A query for those of you with e-book readers (regardless of brand): Do you find that your reading speed with an e-book differs from that with a print copy?
I’m noticing that I don’t seem to read books on my Kindle as quickly as I read trade paperbacks, and I’m trying to figure out why. I’d understand it if I were multi-tasking – and, incidentally, I’ve found that the most successful way for me to read more than one book at a time is if one of them is an e-book, but if I’m doubling up, it tends to to take me longer to read both books anyway. Since the Kindle is even more easily portable than a “regular” book, I really didn’t think I’d read more slowly on it, but that seems to be the case. Could it be that I’m still adjusting to it, since I’ve only read 4 books on it so far? Are the books I’ve chosen to read on it not ideal for the e-book experience? Or is it just me?
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There’s a whole crowd prepared to tell you everything you want to know – including why you should go – about attending Book Expo America and the Book Blogger Convention. And some of the questions they’ll be answering are also applicable to the other conference I’m trying to get you to attend, so do check out the BBCon’s blog tour…but don’t forget my “Book Bloggers at BlogHer’10” campaign! (Early-bird registration – and pricing – remains open until February 28.)
[whiny aside]But I’m starting to be afraid I jumped too soon on BlogHer’10 – not that I’m sorry I’ll be going, but that I committed so quickly that BEA and BookBloggerCon aren’t options for me now, and so many of the people I’d like to see in person may be doing the Con instead of BlogHer that I’ll be missing out on both counts! Someone did suggest selling my BlogHer ticket and switching to BEA and BBCon…and if my Room of Your Own proposal flounders, I might actually think about it.[/whiny aside]
BOOKKEEPING: The Reading Status Report
Reviews posted since last report:
Shanghai Girls, by Lisa See (TLC Book Tour)
Next reviews scheduled:
American Rust: A Novel, by Philipp Meyer (TLC Book Tours, Thursday 2/11)
The Wives of Henry Oades: A Novel, by Johanna Moran (TLC Book Tours, Tuesday 2/23)
New to my LibraryThing “To Read” Collection:
Admit One: My Life in Film, by Emmett James (via Lisa Roe, Online Publicist)
New additions to the Wishlist:
The Believers, by Zoe Heller
The Summer We Fell Apart, by Robin Antalek
I have no tour commitments in March, and I hope to have the chance to dig into some more of my challenge books and discretionary reading – oh, and those “someday I need to review this” books – before they kick up again. I enjoy working with TLC, but I’m starting to feel like cutting back on accepting review responsibilities really was a good idea.
BOOKMARKS: Reading-related Reading
Having kids can be a helpful thing for a writer – who would have guessed?
Some insight into how one editor/publisher selects the books she sends out into the world (and which spawn a new reading challenge!); some insights about reading to expand one’s world (and mention of a new blog, Diversify Your Reading, to help do that)
Reading is one of the less expensive forms of entertainment, as discussed in this interview with Gayle of Everyday I Write the Book. Somewhat related: illustrating how using the library is good financial management
Visiting Mrs. T’s middle-school English classes, who are reading a lot of good stuff (thanks, Molly!)
Why isn’t there a “men’s fiction” genre?
Are the words in the dictionary the problem, or is it the dictionary itself?
On the occasion of the passing of Holden Caulfield’s creator, J.D. Salinger: what might the original angsty adolescent be like at age 50?
This link is for Susan, whose fiction should be in a list like this one day: 10 top rock’n’roll novels
Be honest – who wouldn’t covet a wall like this?
Talk about getting paid for doing what you love! Thanks to Sheila of One Person’s Journey Through a World of Books for the heads-up about DelGal‘s Buck-a-Book Challenge:
“Here’s a great way to reward yourself for reading persistence and save money at the same time. Read as many books as you’d like, there is no minimum, and there is no maximum. BUT, here’s the “catch”, you MUST physically take a dollar and save it somewhere safe where it won’t be spent, every time you complete a book. At the end of the year, your total money saved will be the total amount of books read, ideally the more book read, the more money saved.
Now, once Dec 31 comes, you’re must spend this saved money on something fun just for yourself (no paying bills, no buying gifts for someone else!), to begin the next year… Maybe more books for the new year? A nice dinner out to celebrate reading? The possibilities are endless! Finally, once this challenge completes on Dec 31st, please let your blog fans, and fellow challenge participants, know what you decided to spend your money on by posting whatever it may be. If it’s $5 or if it’s $100, we want to know what you rewarded yourself with for a year of hard yet enjoyable fun reading!
In short – put aside a dollar for each book you read.”
I’m definitely in! I may even put aside TWO dollars per book! It’s certainly no more work, and it’s even more of an incentive to read.
I hope you have a good reading week!
I find I read ebooks on my computer faster than a regular book. Have never tried a Kindle so don;'t know if my reading time would be the same or not. I'll have to try it out before buying an e-reader!
