I still love it, but now I’ve got more reason to love it than ever before. It’s the charm of having an instant book in my hands, whenever my faulty memory reminds me of that book I always promised myself I’d read one time.
Take for example, the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. My friends have been reminding me to read this series for years. Every time I decide to buy one, it always happens the same way. I forget to write myself a reminder note, go to the bookstore, forget what the book is called, what the series is, and end up in the cooking section looking at books on fruit and wondering why.
I come home, and sure enough I remember, but I don’t want to order on Amazon cause it always looks like my box has been drop kicked all the way from the post office to my house. (It’s personal. When hubby orders things the box looks new.)
My faulty memory sparked today, the wires temporarily fused together, and suddenly I remembered Stephanie Plum! I dashed over to the computer, plugged my book in, and looked in the e-reader store. It popped up, offering me the chance to read this long sought after book for only $8. Of course I took it.
Then I read the whole thing, and loved every page. Why is a seperate blog post picking apart the skills of AMAZING authors and why they work. In fact, I think that should be our next group project.
Sep 10, 2010 @ 14:49:23
I loved the early Plums, too! And for sure, reading with awareness is the best way to learn to write. Look at the goals she set for herself with this series, where she had to choose between two paths, and what the effects of those choices were, both for the stories and for the readership. A couple of the choices she made drove me away a few years ago, but lots of readers are still crazy about Stephanie and her friends. You could do a whole lot worse than to look for Evanovich’s techniques! You might also want to look for her book–it’s called something like How I Write–on writing.
Sep 10, 2010 @ 16:00:30
You make me want one. Who knows. I don’t really like waiting for a book to arrive from Amazon. Mine get here looking perfect. Ha! But still, I had to WAIT!!! Thank you for sharing.
Sep 12, 2010 @ 03:56:19
My husband is totally into the idea of owning a Kindle or Nook. I just can’t stomach the upfront cost. Plus I think that the price of most e-books is still too high, especially Kindle version. I irks me that so many of the e-readers have proprietary software so that you can’t use the books for more than one e-reader. I know I sound like an old lady, I swear I’m not even 28! I just have trouble parting with the feel of the pages and holding the book with one hand while I eat popcorn with the other. Plus, until I can loan my e-book to a friend or borrow one from the library, it won’t really be a real book. But I’m glad it gives you so much joy. Maybe I’ll agree with you someday. I hope the technology will improve and become more affordable so that I can.