Reading on Mobile Devices-

I switched to electronic books for a number of reasons. The cost became reasonable, the experience proved pleasant, and it became possible to carry a library wherever I went. That portability has gone just a bit further with the purchase of my first smart phone. In this case an Apple iPhone 3GS. Not cutting edge, but a nice tool.

I just finished reading the fifth volume of Randolph Lalonde's Spinward Fringe series. A space opera, a sub-genre of science fiction. The first volume is free. I read the first four volumes on my Nook, and enjoyed the experience both for the quality of the work and the quality of the reading experience on the Nook. For the fifth volume I decided to try the iPhone. I downloaded the iPhone Nook reader application and was ready for truly mobile reading.

Granted, the screen is small. However, the fonts are readable, and I can change the phone to landscape mode (held sideways) to make it seem a bit more book-like. The phone screen is back-lit, which can be nice in low lighting. The Nook screen is more like paper, and not back-lit. You have to read it like a book, with a light source. However, you can read the Nook in full sunlight, like a book. Phone screens tend to wash out in full sunlight.

The small screen was not problematic. The only problem is turning "pages" a bit more often. That simply requires a tap or swipe of the screen with one finger. That is not terribly difficult, and becomes routine very quickly. One night I wanted to read in bed. My wife was already asleep and it was dark. I fired up the iPhone, turned down the brightness, and read in comfort. The phone fit well in one hand. Delightful!

Since I carry my phone just about everywhere, I had a book to read anytime I wanted. That was quite convenient. Though the Nook allows me to carry a huge library with me at barely the weight of a paperback novel, it is still large enough to require someplace to put it when out and about. The phone was less of an issue. I am accustomed to carrying it, and hardly notice it when not in use.

I recommend ebooks highly, and trying out using any of you mobile devices that can serve as a reader. Many of you have such devices. Even if you have a Nook, or a Kindle, or one of the other ereader devices, try your other smart devices out as readers. You will get more out of the tools you have chosen and add versatility to your life.

You can get free reader applications that will download to your computer and your mobile devices. For example, the novels I have written and published with Barnes and Noble can only be read on a Nook reader or any epub friendly reader. Kindle readers cannot read my books. However, if you have a mobile device that can download the free Nook reader from Barnes and Noble, you can download and read my books.

Using similar creative applications of applications, you will find yourself free to download content from a great many sources. (My books included, I would hope.) These are tools that can allow you greater freedom in shaping your own life and how you live your life. Power to enhance your own experiences in your own way.

So, try new stuff. Write about it. Share well.

Electronic Book Readers-

One of my Facebook friends asked me when my books will be out in print. She wanted to read my works but did not have an electronic book reader. Unfortunately, the traditional way of getting into print is a long and arduous process, with winning an agent who must win a publisher and then the whole publishing circus.

Alternatively, I could go with a print-on-demand service. If someone orders my books a copy will be printed and sent to them. Not a bad system. At this point in my publishing adventure I am not prepared to shell out the hundreds of bucks to get the document formatted for print on demand. My budget for all of this is small. Ebooks are an affordable option, and the one I chose.

Ebooks have a lot of advantages. They all fit on smart phones, devices like the iTouch media player, pad format computers, and computers of all sorts. Most of these devices simply require you to download an ereader as an application or standard piece of software. These devices have various advantages and disadvantages.

For example, the smart phone you have with you always. Therefore, you will have any books you have loaded on the device with you wherever you go. The disadvantage is the size of the screen. Some people will find reading on a phone (or iTouch like device) difficult. Others will find it pleasant. I know of one woman who has read many books on her iTouch, and finds it just fine as a reader.

My reader of choice is the Nook, sold by Barnes and Noble. When they reduced the price to my chosen trigger point ($150) I bought one. The first model. I like the paper-like screen, as I can read it in full light and not get the computer screen wash-out common with phone and computer screens. By the way, the current prices have units below $150.

To get started it is easy to download a reader to your computer. There are quite a few free books available from various sources. They are easy to download and open with you reading software. Give computer reading a try and see how you like it. If you have a smart phone, try a reading application. The cost of getting started is quite low.

From there a reader can move on to evaluating other electronic reading devices. Sony has a nice one. Amazon has their Kindle, which was first on the market and still an excellent device. Kobo, which had been associated with the Borders distribution network, seems like an adequate device. Of course, there is also the Nook. Prices vary depending on the device and the features you might prefer.

If the cost of the device is of concern, don't forget the free books I mentioned. There are a lot of books out there that will cost you nothing. Paper books will never disappear, but the convenience of ebooks will grow on you. With the right kind of account you can often download a book in minutes, and be reading right away.

I recommend you give it a try. And, while you are trying, have a look my own works. I have enjoyed writing them. I would love for you to read them.

(Note: at present I am unaware of any way to read epub format writings on the Kindle. My works are not currently available in Kindle format.)

Outliers- a book report (of sorts)-

For Christmas I received a gift card for Borders ebooks. Now, my choice of ereader was the Nook, which is a Barnes and Noble product. I was unsure as to how well the Borders ebooks would download and work on the Nook. I didn't anticipate problems, but I recognized the potential.

