READERS! I know you're out there! Anyone...

[wegotchickens]

I dearly love to read. RIght now it's 'Beloved' by Toni MOrrison, and I have her newest one waiting to be read.

I get most of my books through the library these days. I can request what I want and they send me an e-mail when it's at my branch. Cheap & easy!

I don't know that I could get a Kindle, even if I had the $. They sound cool, but I get a very visceral satisfaction when I open a book and hold it to read. The smell, the feel, the sounds of reading and pages turning.... I don't think I could give those up.

 

[PortageGirl]

Wow, I’m going to have to look into a Kindle now, didn’t know you could check e-mail on it and all. Maybe I can justify it, but I will need to investigate more.

What I do have is an Mp3 player that can handle Audible books and a subscription to Audible.com. It does cost $14.95 a month, but that price includes one selection per month, and reasonable costs for thousands of other books, including periodic sales with excellent prices.

I completely understand the comments about picking up a book and turning the pages etc, and I also read ‘real’ books! Thing is, I care for my 90 yr old father in our small house, and he has the TV on very loud all day (programs I am not always fond of either) so listening to a narrator read a good book to me while my hands are busy with day-to-day tasks, is a big improvement for me, and when involved in a story, the dishes almost wash themselves! I love my dad, but listening to that TV was making me crazy-(ier).

Warning, not all Mp3 players can play the .aa files that Audible provides! There are also Mp3 file books out on the internet that can be downloaded, at varying costs and levels of legality, (I prefer not to by-pass copyrights myself, but to each their own.) and, there are ways to convert the .aa files too, but it takes extra computer savvy to do so (and software). Not saying we BYC-ers can’t handle doing it, (since I for one am a puter geek), but we don’t always feel like bothering with it all either!

Also, can listen to the books by connecting the Mp3 player to the car radio, so travelling is made more enjoyable too.

Still, going to definitely look into a Kindle!!

 

[Southernbelle]

I'm a big reader - almost a book a day

My favorite book swapping site is www.paperbackswap.com - free to join, free to swap. I love it! I'm southernbelle on there, too.

 

[ninjapoodles]

I used to think I wouldn't like the "feel" of the Kindle, because it wasn't a book, and I do love everything about an actual BOOK, even the smell of the pages.

But after using one for a while, I have to agree with Stephen King, who was one of the early beta-testers for the Kindle: after you start reading, you soon fall into the world of the book, and it doesn't really matter (or register) that you're reading it on an electronic device rather than on real paper.

Another thing that helps is that it's not like a computer monitor or video-game screen. It's not backlit. The "electronic ink" technology really does look just like ink on paper, which is cool. I do wish there were a backlighting option, though, for reading in the dark.

Some things I'll always buy in traditional book form--certain authors that I collect, first editions, graphic novels, and anything with illustrations (I just ordered a hardback Despereaux collection for my daughter for Christmas). But I'm getting to read a lot more with the Kindle than before, simply because of the portability of the device. It's always with me, so I always have a book!

Just finished: Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill (Stephen King's oldest son) and The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Everyone with a dog (or a race car, I guess) should read that Garth Stein book, and everyone who enjoys horror fiction should read the Joe Hill novel!

 

[setter4]

Quote:
I am all for a book exchange - we tried that a bit ago and no one bit. I have a ton of paperbacks I am done with. John Sandford, tami hoag, type of novels... I am willing to ship to anyone that wants them...

 

[setter4]

Well crap....my message got erased from the last post...SPOOKS!!
I mailed out 2 books in the last attempt at exchange and am will to do more. Lets all post what we have...

 

[freemotion]

I pass everything on pretty quickly, so I don't have anything to exchange, but I would be happy to pay shipping if someone wants to get rid of some paperbacks!!!

 

[NurseNettie]

Quote:
I'd be happy to do the same--- as I posted above, I've only got "keepers" left after moving, and a leaky roof the year before the move!

 

[debilorrah]

Ok, tomorrow I will have my list posted.

 

[moms_pantry]

I really enjoy reading. My DH can't stand to read. He says that he'd rather wait for the movie. They don't all become a movie and the books are usually much better.

I am currently reading "The Memory Keeper's Daughter"

I mostly utilize my local library, though I have some books that I haven't yet read or can't bear to part with.

I'm always open to good suggestions.

I just finished Dewey. It is non-fiction, but it was a good book.

I hadn't heard of Good Reads. I'll have to check it out.