Hope you'll visit my Sunday Salon
I've only read 2 books on my nook, but I read at the same speed. But they were both really good books that I didn't want to put down, so I wasn't reading anything else at the time.
love your idea of upping the dollar amount per book to two bucks. I still don't think my husband will go for it though….
My Sunday Salon
Oh Florinda – your sunday salon posts are always so detailed and full of wonderful information I never know where to start commenting!
First of all – I noticed the dog picture in the upper left hand corner — I assume this is gypsy. She is just beautiful and it brought tears (again) to my eyes. How are you holidng up this week?
Secondly, thank you for the recommendation of Mrs. T's class. I am glad that you enjoyed the post 🙂
Lastly – I understand the internal conflict (and lack of funds) in deciding which conference to attend this summer. However, I have already registered for the BEA and I would LOVE to meet you in person, should the opportunity present itself!!
There is so much more I could comment on in this post…but I should allow other people space to give their opinions.
I hope you have a GREAT week!!
I don't find a change in speed. But my reader doesn't have note-taking ability and that bothers me. I use small sticky notes in my print books to make notes that might go into my reviews.
When I have the money for a new reader, I'll love it even more.
Maybe it just feels like it takes longer to read on a Kindle. There are no page numbers, right? I don't have a Kindle but I remember someone saying that it lacks page numbers. I need to see that page number increase as I read or I'd feel stuck.
Oh, you're a doll to point me to that Guardian article! I've read a hefty number of those books, actually. And you've seen the list on my own website, right?
But yes. One day, may my books be there, as well .
Book Dilettante – I'm not sure if it's actually reading on the Kindle itself, what I'm choosing to read on it, or unrelated stuff, but it does seem to take me longer to read books on it. I hope that changes over time!
Jill (Softdrink) – I'm wondering if I'm more easily diverted from an e-book – that I CAN put one down more readily – and that's why they seem to take me longer to read.
Trisha – I set aside six dollars yesterday to catch up on the year so far :-). I'm upping the dollar amount because I don't read as many books over the course of the year as a lot of other people do.
Molly – Yes, that's Gypsy. She was a very pretty girl. Her "tribute" post (with more pictures) will be up tomorrow – I hope you'll read it! Writing it was helpful, but it's still weird not to have her around. I miss her a lot, and I know it will take time.
I hope you'll do some more "class updates" for us!
We'll see what happens with the conference thing…I'm annoyed with myself for waffling, really. I have to think about what I really want to get out of this sort of event, I guess.
Beth – I really haven't taken full advantage of the note-taking ability yet, but it is nice to know it's there!
Ti – There IS a progress bar at the bottom of the screen that updates your "percentage completed," and because of the way the Kindle stores "locations," you actually finish the book before you get to 100%. But it's not the same as looking at the book and seeing how big the chunk of pages after the bookmark is vs. the one in from of it, if that makes sense.
Susan – No, I haven't checked out your list yet, but I definitely will when I get the chance! I'm not surprised you've read a lot of those books, but I couldn't see a list like that and NOT think of you :-).
That's an interesting question about reading speed and e-book readers. I know reading an e-book on the computer is proving to be very slow going for me. I don't recommend it.
I wish I could go to one of the conferences being held. They'll be so much fun. I'll be living vicariously through all of you who are going–so take notes and be prepared to give me minute by minute reports. 😉
My word verifications for the day aren't very fun. They're all actual words like "fruit" and "pound".
I'll be curious to see what you think of Admit One, Florinda. I read that awhile ago and enjoyed it.
I hope you have a great week!
I think I actually read a bit faster on my Kindle as I am able to set the print larger thus making me read faster (easier on my old eyes…LOL)
I still LOVE the actual book experience better though!
Wendy (Literary Feline) – I find reading on an e-book reader much more congenial than a computer, which is one reason I'm not coveting one of those new Apple iPads the way my husband is :-).
I think I'm starting to second-guess myself on the whole conference thing – and I did this last year too, and ended up very glad I went. I'll definitely report on my experience, of course :-)!
I remember that you liked Admit One. Lisa actually offered it to me because she remembered that I'd commented on your review!
Have a good week yourself, Wendy!
Diane – I totally hear you on that. The adjustable font size is awesome – I can actually read on it without my glasses :-).
Interesting about the Kindle. I think I read faster on mine, but like you, I've only read a few books on it, so I'm not sure.
Kathy (Bermudaonion) – I would have thought I'd read faster on it, to be honest, but it seems to be taking me longer to finish books on the Kindle. I'm going to work on that.
I actually think I read things faster on my Kindle but maybe it is just a psychological thing since I don't see the stack of pages staring up at me!
Kathleen – It's actually surprised me that I seem to read slower on mine. I really want to work on changing that!