.  But I've gotta say the iPad's intriguing.  Some people tell me they 'try out' books on kindle, etc., to make sure they want to invest in the hard cover for the keeper shelf.  And the immediacy of gratification is fab. Do you find you spend more on books since the eGear?

Melanie, I'm inthe hopeless category there, too.  The smell thing especially is huge, as it evokes strong memories and comforting feelings lots of chicks understand if they spent tons of time at the 'brary as young'ns.  I just so wish I'd been sneaking romance like everyone else!  sigh.

[#11]

becke, in re kicking/screaming, I remember fighting with my husband -- then boyfriend -- that I loved the 'feel of the pen in my hand too much' to switch to word processor.  I also remember telling him I couldn't possibly add blogging to my work as a columnist. 

So I should be writing bn.com's Jon_B about suggestions on eGear in a week or so.

[#12]

Michelle, the answer is YES. I spend more on books since I own eGear. 

 I walk to my local Barnes & Noble at least three times a week, to have coffee, to chat, to see what's new. (A three mile roundtrip that I wouldn't take as readily if there weren't cinnamom scones involved.) And though I tell myself that I don't "need" a bigger pile of books to be read, I frequently buy one or two as I make my way through the store.

At home I have a folder of books I want to know more about. which makes me go into Kindle and download a free chapter to see if I like it. More often than not I do like and buy on the spot, with one click.

And though I have my eGear with me when I travel, I feel perfectly justified to buy books by local authors or historical information about the place I am at. Reasoning: It won't be on Kindle. It won't show up at B&N. It would cost more if I had it shipped. I'll never see it again. I have to have it.

Now a few words about those "permanent shelves filled with real books." When you are almost 71 and your house is FULL, and you know that in the foreseeable future your daughter will have to make decisions about all the hobbies you entertained - the doll collection, the unfinished doll houses, the teddybears you are knitting, the yarn, the yardage, the folders and binders, the journals, the albums of photos, the CDs and DVDs - what to keep, what to give away, what to toss - you sometimes decide in favor of the eGear solution.

Who will want to read those German leather-bound Schillers?

The Franklin Library edition of all those classics with the dusty gold edges? 

The yellowing C.G. Jung paperbacks whose corners are wrinkled from usage?

The Lonely Planet guides from which pages were ripped and left behind.

The memoirs of Victorian women who traveled so long ago.

The delicate fantasies of fairies and goblins?

The irate prison letters of George Jackson, lacking a front page?

Though I wander around and smile at these volumes, and sometimes pick an old-timer from its seat on a shelf and read a few pages, who else has the time to make connections with these friends of my past?

But.........as I bury my face in the paper smell of Voltaire's words I admit that Candide the book means more to me than Candide the invisible download. It belonged to a friend who died fifteen years ago. If marooned on the proverbial island I would linger over its warped and weather-beaten pages, grinning with satisfaction, exclaiming in a whisper (just in case wild animals are listening):

 "It doesn't need a charger!!!!

[#13]

"Who will want... the memoirs of Victorian women who traveled so long ago"?

I just finished reading Larry McMurtry's beautiful memoir, Books, and he for one would love them (he's a huge fan!) and he'd pay a fair price for them too.

By the way, all readers -- physical or digital -- should read this book. McMurtry's musings on books, book buying, and book selling will surely make you smile and he reminds us that we are all part of a very special group that appreciates the power of the written word.

[#14]

Thanks Paul, I'll keep Larry McMurtry in mind when I make out my list of "volunteer recipients."

[#15]

Paul - As if my TBR pile needed to grow anymore, now I want to add the McMurtry book to my stack. And I use "stack" only in the broadest sense of the word.

Michelle - I learned how to type on my dad's old black Royal typewriter with the round keys. It was a real clunker. Later, I grew to love IBM Selectrics, but I got hooked on computers early on. I used to do keypunching, back in the day, and I learned how to do Lotus spreadsheets in the 1980s, and I used a Mac for the first time in about 1988 or 89. Bought my first cheapo computer at Sears in about 1990. Now my kids each have their own laptops, my daughter also has a desktop, I have one of each and my husband has at least three laptops.

I still consider myself old school, because my phone is just a phone. Well, and a camera. I Tweet on my computer, not my phone. I don't text.

As low tech as I am, I would never in a million years trade my computer for a pen, pencil or typewriter. After all those years of using carbon paper and white-out, I never want to look back! 

[#16]

Becke, whenever I am stuck (as in writing) I take out my yellow legal pad and my favorite pen. It seems to open-up another part of my brain, as if the kinesthetics of it make it easier for me. Plus, my Dad always wrote long hand (on a yellow legal pad,) never used a computer, and always had a secretary for the typing.

Sometimes I wish I had a secretary for the typing...

[#17]

I agree with you Becke that my phone is just a phone but I do love my IMACs both at home and at work,

But I also agree with Amy that I think better when I write by picking up paper and pencil then putting it on the puter. 

[#18]

Mac or PC? My husband and son swear by their Macbooks. I'm a PC. I mainly use my computer to write and all the fancy stuff just annoys me. I'll pay extra for Word Office and a decent photo program, but that's about it. 

I do pay attention to browsers, though.  I use Google Chrome, even though it's still in Beta, because it is a gazillion times faster than anything else. It doesn't remember passwords well, and there are glitches with Blogspot, etc., but it is super fast. I do occassionally have to go back to Mozilla Firefox when the glitches start piling up, but I always come back to Chrome.

[#19]

Ok, I'll confess to loving the feel of a book in my hands, but I'm a condo dweller now, so space is at a premium. The thought of having hundreds of books at my fingertips makes me slightly light-headed.

But which reader to choose?

Kindle only plays their own format. Ditto Sony. I wish they'd all play nice with each other. This reminds me a little of the VHS/Beta debate for VCR players. And look how quickly that technology was replaced by DVD? I have a sneaking suspicion that as soon as I cave and pick one, the next great technological marvel will surface and render my new purchase as useful as a typewriter.

www.emilybryan.com

[#20]

You've articulated my concerns about the tech exactly, Emily!  And I think it'll just take us a little while to get used to smaller keeper shelves. And boxes.  And crates.  And under-bed storage flats...

In terms of low-rent equipment, I lost my cell recently and am waiting to get something cool so I bought a totally stripped-down version. My son calls it the G-phone. Not as in G3, but as in Geezer phone, cause it's got a HUGE display. So totally not cool am I.

I'm a firefox girl, becke, but i'm hearing more and more re chrome.  not sure if I can take faster.

Ah, sunlitcloud, you are a true booklover.   Those are the things missed out on w/ no bound books.  The books hold our own particular magic until we pass them along to make new memories for someone else.  So lovely to think of that.