A million books for Christmas

We have a Christmas Day tradition in my immediate family.  Sometime in December we each choose a book to buy and save.  That way on Christmas Day we have something to sit and read, to relax as the stress of Christmastime ebbs.

I mentioned this to my husband on Christmas Eve and he pretended to think, "Hmm, did I buy you a book for Christmas? I'm not sure."  Turns out he'd bought me one of the new pocket edition Sony Readers.  He'd bought me a million books.

So what did I curl up and read on Christmas Day?  "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.  "Cleanskin" by Val McDermid.  "A Study in Scarlet" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-- the first Sherlock Holmes story.  And "The Third Pig Detective Agency" by Bob Burke, an author I'd never heard of, but was listed high up on the pages and pages of ebooks for sale at Waterstones and WH Smith.  The Classics I acquired from the Sony website and Project Gutenberg (the latter a necessity for everyone to visit at least once, ereader or no.)

I've had the instrument for all of 4 days so I can't yet make any sweeping comments about the future or ebooks and regular books, but I do have a few comments.  First of all, it's a joy to read.  There was no eyestrain despite how much I read and I already have more new titles I'd like to buy and read on its nifty screen.  There's an iTunes-like interface (compatible with my Mac, hurrah!) that lets me organize my books but doesn't limit me to any one source.  It feels light, the battery seems to be immortal and the device does not become too warm to hold.  I'm looking forward to trying Nathan Bransford's Ziploc bag solution to read in the bathtub.

Second, I still have many titles I wouldn't buy via ebooks.  I think the world will be able to support both formats.  If other readers are like me, they'll be impressed both with the ability to grab a book from the internet whenever they'd like, and also still hooked on the idea of a signed copy, meeting the author, having a collectable, etc.  There'll still be fabulously bright and beautiful children's illustrated books and coffee table books and books by authors we adore, books we want to have seen on a shelf.  There will always be books we need to hold in our hands.  We won't all buy two copies of each book, but we'll buy one of this format, and another of the other format, etc.  I feel no worry that one format or another will absolutely reign or be completely stifled.

Third, Sony has done the right thing by creating a device that you are free to load with your own books and documents, in many different formats, without charge-- something that the insanely proprietary Kindle really lacks.  Kindle is more of a mobile-bookstore.  The Sony Reader is an instrument in itself, can be used however I'd like it to be used, and runs no danger of disappearing my books if Amazon changes its mind.  Also unlike the Kindle, the Reader can read open ebook formats (eg. epub) and this allows you to borrow ebooks from libraries.  The Sony website even has a search function that lets you find libraries near you that offer ebooks.  This makes the librarian in me very, very happy.  But of course it's not an issue of choosing between just Kindle or Reader.  There are so many ereaders being produced right now you're spoiled for choice.  That's as it should be.  Great products are not produced in stale no-choice environments.

I'm very glad I received this as a gift because I know deep down that I wouldn't have been able to make a choice about buying an ereader for some time.  I would have always been waiting to see which direction the technology went, how high or low the prices went, and what the reaction was on through publishers and authors.  But this way I get to try it out sooner, and I'm thrilled.  It's sitting here beside me now, full of unread books, asking me why I'm not reading.  Ack!  Now I see the real issue with ereaders.  They should be labelled as addictive substances.

---

My extremely frustrating ebook experience the other week involved Mobipocket.com and DRM so paranoid that wouldn't even allow me to view the ebooks I'd legitimately purchased.  This is another reason I wouldn't have bought a Kindle, as Amazon also owns Mobipocket.  But if you have one, feel free to tell me why it's fantastic!