My greatest fear is not the dark, or enclosed places or even spiders. It’s being trapped somewhere with nothing to read.
It happened to me once. On a delayed flight, I finished the book I was reading half way into a four hour journey. I started prowling the aisles, looking for any newspapers or magazines I could ‘borrow’ until we landed. I hated it (and I imagine my fellow passengers were a bit concerned too).
That’s never going to happen to me again – thanks to my new toy.
Isn’t it nice?
I had promised myself that my first major expenditure here in NYC would be an e-reader (well, apart from the black boots and the gorgeous leopard-print kitten heels – but they hardly count).
I looked at several before deciding on a Kindle. On all of them, I found the page quite easy to read, but the way the page turns varied from reader to reader. It’s not that I like the way the Kindle turns the page – but I find it less distracting than some of the others.
The first thing I did when it was delivered was take advantage of all the free downloads of out-of-copyright classics. I loaded Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde; Jules Verne and HG Wells. I have the Three Musketeers and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
I’ll never be caught bookless again. In fact, I’m heading off on a business trip today – and instead of straining my back with half a suitcase of heavy paperbacks, I’m just taking the Kindle.
I feel positively naked, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. And there is the added advantage that the suitcase now has room for that extra pair of shoes.
That’s not to say I have given up ‘real’ books. No way! Yesterday I was at Strand Books in Greenwich Village. Wow! They advertise themselves as having 18 miles of books and I can well believe it.
- Strand Books
It was almost overwhelming. Not only do the have a great fiction section – they have floors – yes FLOORS – of non fiction. It’s like a maze of bookshelves, far too tall for someone my height to see what’s on the top shelf – but there are ladders. You could get lost in there… and that wouldn’t exactly be a bad thing. In just a few minutes browsing, I found so much research material I wanted to read. I was too scared to look at their rare and out-of-print section. My credit card was already whimpering.
But I will be back. Oh yes, because great as the e-reader is, nothing in the world compares to the feel and smell of a real book.