So, I selected a book I had planned on reading, Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. This guy writes well, and Outliers does something that I really enjoy. Gladwell examines the idea of success, and examines some of the interconnections that bring about this nebulous condition. I say "nebulous" because success is a word loaded with emotional content well beyond any simple definition.

I downloaded Outliers from Borders to my Nook through what is called "side loading." The process is to order the book from Borders.com, fire up the Borders reader application on the computer (which must have been previously downloaded,) and plug in the Nook to a USB port. Then just hit the "synchronize" button on the Borders reader on your computer.

This process places the book in the "Documents" section of the Nook. It does not show up in the "Library," which only houses the Barnes and Noble books. This simply means that I now have two stacks of books in my Nook. At present this presents no problems, and managing my growing elibrary is not difficult.

Outliers proved thought provoking. Gladwell is an interesting thinker and excellent writer. I do not know if his conclusions would hold up against heavy critical scrutiny, but I did find his ideas interesting with regard to the nature of opportunity and timing relative to particular people and their relative successes. Of course, he is working from a popular notion of success in which wealth, power and fame are significant. I recognize other modes of success as equally viable, if not always so readily recognized.

If you like your thoughts to be provoked, this is a pretty nice book to spend some time reading. I found that some conclusions I have reached regarding Life, The Universe, and Everything are paralleled and vindicated and otherwise supported in this book. It is not a guide to success, however. If you are seeking Success in big bright lights this is not your guidebook.

The idea of people and events being heavily interconnected for both good and ill is strongly supported in this book. Concepts like "opportunity" and "hard work" are also examined. Not surprisingly, classic success is the consequence of timing, opportunity and hard work. I rather like examining the interconnectedness of things, and Gladwell does this quite well.

At $9.99 for the ebook, this was not a bad investment of either money or time. If you are interested in the subject of success and how it comes about in particular people, this is your book. If you are suffering from some sense of senseless failure in your life, this book could put that in perspective, as well.

If you are still hesitant in adopting ebooks and ereaders, let me assure you that in the case of the Nook, sourcing your books from Borders as well as Barnes and Noble is not a problem. I cannot address any of the other readers, but I can say that my Nook is proving quite satisfactory. The portability and easy reading are delightful. I carry a library with me, and the e-ink screen can be read in full sunlight. Like a paper book, however, it requires a source of light to read in low/no light situations.

Oh, and free books. There are lots of free books available, both through Barnes and Noble and Borders. Probably through other sources, as well. Lots and lots of books. Once you get past the initial cost of the ereader there is a world of very cheap reading out there. Cheap in cost, not necessarily in quality. I have only found one free book to be of dubious quality, and even that was worth reading.

The cost is dropping. The features are improving. Ereaders and ebooks are a good thing. That is success in my book.

Finished reading The Wheel of Time, again....

This is the twelfth book in a series which is truly a single tale. Not a linked series of fantasy novels, but one long tale. I started rereading months ago. Each volume runs six to eight hundred pages long. A serious bit of reading, but enjoyable none-the-less.

Robert Jordan himself wrote the first eleven novels. The balance of the story was in the works when a rare disease took his life. Brandon Sanderson has been selected to write the rest of the story, and he picked up the tale and presented it admirably.

I expect the next volume to come out on schedule next Fall. I hope that the tale will remain fresh enough in my mind for that much time. Reading this epic yet again would be a challenge. Perhaps one day I will read the whole thing again in its entirety, when the final volume is completed. Until then I hope to simply pick up the story when the next volume comes out.

There is something to be said for reading series novels like this. Part of the fun is the anticipation of the next release. Generally books do not come out in a series like this more frequently than one volume each year. In some cases a bit more time is required to craft the next installment, as Harry Potter fans learned over the course of that series.

Yes, I read Harry Potter as well. That series only once, so far. I have read The Lord of the Rings more than ten times, though I cannot recall the exact count. Every couple of years I feel compelled to visit Middle Earth again. I am delighted that both Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings made the transition to movies quite well. I view the movies again from time to time, being a bit more approachable than a reading.

Perhaps not that much more approachable, come to think of it. My extended edition of The Lord of the Rings runs around thirteen hours, and the completed Harry Potter series will probably go quite a bit longer when finished. That's a bit more than an evening of movies at home.

Such series literature will be both the blessing and the curse of the eReader, no matter what model each of us ends up with. Those of you planning to hold out continue in your delusions. The prospect of carrying your entire library everywhere will necessarily draw even the most devout of "real book" readers. Most of us will still have favorites in paper book form, but we will have fewer and fewer as time goes by.

It is the transition that will be troublesome. It will be necessary to purchase once again each of those favorites, unless someone in the reading industry comes up with a way to make the transition easier. I may never give up my Red Book edition of The Lord of the Rings or my signed copy of one of the volumes of The Wheel of Time, but I will gladly exchange the hard copy of most of my hard copy books for a free or deeply discounted electronic counterpart.

But, that is then, this is now. Next, the Chainfire trilogy in Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. I acquired the second and third novels this last Christmas, and now that I am in waiting mode for the next volume in The Wheel of Time, I have time to read them.