Friday, January 30, 2009

Sickness and books, or is it book sickness?

I hate being sick. It seems to never fully go away anymore. It lasts until it gets so bad I go to the doctor then I get a short term fix. I truely hate my sinuses. Why did God create sinuses in the first place, I mean really we have enough parts on us that can be broken already don't we?
On another note: The weather is much better. I am so glad that I can look out my window and the yard is no longer covered in ice. Makes it easier to, I don't know, drive.
I have been keeping up with my reading. I have just finished the first three in the Shopaholic series. Seriously funny stuff. I have an awful cough and I keep laughing so hard it throws me into a coughing fit! I am currently reading Shopaholic and sister. It's a must read for woman. Kinda like princess diaries, but way more grownup and much more believable.
My current total for this year is sitting at 10 books. At this rate I shouldn't have any problem reading 100 books this year. I still have 3 Jane Austin books sitting on my nightstand and at least two others waiting to be purchased.
One of my favorite blogs is written by a literary agent. I started reading it back when I thought I stood a chance of getting an agent myself (And yes this particular agent wasted no time in rejecting me). I did enjoy his style of mixing literary news with normal life things like the Bachelor and Lost. This week there has been ongoing discussions of the Sony Reader/Kindle verses Paper books. Now I have been looking into an e-reader for a while now. I love the concept and even looked into just downloading the reader app for my IPhone, but usually price or usability has stopped me. Once I began reading through all the comments though I got a new thought. Are the e-books cheaper to download than to buy in the store? It makes sense that they would be but I never reallyt hought too much about it. Does anyone know the answer to this? If it's only a couple bucks per book I could save tons fromt he books I buy at the bookstore. Not to mention all the hasty trips I make to books-a-million or Barnes and Nobel because I finished my book and it's part of a series. Yes I'm crazy enough that if I finish it and the next one is avaiable and I don't have it on hand I tend to rush out and get it. More than once I've been up with a sick kid and wishing the book store was open at 2am. I've even taken a sleepy baby to walmart int he middle of the night to see if they carry the book I want (no was the answer that time).
What are your thoughts on paper book verse ebooks? I don't think I'll ever fully give up paper books, but think of the shelf space you'd save...it does have it's upsides. Seriously though, I think the price will have to come down a bit before I partake.

4 comments:

Trish said...

Thursday I was complaining to Aaron that I didn't have any interesting good books to read. So we went to the library. I had heard about the new Shopaholic movie and thought I should read it before it comes out. The only one they had was Shopaholic & Sister. So I checked it out. Now it could be because I started with the fourth book but so far I am not impressed. If it doesn't hold my interest enough to read instead of watch Law & Order reruns then it isn't that good. Here's the rub, I will finish the book even though I will probably pay a late fee. I have an irrational determination to finish every book I start. Sorry, Shopaholic isn't for me.

Shannon said...

I would definitely say read the first one first! You have missed SO much! I have them all so if you want you can borrow them and avoid the late fee. And by all means I'd stop where you are and read the first one before going any father.
P.S. I actually am not loving the 4th one too much either. At least not so far. Except that scene with the hot coals...SO funny.

Marie said...

I haven't looked into the e-reader at all. But I have to say- I love going to the book store and browsing (and purchasing) books. There is something about holding it in your hand. I just can't see reading an entire book on the computer. Plus for all the inspirational books I read- I would hate not to be able to highlight and write in them. Maybe I just don't know much about the e-reader and so I may be mislead in my logic, but I love books- yes they do get expensive. I always try to have 3 I have not read on the night stand, and it takes me longer than you to read them! :)

Shannon said...

I found prices yesterday. It's very pricey! You only save a dollar or two buying an ebook. Really seems like a stupid thing to me. Really they need to create a ebook store like itunes were every book is $3 or something like that.
The ereader is actually pretty cool. I agree about browsing on the shelves and picking out new books. Just yesterday I got a shiny new B&N giftcard and bought 5 new books! Only one of them was on my list! I love me a sale!
But seriously you can highlight and make notes on the ereader from what I hear. But it's still not the same because you can't loan your books to a friend.