I love books. I own a lot of books. I was an English/Drama major in University, and ever since I graduated, twenty years worth of moves, including one cross-country one, I have dragged with me boxes and boxes of novels, plays and cookbooks. I love them, and I can’t make myself give them up.
I recently got an IPhone, and was subsequently turned on to the world of EBooks. And here’s the shocking part: I love it.
I never in a million, bajillion years I would say this, because I consider myself to be so old school in this regard, but I love having books on my IPhone.
As a small business owner, I feel like it’s my responsibility to continuously be educating myself. I don’t have the kind of schedule that accommodates classes, so I educate myself by reading blogs and books. I have a stack of books going at any one time that I’m working my way through. If I head out the door to day of meetings, there might be time between meetings where I’ll grab a cup of coffee or some lunch, and spend a few minutes of “progressive downtime” with one of my books.
The thing is, sometimes I forget to bring the book. Or I leave it in the car. My IPhone, on the other hand, is always with me. I don’t have to worry about forgetting it, and if it’s loaded up with books, well, you see how convenient that is.
My initial resistance was to reading on the tiny screen, and also, I like to highlight, make notes, and dog-ear pages. Well, I do spend a lot of time turning pages, and the small screen is still my least favorite part of reading on my IPhone. But both the Kindle and IBook apps give you the ability to bookmark, highlight, and even add notes. Because they have linked Tables of Contents, you can easily go back and re-read a chapter.
But wait! There’s more! I got turned onto an app called OverDrive by @RadiantStream. Turns out, with this app, you can borrow e-books from your local library, and download them onto your Phone. Cool, hey?
Yep, this new development has blown my world wide open. I doubt that I’ll be getting rid of my 21 boxes of books anytime soon, but maybe the next time I move, there will still be 21 instead of 22.
I may have to try the e-book route soon..like you I will always have a real library, but I can totally see the benefits of e-reading! Have fun! 🙂
Hi Rebecca,
I, too, got turned onto ebooks when I got my iPhone and I like having a handful of books with me all the time. However, I still like to climb into bed with a cup of tea and a paper book so my life is more of a hybrid-reader.
I didn’t know about Overdrive and am downloading it now. Can’t wait to try it out.
Best,
Angela
Great to hear about Overdrive. I’ll have to try it.
I think the iPhone is a great device for reading books as well. The fact that you can change the font size to suit (not so great eyes) I can even read it without my reading glasses.
The best part for me is the note and highlight ability AND the fact that it syncs to the last read place when I want to read it on my iPad or my MacBook. It’s pretty dang cool.
As for “paper” books, I still have some, but it’s interesting that because my partner and I are moving in a couple of months, we have reduced our library of paper books to about three boxes. It’s a lot light and less to look after.
I worked in a bookstore when I was younger. I love the smell and feel of physical books, but we often confuse the medium with the message and in so many ways, for me, the delivery technology (and a book is a delivery technology) of the e-books is so good in most cases.
I can definitely picture your 21 boxes of books! I also adore books but since becoming a mother and busy small-business owner, I’ve found it hard to read as much as I would like. What changed that for me was listening to audiobooks downloaded from the Library.
In the beginning, I had no idea how powerful this would be for me. Now I listen to audiobooks on my iPhone while waiting to pick kids up from school, while doing the dishes, filing paperwork, grocery shopping or fitting in that daily walk. I’ve always got a good book on the go. I’ve listened to some excellent books on business and on parenting, and joyfully, I’ve found enough time to enjoy some pretty great novels as well. I now “read” more books than I ever dreamed possible — and for free.
I’ve always got an ear out for good book recommendations. I still find that I want a paper copy at times to highlight & refer back to, so I don’t hesitate buy the books I really want to keep.
Awesome comment, thanks so much Lindsay! I just got my first e-book from the library (Simon’s Cat for my son) and we’re both pretty excited!
Sounds great — I’d love to know how you both like it.
Love Kindle app.
Although there are times I miss writing all over the book. =)
Didn’t know about OverDrive. Checking it out now. Sounds pretty cool.
D.
I like doing that, too. But you can write notes with some of the interfaces–the IBook one, I believe, not sure about the Kindle.