Monday, March 24, 2014

My First Ebook

In general, I'm pro-reading so if you choose to do it on an ereader rather than with a traditional paper and ink book in your hands, that's your call.
In my own reading, I'm very pro-physical books. I love everything about them, the feel of the paper, the sound of pages, the shift in weight distribution as you pass the half way point. And, yes, the smell. I worked in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library in college and my honors thesis was a descriptive bibliography of Early Modern witchcraft books. It's pretty safe to say that I'm hardcore in love with tangible books and all their splendor.
I had never found my predisposition toward physical books to be a problem until December when my nook-aholic friend Jenny told me that I simply had to read The Art of Falling by Jenny Kaczorowski. Her text said something like: "There is purple hair and Buffy!"
(For those of you who don't know, I'm a rabid Buffy enthusiast and the same Jenny put a streak of purple in my hair back in October.)
Anyway, I was stoked to read this book and flew to Amazon to order it where I realized it was an ebook. I was crushed. I was all hopped up about the story with no way to read it.
I spent a few months following @jennykacz on Twitter and realizing that I really really needed to read this book. So, I downloaded the free Kindle app for my phone, followed swiftly by The Art of Falling.
I devoured the book in a day. It was more than I could have hoped for. I could relate to it on a deep personal level. It had a sweet romance and rock solid friendships. I loved it.
What I did not love was reading it on my phone. I wanted to hold it in my hands. I wanted to slip my finger under the page as I got close to the bottom. I wanted to flip it over on the end table when I got up to get something. I want to have it on my shelf at home. I mean, it wasn't a traumatic experience, and the story was well worth the inconvenience, but I still wish I could have read it as a physical book.
I don't anticipate reading another ebook soon which is a bummer because I'm sure I'm missing out on some great books but I just didn't enjoy the digital reading experience. It makes me wonder what kind of divide society is creating between digital and physical readers when the same selection of books isn't offered to both them. More than how they read, what they read is different.
Anyway, the book was awesome so I consider the whole thing a success. Happy reading!
xoxox,
L.S. Mooney

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