Rediscovering Books

Hi J600rr,

Please note that your topic is now on the Expat café-open discussions forum.

Thanks,

Priscilla 

I never read an e-book.
The Internet is great for everything up-to-date (news, etc.) and topics so specific one is unlikely to have a book about (Wikipedia is great!), but for leisure nothing beats sitting down on the sofa with a real printed volume.
I do, however, sometimes miss the possibility to increase pictures of font with the swipe of a finger - due to my ageing eyes.

An E-book reader, such as Amazon Kindle or Fire or any of the others is an absolute must for travelers.

I live in Ecuador and have for over 8 years now and prior to having my Ebook it was a matter of going to various book shares at different restaurants and cafes to get my "book fix" in English, that was of course if I had anything at those locations I wanted to read,

Not only does an ebook open up the world of new and old books but it also allows you to enlarge the type so you can read more easily.

I have switched from a paperwhite to a Fire tablet because it also allows me the abilities of a tablet (less telephone -- although you can communicate over VOIP services like viber and instant messenger).

ANd one final thing about ebooks, it is easy to contact the authors!  Many have links from their books and I have become friends with a number of my favorite ones.

In fact, one author, Douglas Richards, put me (okay my name) as a small character in his best seller SPLIT SECOND which happens to free on Amazon for download until December 24th!  Just pop over to Amazon and look for it and download and then see if you can find my character

Susan

I will have to agree with Susan. I had been an avid reader as a kid and somehow around my mid 20s, I totally lost interest in holding up a heavy book carrying it around. I had an aversion to reading on tablets/pdf books on computer/cell phones because of the intense glare. Just didn't work for me.

And then during one of my travels, I came across someone who was reading a basic Kindle.. After reading a couple of pages, i was sold. As I mentioned earlier, for me the only nuisance was the glare of the screen. The kindle eliminated that, retaining the 'visual' feel of a classic book. I agree it does not feel the same on the hands, but admittedly it is so much easier and manageable than an actual book.

I may want to try Paperwhite at some point in time, though I am not sure about the Fire. Does it eliminate the said glare?

I too am an avid reader.

As a geriatric member of this forum I am not that up on technology and so love my books.
I get through at least 4 books a month from my local library.

I do understand your hesitancy Stumpy. Regardless of age, a lot of people have that aversion, however I would highly recommend you borrowing and trying out a basic e-reader. I think you may end up liking it. : )

Happy reading!
Z

I switched to a NOOK e reader 6 or 7 years ago basically out of necessity and have never looked back.  We live where you cannot get new English language books, nor ship them in with out taking out a bank loan. Before I had a ton of books and actually moved a couple of hundred down with me and have a couple hundred more in storage in he US.  But no "real" books in years.

They also make traveling easier with out having to lug a couple of heavy books with your, especially now with crazy airline weight restrictions.

Bob K

That's exactly a great convenience.. i have only 2GB or something storage on my Kindle. Holds up to 10 or 12 books I think.. With more storage you can pack up to 100s of books. Not that i miss it with the online access all the time.  : )

I prefer the paper version, I love the smell of new books and the sound of a turning page.
Never had read an e- book on what kind of device what so ever simple I don't understand how it works and I am not very keen to buy an expensive electronic "library" but I acknowledge the great advantage if you travel a lot.

Well, as far as price goes, e books are usually the same price/cheaper than the paperback versions. 
The only one time investment is a basic reader..which start's from around €70 if I'm not mistaken.

Not to forget. . A lot of books are often  available for free downloads as well..

Depending on your e reader you can store many books.  I have over 200 on mine (NOOK)

Bob K

Xeeschan wrote:

I do understand your hesitancy Stumpy. Regardless of age, a lot of people have that aversion, however I would highly recommend you borrowing and trying out a basic e-reader. I think you may end up liking it. : )

Happy reading!
Z

Thanks Xeeschan but I do like going to the library and interacting with others there about books and things in general.