question for anyone with an e-reader
Can you get the books you want? Can you get them easily? And if you're like me and usually spend at least an hour or so a week in a book store perusing the shelves, how are you going about selecting books to read. I've been thinking about it, and I usually check out the new releases, the sections with the genres I like and the bargain books. I look things like cover art as that can be an indication of whether the book is in a genre I like and then I read the synopsis on the back cover and I may quickly skim the first page or three before I decide to buy. Is it possible to do any of this when buying an ebook? How do you decide what you're going to buy? And lastly have you found the ebooks to be good value for money especially when you take the cost of the reader into consideration? |
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| I don't have an ereader, but my husband has been sending me all kinds of links for them. He thinks I should really get one. I've declined to date, and don't see that changing in the near future. I've checked the listings for titles and have found that there would be very little in the way of titles for me. I'm not a big fan of fiction and rarely read popular authors. Titles on my wish list (and authors too) generally aren't available. I don't know if it's a Canada thing either, but the last list of titles I perused not only failed to impress me, but also cost the same or more than a real book copy (softcover, mind you, but still) so again I wasn't thrilled. I think that there should be some savings involved if there's no actual physical production cost. All said, I love my bookshelves, and think a huge part of my bias is that virtual books can't be displayed on your shelves in your livingroom. On the plus side, I suppose, virtual books don't need a weekly dusting either. My MIL has one, I've no idea what kind, and loves it. She finds titles to fit her taste all the time, so I guess it really all depends on what books you love to read. |
| Buying books: I have the Kindle. You can purchase right off the reader or use your computer. If I'm cruising, I use the computer as it is faster. You can browse by best sellers or genre (sp?) or author......maybe something else as well. With computer you just click purchase and next time you open the e-reader's link to the outside world, the book immediately down loads. Yes, there's a synopsis. Once in awhile I'll download straight on the Kindle. I know the author or the name of a book. You can type in a search for the product on the reader and let them find it. Saves scrolling thru the listings. Last month I ordered four books for a total of $27.00 Library would have been cheaper. Value really varies. The older the book, the better value. Indeed some are free! If I every want to read Jane Austen......it will be free. Or all the Sherlock Holmes......tho I already have those. More recent books......I bought one book at Barnes and Nobel for $60, came home and found it on Kindle for $15.  It was printed about 5 years ago. The book print is too small and close together now for me....and at 800 pages......a guaranteed long read. With the Kindle I can adjust the print size. New books......you can order before release......you'll be paying close to what you'll find as "specials" in books when they have their books marked 40% off or some such. For example.....go to the Kindle page at Amazon.com You can also ask to preview the book. In that case few pages download. You then decide......whenever.....to purchase the book or not. I've done that several times with new authors. |
| Thanks Susan, I didnt know about the preview option, that sounds good. Tracie, I know what you mean about not having the actual book.  But on the other hand my shelves are all full and I've started putting books in tubs up in the roof storage so I'm thinking not having the physical book might be a good thing. I kind of feels wrong though. |
I've been donating books to the library for some time now! I love books, but I'm tired of dusting them. Time to declutter and simplify. I have 7 boxes sitting around me just waiting for inspiration to get to the library  |
| I don't buy books; I use the public library. But I've been thinking about buying an ereader because the public library has thousands of books for ereaders. For no cost. But just like the physical book, there is a "due date" for the ebooks. So instead of buying books, you can download them from your library. Pretty neat. And to those who have hundreds of books you don't know what to do with...There's no crime in throwing a book away. If it's outdated or worn out, toss it in the garbage or recycling bin. It's o.k. Really it is. P.S. I'm a librarian, so I have a SLIGHT bias towards the public library.....  |
Quote: There's no crime in throwing a book away. If it's outdated or worn out, toss it in the garbage or recycling bin. It's o.k. Really it is. ooooooooooh, I don't know. I still have college text books....and wouldn't you know I had to look up something the other day in an agronomy book as I couldn't find the anwer on the web! |
| As I've stated before, I love my Sony E-reader. I read all sorts of books and really have not had an issue finding titles for my e-reader I want to read. I almost never buy anything now. I use my public library system, which has a very large collection of e-books. One of the reasons I like my Sony e-reader is that it supports several different book formats, which widens my choice of books. I still love to browse the bookstore and when I find something I am interested in reading I simply check my library system to see if it is available and most times it is. Kathie P.S. I refuse to throw out any books. Whenever I travel to Africa I take a box of books with me and donate them to a library there. They are so grateful for the donations, because books are so incredibly expensive in Africa and simply out of economic reach for most people. |
Paula O. wrote: And to those who have hundreds of books you don't know what to do with...There's no crime in throwing a book away. If it's outdated or worn out, toss it in the garbage or recycling bin. It's o.k. Really it is. It's certainly OK, but there MAY be a better choice: donate them. http://www.betterworldbooks.com/ I just bought (for 4 bucks) a library lit book from 1981 because I found out I had been cited in it. I could only see the footnote in google books and not the citation. Unfortunately it was only a paraphrasing from a letter I had sent the author. My 15 minutes are up! |
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