The joy of text
Nov. 10th, 2005 11:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meteordustI bought my first ebook this week.
Yeah, it surprised me too. Part of what I love about books is being able to leaf through them easily, to carry them everywhere, to line them up in order on my shelf. The smell of the pages, the shine of the covers, the heft and weight of the volume.
I love collecting books. But I love reading them more. That's why I caved.
You remember what it's like to read a book that steals your heart? One that makes you all excited about books again. One that reminds you of the kid who stalked libraries and bookstores, desperate hungry to lay hands on the next volume in the series.
Easy to forget, when your reading list is swamped with titles - books you read out of habit, because you follow that author, or out of obligation, because you want to keep up with the field. But it really is different when a book gets its hooks into you and doesn't let go.
That was me, a few nights ago. After I finished PN Elrod's Cold Streets, remembering why I'd loved her Vampire Files series so much, and totally captivated at the direction she had taken the story. And also knowing that the next book, Song in the Dark, was already out there somewhere. Knowing that it would deal with the shrapnel of the story grenades the author had thrown.
I could go out to Galaxy Bookshop next time I was in the city, could drop fifty plus bucks on a hardcover import I didn't really want (since I collect the paperbacks). Or I could buy the digital edition online for less than half that price and be able to start reading that night. (And incidentally have change left over for the paperback release in a year's time.)
It was so easy. Amazon.com, credit card, file download, Adobe Reader verification. It only took ten minutes.
And then it was there. On the screen in front of me, in clean crisp PDF text. No need to wait for it to be shipped to me, no need to travel out to a bookstore. I could read it right away.
I bought my first ebook this week. I get the feeling it may not be my last.
Yeah, it surprised me too. Part of what I love about books is being able to leaf through them easily, to carry them everywhere, to line them up in order on my shelf. The smell of the pages, the shine of the covers, the heft and weight of the volume.
I love collecting books. But I love reading them more. That's why I caved.
You remember what it's like to read a book that steals your heart? One that makes you all excited about books again. One that reminds you of the kid who stalked libraries and bookstores, desperate hungry to lay hands on the next volume in the series.
Easy to forget, when your reading list is swamped with titles - books you read out of habit, because you follow that author, or out of obligation, because you want to keep up with the field. But it really is different when a book gets its hooks into you and doesn't let go.
That was me, a few nights ago. After I finished PN Elrod's Cold Streets, remembering why I'd loved her Vampire Files series so much, and totally captivated at the direction she had taken the story. And also knowing that the next book, Song in the Dark, was already out there somewhere. Knowing that it would deal with the shrapnel of the story grenades the author had thrown.
I could go out to Galaxy Bookshop next time I was in the city, could drop fifty plus bucks on a hardcover import I didn't really want (since I collect the paperbacks). Or I could buy the digital edition online for less than half that price and be able to start reading that night. (And incidentally have change left over for the paperback release in a year's time.)
It was so easy. Amazon.com, credit card, file download, Adobe Reader verification. It only took ten minutes.
And then it was there. On the screen in front of me, in clean crisp PDF text. No need to wait for it to be shipped to me, no need to travel out to a bookstore. I could read it right away.
I bought my first ebook this week. I get the feeling it may not be my last.
